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Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors

by Zachary Miller - March 3, 2008, 11:26 am EST
Total comments: 8

7

Ye Olde Rail Slasher.

I don’t know what you’re expecting from Dragon Quest Swords, but if you’re thinking it’s the big-budget RPG shot in the arm that the Wii so desperately needs, put those thoughts to rest right now. Yes, Dragon Quest Swords looks just like Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2. Yes, there is a rudimentary RPG-esque leveling, equipment, and menu system. No, Dragon Quest Swords is not an RPG. To put it in shocking perspective, I hope you like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles because it has the same basic concept as Dragon Quest Swords.

Gameplay consists of embarking on specific, repeatable missions. On these missions your character travels along a rail, pausing only briefly so that you can choose to go either left or right. When enemies are encountered, you swing your Wii Remote through the air in a sword-like manner, slashing foes to kingdom come and blocking their attacks with your shield. At the end of the mission you encounter a boss monster that relies exclusively on patterned attacks. Defeat the beast and you are given a score, grade, and rank. Your grade determines what bonus items you walk away with.

That’s basically the whole game. In between missions you wander around your hometown of Avalonia, talking to NPCs and buying new armor and weapons. Because you accrue so much gold during each individual mission, you’ll rarely find the next level of armor or sword outside of your price range. Your sword can be tempered (with the right ingredients) to include an elemental charge. Your shield may break during missions, at which point you can repair it or buy a more resistant shield. Like other Dragon Quest games, mini-medals can be collected and traded for rare items and equipment.

Controls around town are simple: you hold the Wii Remote upright, interacting with anything highlighted by a red arrow. In first-person mode your character moves with the D-Pad, utilizing the outdated Resident Evil “tank” scheme. There is no option to plug in the analog stick, and D-Pad movement takes some getting used to. If you don’t like pressing “up” to move forward, you can just press B. While on missions, you similarly hold B to move forward, but since you’re on a rail I could never figure out why you don’t just move forward automatically.

The fun begins when beasties litter your path. You slash the Wii Remote horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to attack incoming creatures. You can theoretically also perform a stabbing motion, but I was unable to successfully stab anything. Stabs typically end up registering as slashes, which is problematic since there are encounters in the game specifically geared towards stabbing.

Pressing B raises your shield, used to guard against physical and projectile attacks. Some projectile attacks (like arrows) can be batted back at the enemy, and you can re-center your sword at any time by pressing A anywhere on the screen. Advanced “Master Strokes” require preordained motions for extremely damaging attacks which are best saved for boss encounters. Until you get used to the fast pace of matches, it can be easy to lose track of the cursor on the screen for targeting or blocking. Battles end as quickly as they begin, sending you back to the on-rails portion of the game.

Along the way your character recruits three heroic comrades, with one of them at a time coming along on missions with you (unfortunately, there’s no multiplayer element in Dragon Quest Swords, even though it would seem like an obvious addition). Your friends perform cheerleading and spellcasting duties, but also tend to suck up health items. Fortunately, this is balanced by each of them having a unique pool of spells that has new spells added to it as they level up. You can give your ally some pre-arranged AI commands, or take control of his or her spell pool directly from the menu.

Leveling up, as well as virtually all item collection, occurs seamlessly in the background. When you get back to town, however, you are quickly dragged down by the game’s traditional RPG menu system. You have to wade through about ten different menus to buy armor, and then go back and sell what you don’t want anymore. Sword tempering is another needlessly complicated affair. You must pick “temper,” then the sword you want tempered, then what you want it tempered into, then how much it will cost, then what items you have with which to temper it…it’s just a chore.

The story and characters don’t really keep you interested, either. Right out the gate you know that that mask in question is evil (I’m not ruining anything, folks), and that our heroes will have to confront the demon in the mask. In typical Dragon Quest fashion, it’s an ancient and pissed-off evil. The plot never diverges from this track, resulting in cinema scenes that soon become tiresome.

Dragon Quest Swords looks great, however. The aesthetic is that of Dragon Quest VIII, but with more lively color and shading. Individual character models have precious few movements so you’ll see your friends repeat the same motions to no end, but they look good doing it. Enemies are well-animated with far better textures than their PS2 counterparts. Better yet, all characters have spoken dialogue! Voices fit their characters most of the time, although some of the boss monsters have voices that are just plain silly. Like Dragon Quest VIII, all of the voice actors are British - some people like the charm, others don’t, but I loved it.

The parallels with Umbrella Chronicles cannot be ignored. This is a rail shooter in which your gun has been replaced by a sword that can’t stab. However, Dragon Quest Swords is not nearly as long or as deep as Capcom’s zombie-fest, and the unlockables are nowhere near as satisfying. One of the strengths of Umbrella Chronicles is that your skills always improve, and you can level up your weapons in a meaningful way. Here, you’ve mastered the game once you get the hang of swinging your Wii Remote around. Acquiring bigger swords is nice, but it doesn’t affect gameplay.

The Dragon Quest atmosphere of Dragon Quest Swords only goes so far before you start itching for some gameplay variety (although the visuals never get old). Fans of the series should certainly give it a try; but if you don’t count yourself among that niche audience, you should rent before buying since you might beat the game in a weekend.

Score

Graphics Sound Control Gameplay Lastability Final
8 7 7 6 6 7
Graphics
8

I cannot fault the character design (despite their limited animations); monsters look fantastic, and the environments manage to be both majestic and, when the situation calls for it, eerie and foreboding. The particle effects are passable but far from mind-blowing.

Sound
7

The voice actors are excellent! The sound effects are great too, but there are far too few musical themes. Each mission should have a distinct one, but old tunes are recycled far too often.

Control
7

The Resident Evil “tank” controls are unwelcome, and having no option to plug in the analog stick is just mind-boggling. Wandering around Avalonia is a chore. Battle sequences fare much better, but the poor registering of stabbing motions is a big problem since certain enemy encounters require stabbing.

Gameplay
6

Some individual missions carry on too long, the rewards for completing missions aren’t very good, and the sword swinging does get old after a while.

Lastability
6

After you beat Dragon Quest Swords (a task that’s not difficult to achieve), you’ll find that there’s not much reason to go back. A new difficulty and “new” boss fights do not pique my interest. And how is there no multiplayer?

Final
7

Dragon Quest Swords ends up being a fun but ultimately empty experience that gets old after a few hours, making you wish you could play through it with a friend. It’s not bad, but it lacks polish and longevity. Dragon Quest fans should definitely give it a look, but those looking for a similar experience are best to check out Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, a longer game with deeper gameplay.

Summary

Pros
  • Interesting sword-meets-shooter arcade vibe
  • Looks and sounds fantastic
  • There's an element of strategy to enemy encounters
Cons
  • Cliched storyline does nothing to hold your interest
  • Lack of multiplayer is a glaring omission
  • Rewards aren't good enough to replay missions
  • Stabbing motions don't register
Review Page 2: Conclusion

Talkback

NinGurl69 *hugglesMarch 03, 2008

Aww, less-than-epic fail.

Nice try, Square!  It only took a year and a half to release, too!

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterMarch 04, 2008

At the very least you guys said to give it a rent. I've read so many reviews that say to pretty much ignore this game. I've yet to play it so I am reserving my opinion but the game doesn't look terrible.

As for the story, I've only played Dragonquest VIII but the story wasn't fantastic either. It was solid and it worked but the DQ series has never been about deep and highly dramatic storytelling.

Finally, am I the ONLY on baffled with the comparisons to the main series? DQ is a traditional RPG series with random encounters and turn based battles. Swords is a real time on rails sword slasher. True it does have some elements from the classic games, but gameplay wise the two are different. So why am I reading these reviews saying "This isn't like the main RPGs"?. The videos, trailers and previews made it clear the type of game it was. Its like going to see a comedy, then complain it wasn't a drama. (BTW, I am not talking about this review, I am talking about other reviews).

I'll reserve my thoughts on the game's flaws since I haven't played it, but that's one thing that has been bugging me about the reviews.

GoldenPhoenixMarch 04, 2008

I played a solid hour and a half last night and had a good time, which I can't say about many RPGs. Yeah it isn't a deep game, but I think the fighting is fun and has enough variety to make it last. I wish the controls were more response though, I think I've only thrust like once, the rest of the time when I try it I do a horizontal slash or something. Regardless I think it is a solid game that EVERYONE should try out, especially if you arent' a huge RPG fan but like elements such as leveling up. With that said, I think the review is pretty fair and while I may give it a 8 or so, I can see where the reviewer is coming from.

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterMarch 04, 2008

Since you mentioned it, Swords is also more interactive than the main DQ games.

In the main games, you just go to a field, get attacked, select what you want to do, hope the enemy isn't too powerful, defeat it and move on. You never perform any of the actions you choose, the game does it for you.

At the very least, Swords lets you physically attack the monsters by slashing and stabbing with the Wii mote and using the pointer to block.

NinGurl69 *hugglesMarch 04, 2008

ahahahaha what's all this "depth" that other sites mention that this game lacks yet the "main" series has?

vuduMarch 04, 2008

Quote from: pap64

At the very least you guys said to give it a rent. I've read so many reviews that say to pretty much ignore this game. I've yet to play it so I am reserving my opinion but the game doesn't look terrible.

As for the story, I've only played Dragonquest VIII but the story wasn't fantastic either. It was solid and it worked but the DQ series has never been about deep and highly dramatic storytelling.

Finally, am I the ONLY on baffled with the comparisons to the main series? DQ is a traditional RPG series with random encounters and turn based battles. Swords is a real time on rails sword slasher. True it does have some elements from the classic games, but gameplay wise the two are different. So why am I reading these reviews saying "This isn't like the main RPGs"?. The videos, trailers and previews made it clear the type of game it was. Its like going to see a comedy, then complain it wasn't a drama. (BTW, I am not talking about this review, I am talking about other reviews).

I'll reserve my thoughts on the game's flaws since I haven't played it, but that's one thing that has been bugging me about the reviews.

I love that you have so much to say about a game that you haven't played and seem to know so much about a long-standing series, of which you've only played the most recent game.  :D

Quote from: Mara

I think I've only thrust like once

THAT'S HOT

Smash_BrotherMarch 04, 2008

I'm most of the way through (still need to beat the final boss) but I'm liking it, including the story.

The motion sensing isn't that great, but seeing what they wanted to do, it's a flaw of the Wiimote and not the design, really.

It's actually kinda funny because the concepts behind the motion control are ones which we as players decided didn't work back during the Red Steel era but because this game took so long to come out, they're still in there. I've had fun with it so I can't complain, though. It makes me anxious to see more games try out a similar idea except refine the interface and controls (and add multiplayer).

If a dev got this concept down pat, it could be something VERY special.

Also, Samurai Warriors: Katana is out and employs a similar interface, except that you aim the cursor and press A to swing at one location, then swing the remote to do a sweeping slash to hit multiple targets.

FearfuldamnationApril 03, 2008

I have played this game and found quit fun actually.  For square's first attempt at a Wii game it is better than I thought.  The game is easy to use the stab motion part I have had no problem with it works just fine for me.  All the motion sensing works better than I thought it would work.  There are flaws in the game I have to say but what game does not have any flaws in them some of the best ones people always find some kind of flaw in them.  People have to remember that these games are being made around someone else's idea not the consumers idea of what the game should be like.  The ones making the video games are the ones coming up with how they want the game to be so if you look at it like that than the game in my opinion is an awesome game.  It has all the rpg elements I thought would be there by purchasing weapons and items and leveling up to become stronger.  I did think at first that the game might have been more of a free roam type thing but I have come to like the rail shooter aspect of it.  The story is good for a game like this.  Even though the game is not like the other Dragon Quest a.k.a Dragon Warrior it is still good. 

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Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors Box Art

Genre Action
Developer Square Enix
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Release Feb 26, 2008
PublisherSquare Enix
RatingTeen
jpn: Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Release Jul 12, 2007
PublisherSquare Enix
RatingAll Ages
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