I’m always excited to see a new Dragon Quest game come along, and so when a new game in the series was announced, you’d better believe I was right at the front of the queue to review it!
Based on a manga and anime series that I was previously unaware of, Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai is not only in the running for longest game title of the year, but it also brings something a little different to the usual Dragon Quest games.
It’s from those at Square Enix, Game Studio and KAI GRAPHICS and so what I hope to establish in this review is whether it is worthy of being put up alongside the classic Dragon Quest games from years gone by. Let’s strap on our best sword and dive on in, shall we?
It must be said that the presentation is a strong point for Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai, as you’d expect given the source material. There is a definite style to the previous games in the series, with a strong cel shaded art style to enjoy, and this has been enhanced in the anime, built upon again in this game. The graphics are gorgeous to look at, from the cutest little slime enemies that hop adorably about the place to the massive foes that act as bosses for the areas; Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai looks great. The animation is top notch as well, with the familiar creatures brought to life in fantastic fashion. There needs to be big praise for how the characters move too.
From there, the sound is equally good. The voiced cutscenes look and sound like they were lifted directly from the anime, whilst the rest of the soundscape is equally impressive – swooshes of spells and swings of the sword are all very well realised.
The story found in Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai is lifted directly from the anime, and sees us reliving Dai’s adventure after we lose our memory at the start of the game. Yes, that old trope is the basis for what is to come here but this does bring in a pretty cool mechanic that I’ll talk about later, so I can forgive it this once.
Anyway, we play the part of Dai, a young boy who was raised on an island by monsters after being washed ashore. We live in a world of peace, which was brought about after The Hero defeated the Dark Lord Hadlar, and for a while life is idyllic. However, as always, the Dark Lord isn’t defeated for long, and when he returns all the monsters in the world are corrupted and attack humans on sight. Except for the little island Dai lives on, as a man called Avan arrives in hope of clearing the Dark Lord’s influence from the whole place. Avan trains Dai, and another youngster called Popp, in the ways of justice and heroism. Of course, the Dark Lord arrives and kills Avan, so the course is set for Dai’s life as he attempts to get revenge for his master and defeat Hadlar once and for all. Story? Most definitely a tick!
And so we get into the main part of the game, the actual gameplay. Now, most Dragon Quest games in the past have been turn-based affairs when it comes to combat, but Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai is a little different. It feels more of an action RPG, where the action takes place in three dimensions as we run about the place, hitting foes with our sword and unleashing spells. Think of a cute, cartoony Dark Souls and you won’t be too far off the mark. Actual combat is pretty straightforward, with regular attacks being mapped to the X button, and we can smack enemies about as much as we like. Dodge is mapped to A, with perfect dodges allowing you the chance to attack enemies straight away. The rest of those attacks are mapped to the other buttons, sitting on cooldowns – once you have used them, you have to wait a certain length of time before you can use them again.
Playing as Dai we do have a couple of extra aces up our sleeves, as we can become empowered with extra strength by using our dragon mark. We can also perform a coup de grace attack, which deals massive damage to the enemy. The combat is fun, but does have one drawback – it feels a little numb, so when you are being attacked and hit, it isn’t immediately noticeable. This means death can claim your character almost without you noticing. Of course, some of our allies have healing magic, and we can switch to use them at any time, but it is something to be aware of.
There are some other interesting mechanics to be found in Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai. The first of these is found in the Bond Memories; awarded for completing chapters of the game, or for exploring the Temple of Recollection. These Bond Memories have different effects when they are equipped to our various characters. It’s fair to say that they can certainly help in the fights ahead. Things like having extra magic power (great for Popp, who is a mage and cannot attack physically) through to extra HP and attack power for some of Dai’s attacks, these Bond Memories can make a huge difference.
They can also be upgraded in the Temple of Recollection, a mysterious building that houses memories, and as we explore, not only can we take new Bond Memories from the place, we can power up our existing ones. Exploring the Temple is very challenging, as the levels are based on enemies we have fought before, so the bosses are the bosses we have fought in the course of the story. Oh, and did I mention we start every run through the Temple at level 1?
Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai is one that you will enjoy a lot. Numb feeling combat aside, the way that our heroes grow and evolve as we go is classic Dragon Quest, whilst the finding of the Bond Memories soon becomes an obsession. The presentation of the story using scenes from the anime will draw you into the narrative more than you may expect and so this is most definitely a game worthy of the Dragon Quest moniker. Â
