Drawing from the various Dragon Quest games, Heroes tells a new tale of the Kingdom of Arba. Unusual in that the world’s humans and monsters exist in peace, the kingdom is celebrating with a festival when a wave of dark magic is unleashed on the world, turning the friendly monsters back into—well, monsters. From there it’s up to your group of adventurers, led by King Doric’s male and female guard captains, to venture out across the kingdom to quell the monster attacks and find their source, to return the realm to peace once more.
At the start of the game you’re asked to select between and name the male and female captains to act as your primary character, while the other acts as your backup. While the two do have unique skill trees, they are essentially mirrors of each other; the male Captain Luceus wields flame-based attacks and favours a cool, thought-out strategic approach, while the female Captain Aurora brandishes Ice and is hot-headed and impulsive.
Regardless of your choice, both will be present throughout the story, and their interactions are fun to observe. Filling out the roster’s new characters are the brawny King Doric and the inventress Isla, along with Healix the Healslime, the only monster to be unaffected by the monster-allegiance switcheroo. Alongside the new cast are a selection of characters from throughout the Dragon Quest franchise, including fan-favourites such as the energetic bare-knuckle princess Alena from Dragon Quest IV, and Jessica and Yangus from Dragon Quest VIII, the first game in the series to arrive on Western shores.
The gameplay itself is typical of the Warriors series, maintaining the typical one-versus-many format the franchise is known for. The benefit here is that Dragon Quest has such a rich roster of enemies to draw from- rather than waves of generic soldiers you’ll encounter series mainstays such as Slimes, Skeleton Soldiers, Golems and Dragons, all in the series’ iconic Akira Toriyama style. The realisation of these enemies in a current-gen, 3D environment is a joy to behold, as everything is richly coloured and energetic. Gone is the grime and grittiness of previous crossover Hyrule Warriors, as everything in Heroes is upbeat, even as you murder countless waves of former monster-friends.
The combat itself is a pleasant blend between traditional Warriors and the trappings of Dragon Quest – menus are designed to look and sound like those of the core games, which does make them somewhat convoluted but it still works. Attacks are also split between standard and magic attacks, the latter of which use up your MP gauge.
Healing items and monster drops are both drawn from the series’ traditional item names, and the ‘super moves’ are powered by the tension gauge, just as the tension level controls attack power in traditional Dragon Quest. Taking down waves of enemies they may also drop ‘monster medals’, a feature new to this game. These medals allow you to re-summon the monsters you’ve taken down, either as sentries to help stem the tide of enemies at chokepoints, or as immediate-use buffs/boosts for your party.
Another new twist is the ability to switch between your active fighters during play – at any time, you can switch between your active roster to try a new tack for the battle at hand. This would feel of greater use if your fighters spread out more during the battle, however – your party hug close to you the majority of time, and even then the maps are relatively small (especially compared to Hyrule Warriors). Were they to spread out more to tackle separate objectives, switching between them would feel like an even greater way to control your experience in each scenario.
With a varied selection for cast and combat styles, Dragon Quest Heroes is a great nostalgia outlet for fans of the series. Even as a relatively inexperienced Dragon Quester, I found the light-hearted and goofy tone of the game was enough to keep me playing. Combine this with a variety of English and European voices beyond the ‘standard British’ that most RPGs get saddled with, and you have a fun world to romp in while you lay the beatdown on some goofy monsters. Give it a try, and don’t be surprised if you’re sucked in quite quickly.
Dragon Quest Heroes was reviewed using a promotional code on PS4, as provided by the publisher.
