|
 - It's fun for what it is, but lower your expectationsI enjoyed Dragon Quest Swords more than other folks simply because I had read a lot of negative reviews prior to playing it and I wasn't expecting much. I get the feeling that some of the critics were expecting a first-person Dragon Quest RPG with real action battles. This is actually more like a light-gun game where you use swords and have the ability to do some mild RPG tweaks to your character. The RPG elements are about as extensive as Shining in the Darkness for Sega Genesis, that is, they are about as basic as you can get. For what it is, though, Dragon Quest Swords is very good. The accurate sword and shield controls add a lot of strategy and fun to the experience, but again, you need to reset your expectations. You can't simply flail your arms around and expect the Wii to read your motions. You have to hold your wrist fairly steady and slash in a controlled motion as prescribed by the game. The result is a game that almost always reads your motions accurately. The only thing I'm having trouble mastering is the thrust/stab motion. If you are expecting to hear Dragon Quest music performed and recorded from a real orchestra like in Dragon Quest VIII, you may be taken aback by the fact that the Swords soundtrack is in the MIDI format. The compositions are beautiful, but the quality is a step down from what we got on Playstation 2. People are saying that this game is too short. I hear some folks saying it can be completed in 4 hours. These people probably didn't play through the levels more than once and try to improve their score. They probably didn't explore all the branching paths and see everything there is to see. It took me 9 hours to beat the main game, and after you beat the quest NEW branching paths open up in each of the 8 levels, so there is some exploring to be done after the credits roll. Overall, DQS is getting a bad rap because people's expectations are set too high. That's not to say I think the game is worth the full $50, however. If I were you I'd wait for a price drop or rent it, and then you'll be able to feel like you're getting your money's worth. Rating: - RPG LightI like what Square Enix is going for in this title, and it's certainly a great example of a game experience you can only get from the Wii. However, the game does come with a few flaws that relegate it to good, not great. The hook for this delightfully old school RPG is the real-time, motion controlled battles. You use the Wii remote to set a target point on the screen and then use a variety of slashing motions to take down the bad guys. While this is moderately well-executed and succeeds on some fronts, like many Wii games, it leaves much to be desired. For example, I like the fact that direction of swing has a strategic element. For example, if your target has a shield and you swing starting from his shield side, he'll most likely block the shot. On the other hand, if you strike from above you might bypass his shield entirely. What I don't like is that the sensitivity is entirely too picky, which will leave you flailing your arms wildly without effect in many cases. As for the story, Square was shooting for a very basic, entry-level RPG. Don't expect this to be on par with any of the heavy-hitting RPGs, but that's not meant as a negative. The story is 100% what you'd expect from a Dragon Quest title and the characters are charming. The graphics, on the other hand, are downright poor- even for the Wii. If the world were a sandbox environment I would understand, but since exploration outside of town takes place on rails, I really expected more. And speaking of exploration, be prepared to do it all with the D-pad, no nunchuck. Back to the positive, I really loved the decision to sprinkle in some sound effects from the original Dragon Quest. I grinned when I heard the old familiar "clip-clop" of my character climbing stairs. Overall I recommend this game, albeit possibly more as a rental than a purchase. Anyone looking for some nostalgia with an innovative mechanic mixed in really should at least take it for a test drive. If you approach the game expecting a few hours of light, classic RPG fun, you'll get exactly what you're looking for. Rating:  - Too short...Although I just bought the game yesterday and have played a few hours into it (it's actually not much longer so I'm told and I can kinda figure out where things are going at this point anyway), here are my observations so far: First off let me set this up by saying, I am a long time Dragon Quest fan, since the early days of Dragon Warrior. The attraction to these games for me has always been that they are always a great and expansive adventure that is more like an interactive novel than a game really. Add to that a strong cast of characters/monsters, high quality music, and a fun strategy/battle system, and great replay ability, and the mind-numbing ways to customize your character, it makes it a no-brainer why these games have enjoyed such a strong and loyal fan base since the days of the NES. Enter the latest installment of the franchise, "DQ Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors." Cons: - **** Waaaaay Too short. And no replay ability. **** - No real exploration or leveling abilities. Unless you return to town before completing any set mission multiple times (Think Rail-game, forward facing only). - Hate the 3D First Person view you are forced to move around in. Movement is rather limited (i.e. no "strafing"), so you actually have to completely stop moving to turn left or right, otherwise you just make giant circles. Not to mention just "looking around" really takes a bit of effort and time. - Battles can be a bit of a challenge since it's all real-time and enemies just start swarming and attacking you like crazy before you even realize you're in a fight, leaving you to swing the wii-mote like crazy while trying to "focus" your attacks somewhere on the screen in between blocking, and hope that your shield hasn't already disintegrated from the last battle and can find its target. - Master Strokes are a little overly animated maybe? Sure takes a while to finally get down to executing the moves after all the jazz-and-snazz cinemas are said and done. Pros: - Love the story line, though it did need to be longer which would've allowed a little more depth. - Absolutely wonderful graphics, especially on such a low-res system like the Wii. - Great voice acting. (I always enjoyed the person who voiced Angus' character in DQVIII, and I think he must've done some acting in this latest version as well for the "shop owner" character?). - Simplistic and fun to interact with. (I especially like seeing the slimes getting sliced in half with my sword swings, somewhat rewarding, or a swath of enemies taken out with a single horizontal slice). - High quality character animations and musical score. - Death-blows on the last bosses are a definite plus, I do get a kick out of executing the "Master Stroke" as the "death-blow". Though I believe you can use any old swing to do the trick. Maybe more of a Mortal Kombat-ish fatality would have been more appropriate for something labeled as a "Death-blow". Overall the game was a very enjoyable one, I just hope this isn't supposed to be the actual real "next" installment in the franchise as it can't even hold a candle to the vastness, enjoyability, and replay-ability of the last release (DQ VIII) or any predecessors. However it is a great tide-you-over game until the next "real" DQ release. Not to mention it's just plain fun that you can pick up and play anytime, which is really what I think the goal was for SquareEnix in this DQ release. If it is, they've succeeded admirably, if not, well...more homework and research is needed. If you don't have a lot of money, then I'd suggest renting or waiting for the price to fall. Otherwise, expect this one to see most of its life on your game shelf after all is said and done. Like was said before, once you finish it, you probably won't play it again. Though while you're playing it, you're in for an enjoyable experience. Just don't expect 80+ hours of DQ exploring and level hacking. It's maybe more of a weekend warrior type game. But I do recommend this game! I have enjoyed it just the same! Cheers! -S Rating: - Not worth the money! I recommend renting.This game was fun for about a day or two but it's way too short. I would definitely not recommend buying it. No replay value at all. I've been a Dragon Quest fan since Dragon Warrior so it was cool to hear some recognizable melodies and see some familiar monsters but I don't even think they covered 50 different monsters. You don't have the freedom to move around once you leave the one and only town. You can only take out one person with you at a time. Dragon Quest is known for it repetition so if you don't like repetition I wouldn't recommend this game for you. Sadly, this game also wasn't challenging unless you consider swinging the wiimote a challenge. I would compare this game to Resident Evil Umbrella chronicles because of the rail-like movement (but you can slightly control yourself in this game) and the repeating of boards in order to get everything. I like the rest of you have waited over 4 years the the next installment of Dragon Quest and I really feel that I got jipped. I would feel better if the game was $30 and not $50. I wish that I had rented it instead. Overall I would recommend playing this game but borrow it from a friend because they'll be done with it in less than a week or rent it. There will probably be a lot of used games popping up on ebay very very soon.
|
