''Dragon Quest Builders'' is a

sandbox A sandbox is a sandpit, a wide, shallow playground construction to hold sand, often made of wood or plastic. Sandbox or Sand box may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Sandbox (band), a Canadian rock music group * Sandbox ( ...

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

developed and published by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

for the

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, PlayStation 3,

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, iOS and

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

and published by

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for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

. The game is set in Alefgard, the world of the original ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project (Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo (Koichi Sugiyama) to its publi ...

'' video game, with players controlling the builder who is tasked with rebuilding the world after it was destroyed. The game features a blocky aesthetic style, with gathering and building elements similar to games such as '' Minecraft.'' The game was released in Japan in January 2016, and worldwide in October 2016. A sequel, ''

Dragon Quest Builders 2 ''Dragon Quest Builders 2'' is an action role-playing sandbox game developed by Square Enix and Omega Force, with Square Enix publishing it. It is the sequel to ''Dragon Quest Builders'', and was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 i ...

'', was released in Japan in December 2018 and worldwide in July 2019.

Gameplay

Players build camps out of blocks; the camp gains levels based on how much it has been built up. The player can also build a selection of rooms that contribute to the level of the base. There is also a day/night cycle, with stronger monsters appearing at night. Monsters such as

Slime Slime may refer to: Biology * Slime mold, a broad term often referring to roughly six groups of Eukaryotes * Biofilm, an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other and/or to a surface * Slimy (fish), also known as the pony ...

and Dragon from the original ''Dragon Quest'' appear in the game. The player has a health bar, and must eat food over time, similar to ''Minecraft''.

Plot

The game is set in Alefgard, the world of the original ''

''. The game is based on a parallel ending of ''Dragon Quest'': before the final battle, the hero accepted the evil Dragonlord's suggestion - each rules a half of the world. The deal turned out to be a trap, leading to the hero's defeat and allowing the land to be dominated by monsters. With time passing by, a new builder (the player character) appears to revive the desolate world for the next hero. Players gather "material" all over the world in order to rebuild the land of Alefgard from scratch.

Development

The game designers wanted to make an open sandbox game combined with an RPG's purposeful story-driven plot, and since ‘’Dragon Quest’’ has always been known for its “pick up and play” accessibility it seemed like the right combination. The original ''Dragon Quest'' video game's plot was chosen for its relatively simplicity compared to later titles in the series to make the game as accessible as possible to new players. Release in the west on the

was chosen so that whether players were had busy lives or had time to dedicate to the game, they could enjoy the title. Producer Noriyoshi Fujimoto has said that

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game industry, video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is ma ...

's multiplatform

PhyreEngine PhyreEngine is a license-only free to use game engine from Sony Interactive Entertainment, compatible with PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation VR, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Wi ...

was chosen for ease of development across multiple

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

consoles. Protagonists were designed by

Akira Toriyama is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga series ''Dr. Slump'', before going on to create ''Dragon Ball'' (his best-known work) and acting as a character design ...

, with '' Etrian Odyssey'' creator Kazuya Niinou serving as the game's director. Part of the release was to “test the waters” for a big game release like '' Dragon Quest XI''.

Release

‘’Builders’’ was initially announced in July 2015 to be under development for PlayStation 3,

and

. Media speculation from when the game was first announced was that ''Dragon Quest Builders'' would be a ''

'' version of '' Minecraft'', and

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

compared the game to ''

Dark Cloud is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Originally intended as a launch title for the system in March 2000, the game was eventually released in Japan in De ...

'' (2000). The game was released in Japan on January 28, 2016. PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions were released in North America, Europe, and Australia in October 2016. An "Ultimate Hit" version was released in Japan on December 1, 2016. It was also released for the

in North America and PAL territories on February 9, 2018, and in Japan on March 1, 2018.

handled the publishing of the game on the Switch in the Western territories.

Reception

'' Famitsu'' panel of four reviewers all rated it a 9, giving the game an overall rating of 36 out of 40. ''

'' awarded it 8.9 out of 10, saying "''Dragon Quest Builders'' admirably mixes the series' RPG traditions with ''Minecraft''." '' GameSpot'' awarded it 8.0 out of 10, saying "The excellence of ''Dragon Quest Builders'' illustrates the versatility of this 30-year-old franchise as much as it speaks to the engrossing appeal of ''Minecraft''-inspired creation." ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' listed it as one of 2016's top ten games, describing it as "an incredible RPG more akin to ''Actraiser''" and "way better than ''Minecraft'' could ever be."

Sales

The game sold over half a million copies in the first few days of its release. It sold 700,000 copies in Japan across all three platforms. In November 2016, worldwide sales surpassed 1.1 million copies.

Sequel

A sequel, ''

'', was released for the

and

in Japan on December 20, 2018, and worldwide on July 12, 2019. It includes

cooperative gameplay Cooperative game may refer to: * Cooperative board game, board games in which players work together to achieve a common goal * Cooperative game theory, in game theory, a game with competition between groups of players and the possibility of cooperat ...

for up to four players, and had developmental assistance from Koei Tecmo's studio Omega Force.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2016 video games Role-playing video games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Vita games Open-world video games Square Enix franchises Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Koichi Sugiyama Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Single-player video games PhyreEngine games Builders