![]() These judgements feel a little artificial and can lead to the player filling rooms with tacky trinkets to fulfil some “fanciness” quota like a hoarder with a passion for interior design. In addition to the room categorization system, there are eventually a couple of gauges introduced that judge the “fanciness” and “style” of any given room based on the materials it’s made out of and the objects within it. Fulfilling a villager’s request also causes your residents to gather around your creation and erupt with showers of a collectible, colourful heart currency in a show of appreciation that might not sound satisfying but really is. The flexibility afforded to the player with this building system means that the set “building request” missions usually don’t end up stifling your creativity, but encourage you to explore the many types of structures you can create. DQB2’s depth lies in how buildings are categorised based on the components within them, so for example: if you chuck some beds and lights inside a room, the game will recognise it as a social bedroom add some decorative armour and weapons to the mixture, you’ll have yourself a barracks for the rough and tumble soldier types in your settlement scrap the whole interior and instead place an altar, candles, a holy statue, and a few benches inside to create a chapel, if you wanted to let your town’s spiritual side flourish. The basic mechanics of placing blocks should be familiar to anyone who has seen or played Minecraft at all, which is to say, anyone who’s owned a pair of functioning eyeballs at some point in the last decade. Needless to say, this is the part that the folks at Square Enix can’t afford to bungle and I’m pleased to report, they succeed triumphantly. Predictably, the brunt of your time in DQB2 (“B” for Builders may I remind you) will be spent constructing various houses, establishments, and monuments of increasing extravagance for the legions of followers who find themselves inspired by your buildery ways. DQB2… it’s okay to be shallow in some respects, there’s no need to hide it your depth lies elsewhere. DQB2 has a serviceable story, and at best, recognisable characters it seems to be trying to obscure its shallowness with mountains of dialogue. The long-winded, conversation heavy games that work, do so because of skilled writers, interesting characters and an engaging story. Before and after each of the numerous objectives, you’re required to read through countless lines of dialogue which insist on constantly reiterating whatever’s happening in the story at the time, (You know, in case you didn’t adequately grasp the nuances and complexities of this simplistic, child-friendly video game plot) and that’s if the dialogue has any significance at all. ![]() Frustratingly, the story is hamstrung by how monotonously it’s delivered, to call it patronising would be a severe understatement. ![]() There were some twists, enough distinct characters and an engaging through-line established between the player character and their partner. Whilst simple, the story should have been interesting enough to carry the game’s relatively significant length - it didn’t need to be an elaborate tale worthy of a chunky fantasy novel and it wasn’t. The two of them will travel across seas, gathering materials, friends and knowledge helping folks along the way and ultimately working to build a home base: “The Isle Of Awakening” as a vibrant hub of creation away from the building-averse Children Of Hargon. Joined this time by Malroth, your builder’s loyal and suspiciously violent pal. Set a while after the first game’s heroic builder liberated the world from monster rule with the power of construction and creativity, it has since redescended into ruin under the power of monstrous cult, “The Children Of Hargon.” The task of once again banishing monster-kind and bestowing the power of creation upon the world falls on yet another silent, but ever cheery builder, controlled by you. Dragon Quest Builders 2 (DQB2) feels like the kind of inviting blanket you could sink hours into… until the bedsores set in. Experience tells me that things get damp, sore, and smelly surprisingly quickly, wrapped up in even the most luxurious cotton. That doesn’t mean I want to spend all day underneath one. There’s nothing quite like a good blanket warm, cozy, and fresh smelling ( usually). There is enjoyment to be had with Dragon Quest Builders 2, it’s just spread a little too thin and interrupted by the occasional rotten patch. By Jamie Davies 0 Dragon Quest Builders 2
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