Hero saves princess, kills a demon lord, gets rizz

So Anyways, Dragon Quest... how do I even begin? This game has inspired more people over than many fantasy stories have before. The art style, the music, the gameplay. All of it brought together to make a new genre of gaming. while the game doesn't hold up as well with todays standards, it still has this simplistic groove to it that makes it shout "It was me !!!". This game started so many trends with rpg's its hard to count. This is of course all thanks to the countless people who helped make it.

The gameplay is as basic of rpg mechanics as you can get, and that makes sense since it started almost all of them. despite how the game is a grindy turn based rpg with little direction on how and what to do, you cant help but appreciate how it all started here. The grind can be rough, but manageable with how you can just watch something else while you play or even play it in small bursts like I did on my phone. The story is a very run of the mill basic fantasy story of "Hero saves princess, kills bad guy, gets married". This was a game on NES so I don't blame it for going for a short simple story. I do think the simplicity of everything is the charm for it. The music is also an incredible bop that I still love even now, though the music got very repetitive with how every battle encounter was THE SAME EXACT SONG. Its a great song but, with how much you u need to grind, it gets reeeeaaaalllllyyy tiring.

The big reason I played this game was due to the unfortunate passing of Akira Toriyama. His art give this game the personality it needed to shape this world into something truly goofy and whimsical. For example, for those who don't know, when it came to designing the iconic slime, it started off as a small pile of sludge on floor for its design. Toriyama saw the sketch and took and it made it into the happy little dew drop it is now, creating what is the main mascot of the series. He would take the plain and turn it into the creative. You helped make many wonderful things, thank you Toriyama. may you rest in peace always.

This is a really easy game to beat within 8 hours or less. it helps to find a guide if you can but I would recommend it for anyone who wants to see where it all begin or needs a quick and easy distraction.

Convince a cult of sad peasants to join up in your way better and cooler cult, did we also mention we a have pool with 7 stone statues and a bar?

So anyways, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a game I originally didn't expect too much out of. I expected a type of Minecraft clone with some Dragon Quest flair. However what I found was a story that helps to push those who have lost something, to find the courage to rebuild and keep going. Despite this being a crafting and building game like Minecraft, it chooses to focus itself on a story mode. You will go from island to island helping the inhabitants restore their home and former glory. Most have lost the will to build and survive anymore, many being pushed to abandon their homes and live in the wild or the ruins of before. While the story (at first) handles itself in a very mild way with the storytelling, as I got through more of the game it started to throw curve balls at me that I never expected. characters started to ask me questions for things I didn't have any real answers to. Situations came up where all I could do is just sit and watch with little control over the outcome. This game starts to make you existential...

Uuuuhhhhh...

so anyways...

The gameplay I found super neat where it feels more like town/base building. You can take on requests from the villagers and build specific types of rooms or buildings for them. The neat part is the fact that these rooms each serve a type of functionality that the inhabitants can interact with. Some help with cooking, some are personalized rooms for sleeping, and some help with farming. There's many different rooms and type combos to find and build, the game doesn't tell you all of them and leaves you to try and experiment with different blocks, decorations, and layouts. The combat is very basic and run of the mill "press X to swing sword" and all the bosses are just a single gimmick that you punish 3 times and win. The game has a great assortment of tools and decoration to build with, which is heavily well shown with how the loading screens will display the amazing creations that others have created.

I think Dragon Quest Builders 2 has a surprising amount of depth that I was not ready for. The game picks up immensely in the second half. even with the first half not being as crazy, I think its still worth checking out this very charming game.

Due to the massive popularity of rolling random shit up, the fans have requested for even more shit to be recycled. The King then forms para social relationships with everyone in order to bolster his own ego.

So Anyways, We Love Katamari is such a short and charming game. The amount of dopamine I get for rolling up all the haters in the world is astounding. Nothing brings me more joy then reforming the universe via balls. This is a very simple game to get into, but incredibly difficult to master. The controls are VERY unique, however they can sometimes be the biggest obstacle for newcomers. Having to use both joysticks to move the ball around and push it with little camera control can be hard for those who never played a Katamari game before. I think its one of the things that makes it so fun to play as well strangely enough. Its a bit of a challenge to master how to play this game, and once you can every level can become a cakewalk. it's very rewarding to be able to roll up stuff even quicker because of this patience to learn the mechanics and the level layout. This game plays like one of those "very satisfying" videos where someone has a glue ball and starts rolling up glitter and shit. I love having visual stimulation by seeing giant balls get bigger.

The visual style is honestly so dang charming to me, it gives me the vibe of one of those insane Japanese commercials. It's frantic/over the top with every cutscene and visual. The best is when you find something extremely silly in the levels themselves. Running into different whacky elements brings such a fun distraction as you roll up children away from their families only to later be united together inside THE GREAT SPHERICAL ONE!!!!

Katamari has good replay ability to pick up whenever. This is due to how levels can be very short with some only being about 3 minutes to a max of 20 minutes. Being able to hit up a level again and trying to out due your previous time and size can feel so rewarding. I personally liked playing this game while watching something in the background, this is because I found levels so easy to guide me on paths of where I need to go. Despite the timer feeling like it should pressure me more, the game does a good job of laying out items that help direct you towards both growth and the goal.

on a last quick note, the extra challenge modes in Royal Reverie expansion were super neat, however felt like it was a lot of the same. I do recommend checking them out if you play, but just be warned of the difficulty with some levels.

I recommend anyone to try this game, even if the controls push you away a bit. It's a short and easy game to get into and finish within a few days. Always push on and roll yourself a big ol' star to make The King proud.