DQ Dai: A Hero’s Bonds 12+

I’ve played a few of the DQ mobile games and this one it’s the most enjoyable so far. Yes there is auto battle but it’s optional and bosses around the same recommended level give a nice challenge and doesn’t feel like damage sponges. Yes there is a stamina gauge that can slow your progress but they give you potions to replenish and progressing gives you more stamina at certain ranks/mission completion.

For a “gatcha” game it doesn’t feel play to win and honestly, I can’t see any incentive to spend money unless you have the desire to collect every weapon. Great for me as I’ve never spent money on a mobile game but I do spread the word if I find something I enjoy. Idk, maybe I can find a whale to recommend this too or I’ll buy a DQ game in the future as XI was great and this game gives me a greater appreciation for the series.

4/5 as it’s still new and the game crashes. It’s quite rare and it’s always been when I to the treasure chest pulls. I still get my rewards but the game closes out. Never happened in battle though. Probably change this to a 5 star review after they work out the bugs which is sorta expected out of new games.

Dragon Quest: Dai’s Adventure is an older anime in the franchise that has finally been remastered, and this mobile game captures that renewed spirit of adventure extremely well. While a good portion of this game’s content features characters from Dai’s Adventure (hence the title), you have the ability to create your own little avatar for your party. Your avatar can switch equipment based on class, and you can accompany your allies in practically every mode. (The only thing missing is the ability to custom coordinate outfits because your avatar character defaults to the equipment they’re wearing. Story characters maintain their outfits for the sake of Gacha.)

Whether you’re old hat to Dragon Quest or you’re just trying to figure out what type of games “Hero” in Super Smash Bros. comes from, this is a great game I believe you will enjoy!

(**Prospective players, please don’t be put off by how “forced” some of the story material may feel. Dragon Quest is by nature a Fantasy game, so just catalogue any McGuffins and/or other literary devices you may find to poke fun at later; they’re there on purpose for you to enjoy!)

It’s halfway between both a hero collecting and gear collecting gacha without fulfilling either one. There is no real character gacha, they’re instead collected through story progress, but it takes forever. The real gacha draw is gear but gear only displays on the character created hero, none of the DQ heroes. Not even weapons display on the DQ heroes. The gear that can be shown on the hero is underwhelming. The hero appearance customization is bare bones. There’s just nothing in this game to make your experience unique. It’s an utter failure of use of gacha mechanics. I don’t care for my avatar hero and I don’t care for any of the collectible heroes I’ve seen, especially since knowing they’re just gear camels. The combat system is good in theory but not in execution. Sometimes my party members fight alongside me as AI and sometimes I have to swap between all of them myself. There’s no consistency with which to plan and build around. When there are multiple party members at once the abundance of skill effects obscures the field-warning of incoming attacks making navigating the field chaotic and difficult. It looks like there’s a lot of hero development but I can’t bring myself to dive into any of it for the aforementioned reasons. I don’t like leaving negative reviews, but this game doesn’t deliver on anything. It’s a lot of good ideas just poorly implemented.