This is one of those games where I was able to get it for a super great price thanks to the PSN. Under $10 for a full game like this is one of those deals where you can’t go wrong. It’s definitely a great title with a whole lot of action and content. It’s too bad the title couldn’t make it to the end though considering how detailed it was. Maybe they just ran out of development time at the last second or something.

The game follows a kid named Dai who grew up with monsters. One day, they are attacked by some pesky humans and then even by a demon lord. Dai has to finally leave his island and become the champion of the world. This will not be an easy fight for him but it’s one that he is ready for. He has many powerful allies by his side and each one will be needed as he fights against the onslaught of demons. This is a story where the villains always tend to have the edge but the heroes pull out wins in the end.

The story uses pictures from the anime and then overlays them with voice acting. So I can see this being hit or miss for folks but fortunately the story is really engaging so it works. Additionally there are some times where you will get fully animated cutscenes and that is always a really nice treat. The story feels pretty long as a result and I’d say we’re looking at over 10 hours here. Maybe 13-14 or so? There are also bonus battles for you to engage in so that you can get some bonus trophies as well.

Outside of the story, you have the temple mode. This is a mode where you start out at level 1 and see how far you can get. The levels reset every time and each fight lets you pick which door you want to go through next. This determines your stats so in a way it’s like a roguelite mode. A pretty fun addition but I don’t think you’ll be spending too much time here. Unless you want to get the Platinum in which case you will spend a lot of time here.

The graphics are really solid. This is definitely a game that has a lot of polish and was trying to excel at all times. The effects within the gameplay are always very sharp and the CG cutscenes hold up. The soundtrack is excellent since the theme song had a ton of amazing tunes. The game is able to bring them all back which was really a great decision.

As for the gameplay itself, it’s a 3D action title. You could even say it’s a full on beat em up with how a lot of the levels are structured. You have your standard moves, then you have 4 special attacks. You have a super move as well and can parry/dodge attacks. Dodging is usually your best bet since parrying is a really tough mechanic to master here. The enemies always seem to be attacking at absolutely rapid speeds.

It is very important that you level up the characters because otherwise the game will catch up to you. When I was playing through the story, I actually got overwhelmed several times. So then I would replay the levels over and over to get a ton of exp. Gaining levels is a pretty quick process so it won’t take you long to grind. If you want to level up your equipped cards, then you do have to go into the temple mode though and hope for duplicates which is how you get the currency for those power ups.

My biggest issue here would be the cards in general since that power up scheme is a little too convoluted for me. It would be better if you could just power them up directly like you do with exp. I suppose they really wanted you to play the temple mode though. At least I can say that the cards aren’t super important to actually completing the game. The main story can be completed without getting them to a high level or anything like that.

You have 4 main characters who are playable here. Each of them gets a second form later on but fortunately the levels stick so you don’t have to grind the individual forms. They do require different cards for some reason though so get ready to spend a little extra time on your loadout. I give the game credit for making each character play differently though. Dai is always the most satisfying one to use but that’s partially because I had him at the highest level. The others had to work in order to reach that level. Maam’s good for healing abilities though, it’s nice to just heal endlessly.

A slight missed opportunity for the story mode was not having a level where you see the 4 characters fighting together though. I would have thought it just wasn’t possible but then in the temple mode you have all 4 fighting in real time so clearly that’s not the issue. Maybe it would have just been hard to code in but I absolutely think it would have helped to enhance the game 100%. Would have really made the final level feel huge in scope.

Overall, Dragon Quest is a pretty great action title. It’s definitely a lot different than the main line ones but as long as you enjoy beat em ups then you will enjoy this one as well. It’s direct and to the point. You’ll be getting a lot of content here and there is a solid amount of replay value for the trophies. If you really don’t like visual novel type storytelling, then that would be the only reason for me to tell you to be wary of this one. Otherwise you are all set for a good time.

Overall 8/10