Wednesday 10 July 2013

Dragon Quest Swords Quick Wii Review‏


Want to play a decent RPG that won't rule your life? Try this one for size.

The Dragon Quest series has been around for over 20 years but, even though it's the biggest RPG series in Japan, it has never really caught on over in the West with other series like Final Fantasy and Pokémon taking centre stage. But with Dragon Quest 9 on the DS getting some well-deserved praise, love for the series has seen a steady growth. With new gamers discovering the series, a host of introduction side games have been released to make us ignorant folk aware of Dragon Quest. The game I picked up is Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen & The Tower Of Mirrors for the Wii. Everything about this game is quick and simple and is a perfect start to anyone new to the Dragon Quest series like myself.

The premise first off is pretty straight forward, you just turned 16 and the Queen of the town has been possessed by an evil mask. She has in a result of this resurrected the evil force of the land Xiphos and it's your job to defeat him. A 16 year old kid to save the world, even though they have adult soldiers they send a kid to do the job... Oh well. The story is basic but that's ok because the game knows what it is so a lot of thought doesn't need to go in making an impressive story line. What sets this game apart is the short chapters, the guided levels and the quick combats mode.

There are only 8 chapters to complete which should only take you on average around 25 minutes to complete each one. This RPG, strangely is in the First Person. This makes the chapters very simple because you can only move forwards rather than having free roaming and the battles are not randomly generated like other RPGs but instead come along when you proceed forward in certain areas. The level progression is quick as well so there is little need for grinding. The main reason though as to why the game is quick is the battle screen. Instead of a turn based battle screen, all you need to do is attack and defend using the Wii remote. If you press A, you can lock on to an opponent and moving the Wii Remote from side to side acts as the attack. If you press B, you draw your shield to defend attacks and you have allies in the game which will give you status magic upgrades and health. The attacking segment is fairly easy to master as the Wii Remote is responsive most of the time and using your shied is very effective. Each level has a boss at the end and are challenging to a certain extent. The final boss on the other hand is the real McCoy and you need to be on your A game to beat him.

As with every other RPG, you need to interact with the towns folk for guidance in what you need to do to complete missions and given advice on what items to get and merge with. The item shop is by far the strangest place to visit as the item shop as the old lady you talk to keeps calling you lover?! Again, you're 16, what kind of paedo world where the kids rule over the adults is this? There are a few mini games in the town to enjoy as well as a prize draw with a tombola event to take part in where you can win prizes for your adventure.


All in all, this game shouldn't last you longer than 7 hours. I did a bit of grinding to afford the best armour available to make the final boss a little less intense. There are a few side quests at the end of the game to enjoy but those aren't too long as well. It's a well-rounded JRPG that shouldn't take much of your time.

It’s not going to win any awards anytime soon but it is certainly a quality title for what it is an introductory title to the series. So if you want to know what all the fuss is about regarding Dragon Quest or you want to take on a RPG that won't rule your life, then definitely pick this title up and try it out. Just make sure you take a few breaks between levels otherwise your arm will no doubt be feeling the strain.   

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