This truly had the makings of a great game, and in some regards, it does shine. Unfortunately, this needed more time in the oven, as it didn't live up to the expectations of its predecessors.
This is still a fun game; the synthesis and monster fusion mechanics are the best they have ever been, the world is vibrant and interesting, and the combat is strategic and calculated. The biggest downside to this is the story and characterization. Not that I was expecting a glorious tale, however, Dragon Quest has a reputation for light-hearted yet deep stories of heroes and monsters in a fantastical world. On top of that, this was to be a retelling of an older title story, mainly Dragon Quest 4's story but told through the lens of one of the villains, Psaro.
What we get instead is what amounts to a fetch quest in segmented areas that don't add any nuance to the original plot. Psaro and his team just tend to change their minds about things on a whim, and very little is dedicated to certain plot points or character moments. It truly feels like going from one plot beat to the next.
It was extremely disappointing that the story was as bad as it was because otherwise, this game does play quite well. Which makes it even more unfortunate that this game has almost no post-game content to offer. There is 1 new area to explore and a couple of super bosses to face, but that amounted to ~3 hours more of gameplay. Dragon Quest is known for its sprawling post-game, so to barely have any is extremely shocking.
I can recommend this game to people who like the Monster Taming genre. By all accounts, it is better than most of the Switch Pokemon games in many ways. However, as its own game and by the standards of games within this series, it should be so much more. If it goes on sale, definitely check it out at least, but don't expect Dragon Quest 11.
This is still a fun game; the synthesis and monster fusion mechanics are the best they have ever been, the world is vibrant and interesting, and the combat is strategic and calculated. The biggest downside to this is the story and characterization. Not that I was expecting a glorious tale, however, Dragon Quest has a reputation for light-hearted yet deep stories of heroes and monsters in a fantastical world. On top of that, this was to be a retelling of an older title story, mainly Dragon Quest 4's story but told through the lens of one of the villains, Psaro.
What we get instead is what amounts to a fetch quest in segmented areas that don't add any nuance to the original plot. Psaro and his team just tend to change their minds about things on a whim, and very little is dedicated to certain plot points or character moments. It truly feels like going from one plot beat to the next.
It was extremely disappointing that the story was as bad as it was because otherwise, this game does play quite well. Which makes it even more unfortunate that this game has almost no post-game content to offer. There is 1 new area to explore and a couple of super bosses to face, but that amounted to ~3 hours more of gameplay. Dragon Quest is known for its sprawling post-game, so to barely have any is extremely shocking.
I can recommend this game to people who like the Monster Taming genre. By all accounts, it is better than most of the Switch Pokemon games in many ways. However, as its own game and by the standards of games within this series, it should be so much more. If it goes on sale, definitely check it out at least, but don't expect Dragon Quest 11.