This article contains affiliate links.
Action RPGs have always been a favorite video game genre of mine, as some of my previous posts will make clear. And while I’ve never been a die-hard fan of sandbox games like Minecraft and Terraria, they’ve always been amusing occasional distractions that usually take away the anxiety that can come with the more action-oriented titles.
But in 2016, Square Enix published a game that took elements from both genres and combined them into a Dragon Quest title that puts a strong emphasis on building and creating (as opposed to fighting and conquering) while still driving an epic narrative that focused around rebuilding humanity up in a world ruled by monsters. And while I didn’t discover that Dragon Quest Builders even existed until several years after its release, once I heard of its existence I knew I was going to have to try it out.
I knew I would want to play this game, but I also suspected it would be of interest to my partner, who is a big fan of cuteness and low-stress gaming. She tried out the demo after I mentioned it to her, and before we knew it I had ordered a copy of the game, and she was soon outpacing my progress by leaps and bounds. Eventually I resigned myself to watching her progress, knowing I probably wouldn’t get as far as she had for a LONG time.
I play Dragon Quest Builders every so often, mostly as a way to decompress from many of the higher stress games in which I tend to immerse myself. And even though I have yet to make a significant dent in the story material, I did recently stream some gameplay from the game’s start on my PlayStation 5.
I’d really like to make a go at a full run of the game on stream, but I would imagine it would be in a series of occasional, interrupted sequence of streams where I need to relax and take a break from my Breath of the Wilds, or my Marvel Midnight Suns, or even my Hollow Knights. Those kinds of games.
I know there’s a sequel, 2018’s Dragon Quest Builders 2, and possibly a third installment on the way. I plan on playing through those in the future, too. I’m just not sure how soon, or how long it’ll take me…
Spidey Librarian 