dqb1<dqb2? also how long does it take to complete the game if i play only main story (not a side quest if theres any)?

[heime2003]

any improvement over dqb1 (in terms of gameplay mechanic and story)? i have played it on ps4 but is was not ported to pc

[lilisaur]

Same game engine, but updated with more tools and features. About double length of DQB1. DQB1 is something like 40 hours while DQB2 will run about 80. Like DQB1, all the "sidequests" are ultimately required. There's still alot of optional things you can or can't do, but they are mostly related to building rooms or satisfying conditions to earn Mini Medals that can be traded for better weaponry, armor, or new building materials. If you rush and play with a guide you might get it closer to 70 hours, but its hard for a first time player to do better than that. Even advanced players have trouble getting it under 60 (especially as you're more likely to do all the things you skipped the first time around.) Speedrunners have got an 'Any % completion' down to about 20 hours, 30 minutes but this is obviously not something a first time player could do. I've gone through the game five times and still have trouble wrapping my head around how anyone could do it it in under 35 hours, let alone near 20.

DQB2 is much easier than DQB1. DQB1 makes you drop half your inventory when you die but no such penalty in DQB2, and can save almost anywhere. You can also fall from a greater height without injury and better suffer hunger pains. There's alot more food and healing materials to makeit even easier. There also aren't any difficult timed challenges like the PS4 DQB1 had, so you can take your sweet time without having to rush to clear the challenge.

The story is better overall, but not as tightly integrated to the DQ1 story as DQB1 was - it only aligns closely in the second half of the game and many of the locations are invented for the game while most DQB1 locations were based on DQ1 locations. DQB1 operates as four independent chapters, but the islands of DQB2 can be revisited and even the residents of these islands can interact with each other to some degree. Your home island doubles as the Terra Incognita of DQB1, so the "sandbox mode" is better integrated into the story and across chapters as well.

You can also share your work in DQB2. The game features a photography element and you can post photos in game to a Noticeboard (which has a website, https://en.dragonquest-builders.com/ ). They even run contests for the photos. You acan also share your island with others to visit and ogle at your creations. There is limited multiplayer, but its really not so great. (And for Switch of PS4 version, you need the online subscriptions, Switch Online or PS Plus, to make use of the multiplayer mode.)

[heime2003]

Originally posted by lilisaur:

Same game engine, but updated with more tools and features. About double length of DQB1. DQB1 is something like 40 hours while DQB2 will run about 80. Like DQB1, all the "sidequests" are ultimately required. There's still alot of optional things you can or can't do, but they are mostly related to building rooms or satisfying conditions to earn Mini Medals that can be traded for better weaponry, armor, or new building materials. If you rush and play with a guide you might get it closer to 70 hours, but its hard for a first time player to do better than that. Even advanced players have trouble getting it under 60 (especially as you're more likely to do all the things you skipped the first time around.) Speedrunners have got an 'Any % completion' down to about 20 hours, 30 minutes but this is obviously not something a first time player could do. I've gone through the game five times and still have trouble wrapping my head around how anyone could do it it in under 35 hours, let alone near 20.

DQB2 is much easier than DQB1. DQB1 makes you drop half your inventory when you die but no such penalty in DQB2, and can save almost anywhere. You can also fall from a greater height without injury and better suffer hunger pains. There's alot more food and healing materials to makeit even easier. There also aren't any difficult timed challenges like the PS4 DQB1 had, so you can take your sweet time without having to rush to clear the challenge.

The story is better overall, but not as tightly integrated to the DQ1 story as DQB1 was - it only aligns closely in the second half of the game and many of the locations are invented for the game while most DQB1 locations were based on DQ1 locations. DQB1 operates as four independent chapters, but the islands of DQB2 can be revisited and even the residents of these islands can interact with each other to some degree. Your home island doubles as the Terra Incognita of DQB1, so the "sandbox mode" is better integrated into the story and across chapters as well.

You can also share your work in DQB2. The game features a photography element and you can post photos in game to a Noticeboard (which has a website, https://en.dragonquest-builders.com/ ). They even run contests for the photos. You acan also share your island with others to visit and ogle at your creations. There is limited multiplayer, but its really not so great. (And for Switch of PS4 version, you need the online subscriptions, Switch Online or PS Plus, to make use of the multiplayer mode.)

one thing i didnt liked n GQB1 was there was not a big settlement/city in playthrough. i wanted to see a bustling city that is full of people and shops. i know i can build one myself but the dev could put out one well made city so player can get inspiration from.

[lilisaur]

The towns in DQB2 are about the same size as those in DQB1. You'll be able to build up a big town yourself though, like can be done on Terra Incognita. A little bit bigger actually as the max room size was increased from 100 blocks to 150, but sadly DQB2 retains the same 100 room limit so you can't fill up the entire island with buildings (though you can still fake it to look like it is). But there's also a max of 60 residents (with up to 3 uncounted against this limit). This is a lot better than the 16 I think it was in DQB1, but unless its a very tiny island there's still a lot of space between people and it never feels too much like a bustling city. (Though this is true of practically every RPG game.) Some rooms, like dining halls or bars can get very crowded at certain parts of the day though. Ultimately, each of these residents are doing their own thing, so the more people, the slower the game may become during "rush hours", such as time to eat or time to go to bed, when everyone must calculate a route and then execute it simultaneously, which leads to frameskipping. Only way to solve this is herded groups moving in a basic, predetermined pattern (as seen in games like Simcity or Assassin's Creed series) - which don't really serve any purpose in an RPG type of game, where you're meant to interact with individual residents to learn clues and acquire sidequests.

[heime2003]

Originally posted by lilisaur:

The towns in DQB2 are about the same size as those in DQB1. You'll be able to build up a big town yourself though, like can be done on Terra Incognita. A little bit bigger actually as the max room size was increased from 100 blocks to 150, but sadly DQB2 retains the same 100 room limit so you can't fill up the entire island with buildings (though you can still fake it to look like it is). But there's also a max of 60 residents (with up to 3 uncounted against this limit). This is a lot better than the 16 I think it was in DQB1, but unless its a very tiny island there's still a lot of space between people and it never feels too much like a bustling city. (Though this is true of practically every RPG game.) Some rooms, like dining halls or bars can get very crowded at certain parts of the day though. Ultimately, each of these residents are doing their own thing, so the more people, the slower the game may become during "rush hours", such as time to eat or time to go to bed, when everyone must calculate a route and then execute it simultaneously, which leads to frameskipping. Only way to solve this is herded groups moving in a basic, predetermined pattern (as seen in games like Simcity or Assassin's Creed series) - which don't really serve any purpose in an RPG type of game, where you're meant to interact with individual residents to learn clues and acquire sidequests.

theres a sandbox mode in this game?

[Un_chien_idiot]

In the post-game yeah, i just finished the storyline
Let's go for a ridiculous amount of hours of building

[heime2003]

Originally posted by DDR:

In the post-game yeah, i just finished the storyline
Let's go for a ridiculous amount of hours of building

only after i finish the game at least once? i cant play sandbox anytime i want?

[Un_chien_idiot]

Originally posted by heime2003:

Originally posted by DDR:

In the post-game yeah, i just finished the storyline
Let's go for a ridiculous amount of hours of building

only after i finish the game at least once? i cant play sandbox anytime i want?

You can but it's more harder during the storyline than in post game i think.

The quests allow you to unlocks recipes but they are pretty limited because they are they are related to the story. It's kind of a huge tutorial (plotline of 60 hours min lel)

And when you finished the plotline, you can unlock them all the rest just by playing as the way you want, no more rules or NPC requierements.

[lilisaur]

It gives you sandbox mode almost right away (after about a 15-20 minute practical demo), but with hardly any material to work with (mostly Sand blocks and a few pieces of wood wall/flooring) More is unlocked as the game progresses, but the entire story must be completed to earn every type of building material and all the tools to assist in building.

Terra Incognita from DQB1 worked in similar fashion. You got more building material with each chapter you finished (wood with Cantlin, stone with Rimuldar, iron with Kol, and castle with Tantegel if I recall)

The general advace about not doing too much on Terra Incognita in DQB1 before finishing the last chapter applies to DQB2 as well. Once you've got everything, you can do more elaborate designs. You want to make a simple wood-only house? Sure you can do that right after the first chapter either game. Want to mix wood, stone, and castle parts standing on an angled base? Then you need to work though more of the story.