—Demo Review— Dragon Quest Builders

I got an email from Squeenix letting me know there was a free playable demo of this game in the PlayStation Store. Even though I'm not a Minecraft-style of game fan, I do like a good JRPG-style story type of game. Figured if anything could make me a Minecraft fan, it would be this game. 

---

***Dragon Quest Builders***

Published and developed by Square Enix 

To Be Released Oct 11, 2016
Sandbox, Action, RPG

For PS4, PS Vita | Review: PS4

*Rated E10 for Everyone 10+*

Alcohol Reference | Fantasy Violence | Mild Blood

Mild Language | Mild Suggestive Themes
(Click HERE for more esrb rating details.)

HGG Score: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 8/10

Synopsis? 

You are Bildrick and you are the only one left in the world with the ability to build and create things. It is up to you to restore the world to what it once was. Oh, and you have amnesia, so you don't know why the world is the way it is now.

First impressions? 

Cute. It's Minecraft with a JRPG feel, but the graphics aren't as...sharp (for lack of a better word) as Minecraft. They're not 8-bit style the way Minecraft is, more of a cutesy, portable-gaming-system style of graphics.

Graphics and voices? 

Yeah, I kinda got into this a little in the "First impressions" section above. Cute graphics, very suitable. There are no voices, just screens of dialogue. I love the music. Very soothing, and greatly reminds me of the original NES game Dragon Warrior—which I'm given to understand was the very start of the Dragon Quest series.

Gameplay? 

The gameplay is totally Minecraft. Smash things to collect materials, use those materials to craft things and build buildings and such. There are quests to do, of course, very much in the JRPG style, though fighting is definitely not in the JRPG style. At all. Which makes sense, since it's action, not turn-based.

In the super long (about 15 mins) video below, you can see me floundering along, trying to figure out how to play this game. I pretty much demonstrate everything I talked about above. I also demonstrate how very bad I am at putting blocks where I want them... or understanding where they're supposed to go...

Storyline? 

From what I can tell, it's a pretty typical JRPG-like story, but with a Minecraft twist. You're some sort of savior, it's your job to restore the world to what it once was, but you're not a hero... which probably means you actually are.

The main story quest, at least as far as the demo goes, is pretty basic, just getting you started in rebuilding the world. Not sure how far it actually goes, since I haven't finished the demo yet.

Complaints? 

None, really. It is what it is.

Overall? 

If you don't like Minecraft or the Dragon Quest franchise, or JRPG-style stories, you probably won't like this. On a personal level, I'll probably play the demo to the end, and I might even get the full game. It's a pretty decent demo.

HGG score? 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 8/10 life hearts.
Grab this demo and give it a shot. I think kids will love it. Mine seem quite fascinated by it.

Where to buy?
This demo is available for free in the PlayStation Store only, for PS4 and PS Vita. The full game is set to be released Oct 11, 2016.

*Dragon Quest is owned by Square Enix, who does not in any way endorse this gaming / fan / reviews blog.

Until next time...