The Switch's first Dragon Quest in the west shows how to build upon a great
This, with any luck, will be the year of Dragon Quest in the west. Details on Dragon Quest 11's localisation are still nowhere to be seen - it's due at some point in 2018, the last we heard - and when that occasion finally comes it'll mark the series' first all-new mainline release over here since 2009's exceptional Dragon Quest 9. Before all that, though, there's the chance to get reacquainted with Dragon Quest Builders, one of the series' many spin-offs, when it comes to the Switch later this week, and having spent a couple of dozen hours in this new version's company the past few weeks I strongly recommend that you do.
You might be familiar with Dragon Quest Builders' core concept - indeed, you may well be familiar with much more seeing how the game initially released back in 2016 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita - and it's all told in one easy to parse statement. This is, quite simply, Dragon Quest meets Minecraft, with an element of free-form construction draped lightly over the series' sturdy JRPG frame.
That doesn't really tell the half of it, nor does it get to the essence of what makes Dragon Quest Builders special. In truth it's a pretty lacklustre Minecraft clone - the choice of a third person viewpoint can make things overly fiddly, and this isn't the canvas you want if you're looking to create your own faithful tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Instead, Dragon Quest Builders plays loosely and lightly with the concept, tying it together with a sense of purpose that's perhaps lacking in other, more open-ended games, and using it to embellish the kind of sedate, seductively charming adventure that Square Enix's series is known for. It works a treat, and the result, above all, is an exceptional Dragon Quest game. It's quick to get to the core of what makes this series such an enduring classic.
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