Dragon Quest franchise not only built but also popularized the framework of the JRPG genre. Over the years, the series has reached numerous milestones and garnered a massive following, particularly in its home country. Still, despite notable achievements in Japan, Yuji Horii’s golden child has yet to truly conquer the Western market and become as widely accepted as other majot Square Enix properties, such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. The new Dragon Quest spinoff announced during June’s Nintendo Direct Mini could very well set the franchise on the path to unprecedented worldwide success, as it appears to be a treasure in its own right.
Scheduled to release as a Nintendo Switch exclusive on December 9, Dragon Quest Treasures will take players on a journey through the extended universe of one of the series’ most popular installments. It follows the story of two characters from Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age in their younger days, siblings Erik and Mia, who have found themselves in a mysterious land known as Draconia. With the premise and role-playing elements reminiscent of other Dragon Quest entries, how exactly does Treasures look to set itself apart from the remainder of spinoffs in the franchise?
In terms of general gameplay, Treasures resembles the initial set of games that offered a novel take on Dragon Quest‘s canonical setting. The Dragon Quest Monsters series that began on the Game Boy Color allowed players to view overworld monsters as sentient beings rather than feral menaces hellbent on standing in Hero’s way. The Monsters side-series gradually evolved with new generations of handheld consoles, ensuring better story immersion and more opportunities for players to familiarize themselves with the colorful army of creatures that appears hostile and unapproachable in mainline installments. While Treasures clearly borrows a page from Monsters in that aspect, it handles core gameplay in a different manner.
Instead of adopting the well-established turn-based combat system synonymous with both mainline and Monsters installments, Treasures seems to look to the Dragon Quest Heroes spinoff for inspiration. The game introduces action combat and the option to actively assist befriended monsters rather than relying on a reinstated subset of simplified battle commands with variable efficacy. It also prompts players to take advantage of the monsters’ innate abilities in scaling terrain or locating hidden valuables. While some of these facets were present in the Monsters series to a certain degree, they often felt like an afterthought with no viable means of head-on execution due to the strict gameplay formula.
Another exciting feature of Treasures is base building, which many gamers will intuitively associate with Dragon Quest Builders. However, the idea of a growing roster of monster friendlies rooted in home base expansion predates that spinoff series. In fact, it will likely jolt veteran Dragon Quest fans all the way back to Rocket Slime, a unique trilogy that simultaneously embraced base building and monster protagonists. Showcased gameplay snippets like the one highlighting a floating express train also allude to inspiration drawn from older entries in the franchise, indicating that Square Enix took the time to pinpoint key aspects that resonated with players in the past.
On the whole, Dragon Quest Treasures looks like a promising entry that could successfully deliver the ultimate Dragon Quest experience and incentivize Square Enix to pursue multiple entries further down the line. The game’s updated execution of the series’ signature gameplay and a story that complements its setting are likely to appeal to audiences who have not considered engaging with the long-standing JRPG franchise before. For better or worse, Dragon Quest Treasures is sure to bring new concepts to the table, and some might even affect gameplay mechanics in mainline and spinoff installments to come.