DRAGON Quest 9 is one of the best in the series, and one of its best characters is now in a spin-off title called Dragon Quest Treasures.
Erik the friendly thief, alongside his sister Mia set off on a mission to uncover as much treasure as possible.
It’s more about treasure hunting than dragon hunting.
The upcoming game functions as a prequel to the latest game, and also works to shake up the classic Dragon Quest formula.
Treasures is more like the Monster spin-offs than the mainline, but also comes with its own twists.
It has a big focus on monster collecting, picking up beasts to battle alongside, however, as the title suggests there is also an emphasis on finding treasure.
The monsters you collect are more a way of collecting more treasure, rather than the other way around.
For the first chapter you take control of Mia, and Erik is playable as well. They find themselves in the world of Draconia, filled with valuable and rare treasure.
After you pick up your first monsters, you’ll start accepting quests, finding treasure, and taking that treasure back home when you’re overburdened.
You’ll find yourself slowly creeping towards goals rather than blasting through, as numerous quests full up the small but full world.
Combat has always been a staple of the series and it functions a bit differently here.
Instead of turn-based, we now have real-time action based combat, think Final Fantasy 7 remake compared to the original.
However, it’s not as polished as the prior example, as you are limited in your options.
There is the standard attack, jump, and dodge, but not enough special moves and abilities to be able to strategize effectively.
A special attack is available for each of the monsters in your party, but you need to do a lot of basic attacks in order to build up the metre.
You also have a slingshot with a number of different ammo options, some of which have elemental effects, heal, and can even encourage monsters to join you.
So far, it just doesn’t feel deep enough to get too much enjoyment out of it.
The chance for a monster to join you feels random, and some which come with special outfits or accessories give you a great sense of loss when they fail to join.
Each monster comes with a movement ability to help you around the world. Slimes can jump high, and Dracky can let you glide.
You can also dash quickly or evade certain monsters. However, this is where the monster joining feels unfair, as you can be locked out of these for a long time.
Technically, the Switch handles this very well. Unlike some other Unreal Engine games struggling on the platform, this one runs smoothly.
It’s a different kind of Dragon Quest game, and fans of the main series may feel out of place.
But if you can enjoy it for its unique charms, then it’s not an unpleasant way to spend your time.
Written by Oliver Brandt and Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
