Dragon Quest Builders

Spinoff games Dragon Quest Builders Developer(s) Square Enix Publisher(s) Square Enix Designer(s) Kazuya Niinou Artist(s) Akira Toriyama Composer(s) Koichi Sugiyama Series Dragon Quest Platform(s) PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch Release date(s) ^JP January 28, 2016
^NA October 11, 2016
^EU October 14, 2016
Genre(s) Console role-playing game Mode(s) Single player Rating(s) ESRB: E (Everyone) (GBC)

Dragon Quest Builders (ドラゴンクエストビルダーズ アレフガルドを復活せよ) is a sandbox game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.

The Builder is tasked with rebuilding the world after it was destroyed by the evil Dragonlord. The game features gathering and building elements, similar to Minecraft and Terraria. The game was released in Japan on January 28, 2016, in North America and Europe on October 11, 2016. A port for the Nintendo Switch was released on February 9, 2018, in North America and Europe, and in Japan on March 1, 2018. In summer of 2017, the sequel was announced.

Setting

The game is set in Alefgard, the world of the original Dragon Quest game, and players gradually rebuild each area of it. This includs Cantlin, Rimuldar, Kol and Galenholm, using materials they find to overcome the specific blights each area is beset by. The game is based on a parallel ending of Dragon Quest: before the final battle, the hero accepted the evil Dragonlord's suggestion - each rules a half of the world. But that's indeed a trap, and the hero was eliminated, then the world was dominated by monsters. With time passing by, a new hero (the player character) appears to revive the desolate world.

Gameplay

Builders is divided into chapters, with the aim in each to restore light to the land by rebuilding the central town, with both the quality and quantity of the buildings and decorations contributing to an overall Base Level. The higher a town's Base Level, the more citizens it will attract, and better quality items will become available. Inhabitants of a town will give the player quests in order to better their surroundings, defend the town if monsters penetrate the defenses, and cook/craft items for the player to use. The game also features a day/night cycle which affects the type of monsters that appear as well as their ferocity. Monsters can attack what the player has built and lower the town's "experience" as a result, though the Base Level can never actually decrease. Furthermore, the player will periodically need to defend the town against an organized horde of monsters, usually led by a boss monster.

The player character has both a health meter and a hunger bar, both of which can be restored through healing items and food items, respectively. The game also features a crafting system by accessing workbenches. New crafting recipes can be discovered as the player progresses through the story, as well as acquiring new resources.

The game is divided into chapters (one for each town) accessible through the main menu once unlocked. At the end of each chapter, a boss is fought (a golem for Cantlin, a hades condor for Rimuldar, etc.). Each chapter can be replayed until the desired points are accumulated using a checklist as a guideline.

List of characters

Name	Area	Where Found	Description
	Pippa	Cantlin	Pippa joins the base immediately after the player places the Banner of Hope. She offers a number of quests, but avoids battle.
	Larouche	Cantlin	Larouche appears at the base once the player acquires the blue teleportal. Larouche doesn’t engage in combat, but does provide quests that improve the base.
	Kenelm	Cantlin	Travel through the blue teleportal, defend Kenelm from skeletons, and he gratefully follows the player to the base. He becomes a vigilant defender of the base and teaches the player a special combat technique.
	Sheridon	Cantlin	Sheridon arrives at the base after the player places the red teleportal. While he does not participate in battles, he shares the secret of building wrecking balls, which are the key to defeating a powerful enemy.
	Magnus	Cantlin	A renowned blacksmith, Magnus has been locked up by evil forces. Once set free, he eagerly engages in battle at the player's base and shares his knowledge.
	Cherie	Cantlin	Cherie pops up at the Banner of Hope after the green teleportal is earned. She isn’t a fighter, but she does pitch in by creating items in the workshop.
	Gerontius	Rimuldar	The learned Gerontius becomes a valuable asset after he is recruited to the cause. He is a scholar, but has no problem getting dirty while battling monsters. His anguish is tied to the secrets he keeps.
	Nosh	Rimuldar	Nosh is the first of many diseased people that must be carried back to the base. When he’s healthy again, Nosh becomes the driving force behind learning about how to fish.
	Casey	Rimuldar	Casey must be rescued from the island beyond the blue teleportal. Casey’s illness requires two treatments, but she protects the base as soon she’s out of the sickroom.
	Hazel	Rimuldar	Hazel’s rescue involves a trip through the red teleportal and vanquishing a group of treefaces. Feed her four meals to restore her health. She isn’t a fighter, but she builds items when the player creates the proper rooms.
	Burley	Kol and Galenholm	Burley is a kind-of-but-not-really vegetarian that must rescued from a desert cave on the chapter’s starting island. Burley is a fearless fighter who defends the base and joins expeditions outside the base with equal zeal.
	Cecille	Kol and Galenholm	After rescuing Cecille from a trio of killing machines beyond the red teleportal at Baird’s behest, she quietly settles in at the base. Later, she pops up again, when odd singing disturbs her sleep.
	Launce	Tantegel	Guards the Princess with his life.
	Trystian	Tantegel	Guards the Princess with his life.
	Androoo	Tantegel	Androoo is a monster taking on the appearance of a human that can potentially be recruited to the base. Androoo has been shunned by other monsters, because he doesn’t hate humans. Androo works so hard at passing for human that he’s willing to attack other monsters when they attack the castle.

• Hero/Heroine
• Rollo
• Splatrick
• Elle
• Edsel
• Kean
• Irvyn
• Jacob
• Mildred
• Glutimus
• Maxi
• Baird
• Barbella
• Myrlund
• The Princess
• Dragonlord

Development

Builders began development under series producer Noriyoshi Fujimoto, who wanted to address the unfamiliarity of sandbox-style games with Japanese players. As the series has a precedent of spin-off titles that eschew the traditional RPG formula of the main line games for more action focus, Fujimoto felt that an experimental title such as Builders would not clash with the fans, and instead introduce them to a new type of genre altogether through crafting.

The setting of Alefgard was chosen due to the relative simplicity of the landscape compared to later entries in the series, which Fujimoto felt would be more intuitive to Builders' theme of exploration and restoration. The Dragonlord's infamous offer of half the world lent itself to a scenario that would easily explain why the game's setting was in dire need of rebuilding in the first place, and not clash with the design sensibilities the series is known for.

The initial planning document specified that the game would be an open-world style adventure in which all areas were connected, rather than featuring sequential chapters that remove the resources accumulated previously. Director Kazuya Niinou proposed a change to this plan, citing that if players completed one area and moved to the next with their materials still accessible, the game would become too easy and not rewarding to play. He suggested a switch to the chapter format, which would have the added benefit of giving more distinction to each area and the people within along with resolving the difficulty curve issues.The chapters would originally reverse the order in which towns are normally reached in the original, which is why the game begins in Cantlin. This was changed later during production to begin near Charlock Castle and radiate outwards before reaching Tantegel in the final chapter, rather than the more predictable reverse-order.

For quality assurance, play-tests were done from the perspective of gamers with no prior experience with the series so as to make the game accessible to newcomers. Rather than finalize a concrete story at the start of the project, the development team instead focused on the types of materials and items the player can make use of, only beginning work on the story once the team was satisfied with the tools they had created.

Gallery

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  Rollo

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  Elle

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  Barbella

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  Japan

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  NA

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External link

• Official site