Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below Review (PS4)

Written by Bradley Marsh

Oh how I am jealous for Wii U owners having had to part with my console. I loved playing Hyrule Warriors and despite having access to the likes of Dynasty Warrors on next gen consoles and the VIta nothing quite felt the same.

Yet here I am with Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below a game as far removed from what I understood a Dragon Quest game to be, as I can imagine. From the very first moment I picked up the Dragon Quest Heroes it felt familiar, more than it should have.

I will admit it is a game I paid little attention to once I heard of its reveal, not through ignorance, but just I knew I wanted to play a Dragon Quest game and was happy to avoid all media coverage and see what fell on my lap come release day.

Because it felt so similar to Hyrule Warrior and Dynasty Warriors I had to dig a little after my first moments with the game. Lo and behold, the reason I felt like I knew this game, was because the team working on it was Omega Force.

Y’know, the guys who developed Dynasty Warriors, Hyrule Warriors, Toukiden, Warriors Orochi and much more. This was one of theirs, using another new setting and basically a new skin. Want to know something? I couldn’t be happier.

The various ‘Warriors’ games are wonderful to pick up and waste time on, just destroying endless waves of enemies and feeling like a general badass. The very moment you pick up a controller, whether you have experience of Omega Force games or not, you just know what to do. You hack & slash your way through arenas with a huge grin on your face just enjoying what is happening on the screen before you.

With Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below, this is no different and whilst there is a story to follow, you can easily ignore it, enter a level and murder everything that dare stand in your way.

Personally I’d like to say there is more to it than that. That there is a bit more depth and sophistication when you scratch below the surface, but the truth it, there simply isn’t and that is a good thing. As not every game needs to have this deep meaningful reason to exist. Sometimes you just want to enjoy a spectacle, pick something up and play it. This is one such game.

Of course there are the opportunities to level up your characters and make them better, but that is all fairly streamlined as the game pretty much just urges you to get into the action. But there are a few things that make it feel different to Omega Force’s usual affair.

Because it is based on the Dragon Quest series, it feels like there is much more emphasis on telling a story and giving substance to the characters. This is something I felt would hamper the game a little, but in actual fact it has made me want to try some of the mainline Dragon Quest games.

The presentation too seems to be up there with Hyrule Warriors, which felt like it finally showed Omega Force could actually add polish to their overall experience. Looking through videos and stills of other Dragon Quest games, there is no doubt whatsoever that this is part of that world.

Compared to other games from Omega Force there is a lack of extras, with the game focusing on the story driven campaign and being aimed more at the single player, rather than a co-op experience. This is pretty disappointing to start with, but the longer you play, there less you miss that option. Yet it wouild have been nice to have.

The one thing I did feel though, is unlike Hyrule Warriors, there is no need to go back and play it over and over, once the campaign is finished that really does feel like that is it. Whereas Hyrule Warriors felt wonderful repeating mission and using different characters, this just didn’t have that and is honestly a one and done game for me.

That isn’t to say that one isn’t a wonderful experience, because it truly is and having finished I am already looking forward to some kind of sequel, hopefully to include more of the options that make and Omega Force game the wonderful entities they are.

Overall 8/10

Colour Blind Issues - No

Review Code - Yes

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime Review (DS)

 

Whatever is a hero to do? Rocket the Slime was quietly gooing about his business when the evil Plob turned up and kidnapped all the residents of Boingburg. Now it's up to Rocket to return everyone and rebuild the town. Yes, this can mean only one thing... it is going to be a very silly game.

Rocket Slime is an adventure game set in the Dragon Quest world, but is not a classic Dragon Quest-style RPG. Apart from the name and the creatures present, there is hardly anything here recognisable from the franchise with not a turn-based battle or random encounter in sight. Rocket Slime is an adventure more in the Zelda mould, but even that comparison is somewhat misleading. Indeed, what we have here is something very rare: a collection of original ideas.

The game is split into three main parts. First, there is the town, which will gradually be rebuilt as Rocket rescues Slimes. Here you can talk to people and save the game along with the usual town-based activities of buying items and upgrading equipment. Then there is the actual adventuring part; after picking a location, you will go off to bounce around and see what you can find. Any Slimes or items found must be put on rafts or carts that run through each level and take things back to the town.

 

Last but not least are the tank battles. After a level or so, Rocket will find a huge slime-shaped tank which he will need in order to fight Plob's machines of destruction. The items you send back to the town invariably end up as some form of ammunition for the tank battle which occurs in real time. Here, Rocket and his crew of three (who can be given different orders) must run around the tank picking up the ammunition that comes out of various chutes, then throw it into one of two cannons.There are lots of different types of ammo, all of which behave differently, and you can even jump into the cannon yourself to try to get inside the opposition tank in order to sabotage it. Once the enemy's tank has lost its hit points, you have to run over and try and smash through the machine's metal heart to destroy it. It is a unique battle system and one that works very well.

Rocket himself has little need to carry around items or weapons and most things he picks up are only useful as ammo for the tank. The only real exception is the slime knight who sits on Rocket's head and can be used to slash at enemies. Without one of these, Rocket must stretch himself out and then spring back like an elastic band to attack monsters. Pretty much anything can be picked up and stuck on a raft or cart; even the monsters themselves can be sent back to town where you can then go and talk to them as they run around. Once enough of one type of monster is caught, a statue of them will be built in the library.

The game is not particularly long, or difficult. Realistically, it will probably take no more than about ten hours to finish the main story and the few side quests that are available (which normally involve finding a certain amount of a particular object). Furthermore, Gamestyle did not actually die until the last level itself, and that was in a tank battle (though admittedly there where a few close calls along the way). This aside, the adventure itself is very enjoyable and each level has something unique and distinctive about it that makes them all fun to play.

What we have here is arguably the first real adventure game on the DS, and a very good one it is as well. You would expect Zelda to have a little more to it when it arrives, but everything Rocket Slime does, it does very well and is one of the most enjoyable titles to arrive for a fair few years. It comes highly recommended and everyone who wants an adventure title with some new ideas should not think twice about picking up a copy. We can only hope that later entries into the series will be as fun and original and also that the tank battle system makes its way into a full fledged Dragon Quest game at the next available opportunity.

8/10