Dragon Quest Builders
Overview -
Generations ago, the world of Alefgard was plunged into darkness and humanity lost its ability to rebuild, leaving the world in ruins. In 'Dragon Quest Builders', the player takes up the mantle of The Builder, a hero spoken about in prophecy who can restore peace to the world and teach people to create once again. In this block-based open-world town building RPG, players can reshape the world however they wish, save humanity from extinction, and bring back light to Alefgard.
Video Review
The blocky aesthetic actually suits 'Dragon Quest' rather well, often leaving the world feeling like a literal 3D translation of an old NES RPG, which was no doubt the intent. Akira Toriyama's character and monster designs are as solid as ever, and the cartoony art direction definitely works in the games favor. It's no technical marvel, and some of the animations look a little stiff, but it gets the job done.
Audio Review
Koichi Sugiyama's orchestral score is upbeat and peppy, and while the game borrows music fairly heavily from other entries in the series, it's still an extremely pleasant accompaniment that helps the game feel incredibly relaxing. Still, with no voice acting to speak of and fairly unremarkable sound design overall, it's the kind of game that I found myself playing while listening to podcasts.
Final Thoughts
Marrying the best ideas from 'Minecraft' with the structure and charm of 'Dragon Quest', 'Builders' had its work cut out for it from the start. The team behind it, however, have gone the extra mile in developing a game that feels wholly unique and endlessly endearing. It's by no means perfect, and has ideas that could stand to be improved upon when the game eventually gets a sequel, but what could've ended up as a cynical cash in has instead wound up as one of 2016's most interesting games.