thieves, and so on, unlocking different powers and
abilities to customise their skill set. This being an
Omega Force game, there are naturally dozens of
skills, abilities, and weapons to unlock, and coupled
with the fun cast of characters (partly imported from
other Dragon Quest games) you’re never lacking for
new play styles to experiment with.
The actual combat is typically Warriors - you have
light and heavy attacks which can be strung together
to make different combos, a tension meter which
builds as you fight and can be used to unleash coup-
de-grace special moves, a nifty dodge roll and block,
and a customisable set of spells for each character.
This makes the combat feel much more varied than
the usual hack-n-slash fare, and there’s a strategic
element to balancing out the skills / spells of your
party members to complement each other.
Adding further diversity is the Monster medal
system, which lets you collect medals from defeated
enemies. These can then be used to summon
creatures to battle alongside you or help you out in
combat, or in the case of some of the more powerful
critters, allow you to transform into them for a while
and use their powers. When you’re in the form of a
towering Stone Golem, that can be pretty fun - less so
when you’ve transformed into a Slime.
The Monster Medals prove especially vital in the
story battles, which see your band of heroes battling
alongside (and against) hordes of soldiers and
monsters. Having an army of monstrous allies can
prove invaluable when trying to hold an area or
defend a character, and being able to turn into bigger
monsters makes fighting them a lot quicker. Given
that the battles can be surprisingly tough, you’ll need
to make use of all the options you have available -
you can’t just grind your way through most of the
encounters in Dragon Quest Heroes II.
Technically, the game holds up pretty well. The
Warriors engine has been given a few welcome coats
of paint, and whilst the visuals are hardly cutting
edge they are full of character and charm, and run
well on PS4 and PC alike. The orchestrated Dragon
Quest soundtrack will hit all the right notes with
series fans, as will the wonderful voice work and
localisation. Sadly the engine improvements have
come at a cost: DQHII lacks splitscreen multiplayer,
though does offer Online co-op.
If you’re a Warriors fan or a Dragon Quest fan, this
game is a no-brainer. Even if you aren’t, though,
Dragon Quest Heroes II offers a metric ton of
content, satisfying combat, an endearing cast of
characters, and bucketloads of charm. 8/10
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