Talk me out of my bad review.

[oddeyedl]

Major flaws:
- Boring combat its way way to easy.
- Pacing is awful and slow its way way to boring sometimes, I have 25 hours and I feel like half of that is spent in conversation, the other half 90% is building its a game ffs.
- World is boring a small handfull of exceptions aside its not very exciting. Combat being as facerolly as it is is a MAJOR part of that.

Minor flaws:
-too much focus on building WAY too much its DRAGON QUEST see thats the first part of the name THEN its says BUILDERS at the end, the title of the game isnt BUILDERS OF DRAGON QUEST, which is what this game is your a f u king game developer ffs. I WANT TO PLAY SOMETHING NOT STAND AND READ AND BUILD RPG TOWNS. I actually would not hate the building AS MUCH if the world was more engaging and it just is not. Its Lego Harry Potter at its best.


Lego Harry Potter folks the game I play with my 5 year old nephew. Lego Harry Potter with building thats what this game is convince me im wrong you have 48 hours if your interested to change my mind.

[Fireball1765]

The DRAGON QUEST part is a label to easily define what franchise this is. The BUILDERS refers to the type of game. The reason there's less space is a means to prevent people with older PCs from being unable to play. It's clearly a building game, but the first thing you complain about is the combat. The pacing is made in a similar way as their older games. It's based off of a continuation of one after all.

[lilisaur]

Not wrong about the combat aspect - it is meant to be very basic and easy, especially early in the game. Later, you gain some more combat skills, such as a coop-de-grace move combo with Malroth, or other combat partners who have ranged or magical attacks. They wanted the game to focus more on the building and exploration aspects, and not so much on combat. If you want exciting swordplay, they already have that covered in the Heroes games.

There is a lot of text and dialogue; it is an RPG after all. Pacing is a bit more up to you. If you're 25 hours in you really should have gotten well into to the second story island unless you're toiling around building things for your own amusement. You should have seen five different islands by that point with four different biomes, four scavenger hunts to complete, and likely between 15 and 19 mini medal puzzles, so if the world is still boring at the 25 hour mark then I'm not sure it's ever going to please you.

I can't see how 'too much focus on building' in a sandbox block building game is a flaw though. Its like saying Street Fighter has too much focus on punching and kicking.

[bagandscalpel]

I won't talk you out of your review, in fact, you should go back to LEGO Harry Potter since it seems to be the ideal playpen for someone who has to justify using a real or imaginary "5 year old nephew" to play it.

[Aura]

Across all the forums I frequent and social media the consensus so far seems to be that we need MORE games like this one-of-a-kind chibi building game. Seems like you're the only person who didn't understand from the title alone that this is a Building game in the Dragon Quest Franchise. Franchise name always goes first.
There are millions of combat games out there. Leave this niche game alone and go play one of those if that's what you are after... Builders is not for those who hate building.

[oddeyedl]

Originally posted by Aura:

Across all the forums I frequent and social media the consensus so far seems to be that we need MORE games like this one-of-a-kind chibi building game. Seems like you're the only person who didn't understand from the title alone that this is a Building game in the Dragon Quest Franchise. Franchise name always goes first.
There are millions of combat games out there. Leave this niche game alone and go play one of those if that's what you are after... Builders is not for those who hate building.

Of all the comments Ill respond to this as it seems to encapsulate what everyone is basically saying. I dont hate building I just didnt know this game is THAT buildcentric. Its really not an adventure game at all and if thats not what its trying to be then it needs to take the name Dragon and Quest out because that part of the game is really really weaksauce and my review will reflect that. This game is a really good builder game and nothing more it should be focused on running a town like majesty for example. To me the "dragon quest" part feels like lego harry potter.

[oddeyedl]

Originally posted by bagandscalpel:

I won't talk you out of your review, in fact, you should go back to LEGO Harry Potter since it seems to be the ideal playpen for someone who has to justify using a real or imaginary "5 year old nephew" to play it.

you assume I imagine a 5 year old into existence so I can f y cking reference a video game that has simple, childlike, lowskill, uninteresting, combat? The only way you can imagine something like that is if you live within context of something like that being a reality for YOU, so if anyone is ACTUALLY much older and playing harry potter lego its probably you! Which would explain why you like this game with shallow, dumb, uninspired combat.

[lilisaur]

Why would they take the Dragon Quest name out of a game that is heavily wrapped up into the Dragon Quest series, and whose backstory is directly related to the events of Dragon Quest II? If it features weapons, armor, items, locations, and monsters common to the DQ series, and serves as a direct sequel to DQ2, why wouldn't they call it a Dragon Quest game?

Furthermore, its not the first DQB game - Dragon Quest Builders was designed as a possible sequel to the first Dragon Quest (in which the hero accepted the Dragonlord's offer to share half the world rather than defeat him), and had many of the weapons, armor, items, locations, and monsters familiar to the series, too. I assume your argument covers this game as well, for the same reasons.

So I don't understand why you think they shouldn't have called it Dragon Quest Builders. Its not like they slapped the name together just for name recognition: they integrated more than enough familiar elements of the main series to qualify.

Futhermore, if SquareEnix had gone another way, and just made "Generic Block Builders" with absolutely no connection to Dragon Quest at all, they'd have had to spend more money on development on both games instead of reusing story ideas, art, 3d models, and music - all of which had already been created for previous DQ games. So the games would have cost more to develop, and without such a familiar series name attached to it, undoubtedly would have sold poorer as well. This is how video game franchises work. So had it been "Generic Block Builders", there's a fair chance it would never have come west, that there never would have been a sequel, that you wouldn't even have a chance to play it on PC to even complain about it, and we'd still be treating Minecraft as the gold standard of block building sandbox games instead of DQB2.

Look, I get it that the game doesn't appeal to everyone. That's normal. I'm not a big fan of first person shooters - but I totally understand why everyone keeps making them. ($$$) Its a shame DQB2 doesn't appeal to you. If you want to post a bad review because it didn't meant your expectations, that's fine. But keep your complaints to the things that correctly apply. You're not going to get much pushback on how much dialogue there is - on that point just about everyone agrees. If you expected more of the combat aspect, okay - there was certainly room for improvement there. But as to the name, it reuses more than enough familiar elements from previous Dragon Quest games to qualify as one, and if you're upset that it has Builders in the name and has too much building, that seems like its on you: they provided a very long demo to demonstrate just how much building there is before anyone has to commit to buy.

[oddeyedl]

Originally posted by lilisaur:

Why would they take the Dragon Quest name out of a game that is heavily wrapped up into the Dragon Quest series, and whose backstory is directly related to the events of Dragon Quest II? If it features weapons, armor, items, locations, and monsters common to the DQ series, and serves as a direct sequel to DQ2, why wouldn't they call it a Dragon Quest game?

Furthermore, its not the first DQB game - Dragon Quest Builders was designed as a possible sequel to the first Dragon Quest (in which the hero accepted the Dragonlord's offer to share half the world rather than defeat him), and had many of the weapons, armor, items, locations, and monsters familiar to the series, too. I assume your argument covers this game as well, for the same reasons.

So I don't understand why you think they shouldn't have called it Dragon Quest Builders. Its not like they slapped the name together just for name recognition: they integrated more than enough familiar elements of the main series to qualify.

Futhermore, if SquareEnix had gone another way, and just made "Generic Block Builders" with absolutely no connection to Dragon Quest at all, they'd have had to spend more money on development on both games instead of reusing story ideas, art, 3d models, and music - all of which had already been created for previous DQ games. So the games would have cost more to develop, and without such a familiar series name attached to it, undoubtedly would have sold poorer as well. This is how video game franchises work. So had it been "Generic Block Builders", there's a fair chance it would never have come west, that there never would have been a sequel, that you wouldn't even have a chance to play it on PC to even complain about it, and we'd still be treating Minecraft as the gold standard of block building sandbox games instead of DQB2.

Look, I get it that the game doesn't appeal to everyone. That's normal. I'm not a big fan of first person shooters - but I totally understand why everyone keeps making them. ($$$) Its a shame DQB2 doesn't appeal to you. If you want to post a bad review because it didn't meant your expectations, that's fine. But keep your complaints to the things that correctly apply. You're not going to get much pushback on how much dialogue there is - on that point just about everyone agrees. If you expected more of the combat aspect, okay - there was certainly room for improvement there. But as to the name, it reuses more than enough familiar elements from previous Dragon Quest games to qualify as one, and if you're upset that it has Builders in the name and has too much building, that seems like its on you: they provided a very long demo to demonstrate just how much building there is before anyone has to commit to buy.

Thank you for your response I get that you think the game is the bees knees but if you do not consider truthful criticism you never grow. Square Enix has been trending in the direction of dumbing down their games the last DQ was a total joke unless you put draconian quest mode on, and this is a joke too. Its hard to want to take the building mode seriously when the game offers you nothing to really get serious about. The story certianly shines here and there and the writing is amazing but there is nothing at all about the world that really pulls you in. Its a hard pass for me because of how dumbed down and childish the world feels.

[Uugly]

The game is sort of boring. Building is the main thing but still boring after a while. Only play the first game for less than 10 hours, the combat is similar but harder.

Partner, he does get annoying a lots. He going around cutting tree because you to destroy the stump. He is also another problem that make the game easier.

There is the point of healing and food when you just spam a creature to death and no consequence from dying.

Map does feel is far too small with very few variety of creatures.

Story feel like a massive tutorial.

Game is made for kids.

[lilisaur]

Originally posted by oddeyedl:

Thank you for your response I get that you think the game is the bees knees but if you do not consider truthful criticism you never grow.

Why does everyone who posts a bad review about this game have to resort to stupid personal attacks like this? Rather than argue against the game, they argue against the people defending it.

So let's run with it. In fact there have been several DQ games since DQ 11, which I presume you're talking about regarding the Draconian modes. Which bothers me since you claim to know what DQ11 and the greater Dragon Quest series is all about, but then complain about it being too lighthearted and easy (in your words "childish"). So I can't figure out if you actually know what the Dragon Quest series is or not. Its always sought a younger audience and takes itself less seriously than rival series like Final Fantasy or Tales. Its part of the Dragon Quest series' charm. I mean, are you going around posting bad reviews about Super Mario games because the hero jumps on enemies' heads rather than pulling out a machine gun and shooting them at long range like an adult would? If you'd played DQ11 or just about any other DQ game, you should have known this game would have a similar lighthearted feel and be on the easy side. You shouldn't expect a very serious game with dark overtones from Dragon Quest. If you knew this going into DQB2, and are mad that it turned out exactly as you knew it should, then you've deluded yourself. I'm not going to buy the next Zelda or Metroid or Halo game expecting them to be chock full of humorous exploits. I know the tone to expect from these series. Going online to post about them not being childish or funny enough is less criticism than rant.

You specifically asked to be talked out of posting a bad review, and I'm not against you posting one if you want - I'm against certain points in your review which shouldn't apply. Complaining that the series as a whole isn't want you want it to be isn't criticism of this one game, it's too generalized over the entire series. Complaining that it should have been called Builders of Dragon Quest doesn't tell anybody anything new about the game - its just word order. If you were trying to make the argument that this game would have been better off with no Dragon Quest influence at all, then give a comparison to a similar block-building sandbox game that doesn't. (Though Minecraft is about it, and the DQB series is widely accepted to look and sound better, with much greater emphasis on story. The Lego games are generally considered to be adventure games and not sandboxes. if you think its too much like Lego Harry Potter, state how they are similar because I suspect most of us have not played LHP.) You say the game can't be taken seriously because it offers nothing to get serious about. Is the death of a main character in the first story island not enough for you? The sacrifice of another in the second story island? The backstabbing and betrayals of the third? The growing threat of the Children of Hargon? The schism that erupts between building and Malroth late in the game? What more are you seeking here? Examples of where the game tries to be serious and in your opinion fails would help build your case.

You asked for criticism of your review then don't accept any of it and insult the people who give it. By your own definition, you're refusing to grow, and instead of looking like you're asking for advice on how to refine the arguments in your review, you come off looking like your post was made only to troll the people who enjoy the game. And nobody takes reviews from trolls seriously. You want help, fine. If you don't want help, then don't make a post with false intentions solely to suck the fans in so you can troll them.

[Aapef]

Dragon quest is a brand, not just a type of game anymore. If you bought a slime plushe with "Dragon Quest" undoubtably written on the box, you wouldn't complain it's not a turn-based JRPG game right? Same thing here. It kinda feels like you didn't read past half the title before buying it.

As for the gameplay, it's not flawless for sure. It can be of course compared to minecraft although they aim for a different experience.
DQB has no procedural inifinite map, is overall more clunky, has less deep for combat mechanics and missed some things with the buildings (like the ability to put certain blocks upside down).

On the other hand you get the DQ brand, a story, a room system with NPCs interacting with them, monsters you can recruit, etc...

It also clearly did stuff bad like the voices Malroth hears that everybody wants to skip because they stay on screen for eras.

It also has some system reductions, mostly for Switch afaik, which translate to other versions because they want crossplay in. These take the form of room limits, crops limits and mostly a reason for the limited islands you get (no chunk system so your inhabitants can do their stuff wherever you are on the island).

All in all it has flaws and is a bit clunky (even more so on switch ngl), but it adds things that I wish I could find in other games (like rooms and NPCs to use your creations). It's meant to be a building game with RPG elements (narration, NPCs, exploration), not the opposite imo.

[Bongoboy]

Dragon Quest Builders 1 has 50% exploration/combat and 50% building.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 has 25% exploration/combat and 75% building.

I do not understand what you expected. This is a game as if you take Minecraft, Zelda and Dragon Quest and give it a good shake. It has Minecraft like building, (Snes)Zelda like combat with a Dragon Quest like story.

Yes the story is slow, yes the combat is very simple without the myriad mechanics Dark Souls like games come with... but why complaining that the game is a building game... that would be like buying Minecraft and saying "combat is simple, too much building".

[Icedfate]

based on OP's complaints, i dunno why OP bought the game in the first place,
it's nit like they misrepresented what the game was. they even supplied access to a "jumbo demo".
if OP bought the game anyway, expecting something other than what they got, that's on them.
do your research, before buying a game.
myself. . i played through the jumbo demo twice. still on the fence about the full version.

that being said, one thing i always liked about the dragon quest games was seeking out all the different types of monsters and fighting them and collecting all the rare drops they drop and learning the skills from leveling up.
i'm not sure if this game has much of that. like with the combat, do enemies have rare loot drops that you need to farm for?

anither thing i liked in dragon quest games was monster taming , which is not in every game and is often implemented differently in different games.

what i really want to see is dragon quest monster ported to pc.
like dragon quest monsters : joker 3, which we never got in The States and the only way to play it is emulator and i don't want to resort to that

[Bongoboy]

Originally posted by Icedfate:

based on OP's complaints, i dunno why OP bought the game in the first place,
it's nit like they misrepresented what the game was. they even supplied access to a "jumbo demo".
if OP bought the game anyway, expecting something other than what they got, that's on them.
do your research, before buying a game.
myself. . i played through the jumbo demo twice. still on the fence about the full version.

I beat Dragon Quest Builders 1 when it released, then I played the Demo of Dragon Quest Builders 2 for 20 hours. I didn't build up the city, just played normally, 20 hours is what I cal "jumbo" lol.

The main game is just like the Demo.
Like already in the first Dragon Quest Builders, you go to a island, find the town, help the townspeople out and build up the town. You just also have a big island, where you can build to your hearts content, in Dragon Quest Builders 1 you could not bring over materials from story mode to the builder mode... in Dragon Quest Builder 2 you can bring over materials.

Originally posted by Icedfate:

that being said, one thing i always liked about the dragon quest games was seeking out all the different types of monsters and fighting them and collecting all the rare drops they drop and learning the skills from leveling up.
i'm not sure if this game has much of that. like with the combat, do enemies have rare loot drops that you need to farm for?

Dragon Quest Builders 2 does have quite many monsters, there are also kinda rare monsters that stand around in a certain spot on the map that you can kill for special items, I believe on the first island the farm, there should be a dragon somewhere.

You do not learn skills from leveling up, but if you fins certain building material you do learn new recipes.
There are rare items you need/can farm, if you beat the story mode that doesn't mean you seen all the equipment and gear. There are quite some items hidden.

Originally posted by Icedfate:

anither thing i liked in dragon quest games was monster taming , which is not in every game and is often implemented differently in different games.

In Dragon Quest Builders 2's story you run around with a sidekick. There is a spot in the game, where you learn how to tame monsters, then you can run around with that sidekick and a monster both at your side. Some monsters you can ride, which is really handy when you explore those RNG generated isles.
Later on, you can visit isles, that are themed after a biome, they have a randomly generated area and when you leave they get deleted. So you can basically (mis)use them to gather blocks.

That big "Builder Island" you can populate with people from the Story Islands or people you find on those RNG islands. There are also 3 "Buildertopias" which are smaller islands you can build stuff and that is saved.
You can not only use people to populate both islands, but monsters also.

Originally posted by Icedfate:

what i really want to see is dragon quest monster ported to pc.
like dragon quest monsters : joker 3, which we never got in The States and the only way to play it is emulator and i don't want to resort to that

Interesting, I didn't know about that. But then again I am not a big fan of Dragon Quest, I never played any Dragon Quest RPG and when I seen Dragon Quest Builders 1 I thought that's a nice idea and since I liked Minecraft I wanted to give it a go. I ended up really liking it allot, which made me buy the second one as well.
I have Dragon Quest 11 which I didn't beat yet... but should really beat.

In the end you need to decide. Dragon Quest Builders 2 is right now 40% off, according to howlongtobeat you need 55 to 80 hours to beat the Main Story and 90-160 if you want to do it all.

I would say if you really liked the Demo... the full game is just exactly like that. It has several Islands like the one you can play in the demo for the Story Mode, all of which are as fun as the island in the Demo.

[lilisaur]

Originally posted by Icedfate:

do enemies have rare loot drops that you need to farm for?

Yes. There are "superstrong" monsters in the game that will drop rare items or provide new recipes when first beaten. The Jumbo Demo provides three of them in Furrowfield: The Orc King north of Fat Rat Rise provides an Yggdrasil Leaf, the Crabber Dabber Doo on the western shore provides the Turtle Shell armor recipe, and the Illerpillar living under the Clifftop Cabin provides the Poison Needle recipe. Almost every island offers between 2 and 4 superstrong monsters.

Bongoboy is in error about a dragon. He is likely confusing it with Dragon Quest Builders 1, where there are three dragons to be beaten in the first area. There are dragons later in DQB2 of course.

Bongoboy is also wrong in that you do learn some recipes and skills as you level up. But the ones you learn from superstrong monsters can't ever be learn through leveling up (or vice versa)

Originally posted by Icedfate:

anither thing i liked in dragon quest games was monster taming , which is not in every game and is often implemented differently in different games.

DQB2 offers some monster taming, and unlocks right around the midpoint in the game. You can't recruit every monster, only certain types. (Around 15 types I think, providing 35 or so different monsters.) They will fight with you, but are primarily more useful for their skills. For example you can recruit a Sabrecat and ride on its back for quick travel (as in DQ8), grab a Chimaera's tail and be hoisted higher in the sky to climb mountains easier, or ride on the shoulders of a Golem to punch holes through the landscape. Others aren't so useful in a fight, but may have useful skills in your base: Slimes will sit on a bonfire once a day and provide free Oil, Muddy Hands can cook, Powie Yowies will create snowfields similar to how Wriggly can clean up spoiled soils into Earth, and Liquid Metal Slimes will play a game of chase once a day for 100 gratitude. These are just a few examples.

Originally posted by Icedfate:

what i really want to see is dragon quest monster ported to pc.

DQB2 doesn't really get too deep into monster taming. But if that's your thing, then the new Treasures game is the closest you'll get to the DQM experience. It is much more invested in monster friends than DQB2, which is primarily human interactions.