Dragon Quest Builders 2 Build-All

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is out for the PS4 and the Switch.

Please, builders of GWJ, post your screengrabs of the slang as you come across it. I wish I'd been more diligent. Here's my contribution.

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I broke down and bought this today at lunch despite getting burnt out on the first one after the 3rd area. Just finished the little intro on the ship and it already seems... better.. somehow.

Good stuff.

I bought this a few days ago. Only put a few hours in so far but it has definitely got its hooks into me. Having companions that actually help you achieve your goals seems like a big improvement over DQB1. No issues with the Switch port that I've noticed yet.

I appreciate how forgiving this game is. Last night I found I out I had planted something wrong, but I was able to cut the weeds and get all the seeds back, so I could do it correctly.

Echoing a sentiment from the Switch thread, I also would like to be able to see the boundaries of the village. I set up a farm that ended up being halfway inside and halfway out. Only the crops inside the village counted for the 250 crop requirement.

Aristophan wrote:

I appreciate how forgiving this game is. Last night I found I out I had planted something wrong, but I was able to cut the weeds and get all the seeds back, so I could do it correctly.

Echoing a sentiment from the Switch thread, I also would like to be able to see the boundaries of the village. I set up a farm that ended up being halfway inside and halfway out. Only the crops inside the village counted for the 250 crop requirement.

Yeah, it’s a little frustrating. The way you can tell the boundaries is with the music. When it’s not raining the music gets cheery when you’re inside your base.

I just finished the main questline of Furrowfield and headed back to the Isle of Awakening. There's at least a couple of side things I didn't complete in Furrowfield, so I'll need to head back at some point, but there's no rush. I'm really enjoying the game so far.

And yeah, the town boundary really needs to be made visually clear. And the town boundary feels too cramped for what they expect you to build.

Picked this up on launch day; I loved the first game and already absolutely adore this sequel.

I, too, wish the town borders were more clearly delineated and that they weren't quite so cramped. But really, that's essentially my only "complaint" so far. At least as of late chapter 1, everything I wanted in the sequel appears to be here, and then some!

Have never played a game like this before but really enjoying it. Just made it to island 2 but may go back and forth between that and Isle of Awakening extra stuff. +1 to everyone who has said this game is forgiving. I find it relaxing and a nice game to curl up in bed and play a few minutes or hours.

The dialogue though...is there a way to not have it? It's so awful with the accents and the attempt at youth slang. Someone needs to be fired.

bigred wrote:

Have never played a game like this before but really enjoying it. Just made it to island 2 but may go back and forth between that and Isle of Awakening extra stuff. +1 to everyone who has said this game is forgiving. I find it relaxing and a nice game to curl up in bed and play a few minutes or hours.

The dialogue though...is there a way to not have it? It's so awful with the accents and the attempt at youth slang. Someone needs to be fired.

Lol

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Yup.

It's one thing to have bad dialogue but twice as bad when it's hard to skip the dialogue.

I reached the second main island today. You do start the new island with nothing in your inventory. However, if you have unlocked infinite materials, then you have access to that. The first item I had to build needed wood and cord, and since I had unlocked unlimited wood, I only need to go out and collect the cord.

I feel like I'm getting close to the end of the second story island. I've sunk a lot of hours into the game already and I feel like there is still a lot more to come. Game is super addictive. Agreed it would be nice to show your town's boundary on the map, but other than that I don't think I have any complaints.

Video games! lol

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I'm really enjoying the gameplay. The gather/fight/build loop has me hooked.

Really, REALLY disappointed with the treatment of women in this game however. Especially in the second story island, which I am on. I'm shocked I've read nothing about this in any review:

Spoiler:

The main female NPC's attention is being fought over by, seemingly, every male NPC on the island. She is going to be a "dancer" like her mother was. You make her a changing room so she can get into a Playboy Bunny-like outfit, which "encourages" the workers and makes them work harder. WTeverlovingF?.

lostlobster wrote:

Really, REALLY disappointed with the treatment of women in this game however.

I'm about halfway(?) through the second story island, and that made me pretty uncomfortable. I haven't quite gotten to the point you describe (about building the room). I've been hoping that the questline has a "lol nope" turnaround at the end.

lostlobster wrote:

I'm really enjoying the gameplay. The gather/fight/build loop has me hooked.

Really, REALLY disappointed with the treatment of women in this game however. Especially in the second story island, which I am on. I'm shocked I've read nothing about this in any review:

Spoiler:

The main female NPC's attention is being fought over by, seemingly, every male NPC on the island. She is going to be a "dancer" like her mother was. You make her a changing room so she can get into a Playboy Bunny-like outfit, which "encourages" the workers and makes them work harder. WTeverlovingF?.

^Garg. I've been reading along because the game concept sounds pretty cool. That's disappointing to hear. What is this, 1982?

Is the fighting element reasonably challenging? I'm thinking of Minecraft, where the fighting is inconsequential after the first night. When I played that, I kept thinking about how it would be cool to have a game where the fighting element actually meant something, and you needed to build to survive better.

The fights are not challenging. It is generally swing, swing, swing, and then run away from big attacks. There are occasional big battles, but you really just need to make sure your villagers are equipped with the latest weapons. At the end of the first island there was a boss battle with a unique mechanic, but that was it so far for variety.

On another island, I came across a "tough" enemy - it was big and the music changed. I ran away, so I don't know how tough it was, but perhaps there can be more to fighting in the later stages of the game.

As for the other issue, Waypoint's review did spend a few paragraphs describing how "The B-plot of the second island, Khrumbul-Dun, is particularly gross and weird." It's crappy.

Just got to the dancer part. Oof

Might be the first game where I'm inclined to write an angry letter to the company. Cor Blimey!!!!

Not to defend that crap in any way, but girls in bunny costumes is an absolute staple of Dragon Quest. Up to and including XI which has a pretty lengthy quest line around gathering the entire outfit.

Japan. /shrug

Cool. Maybe it's past time to stop including it, then.

And it's not just the costume. It's the relentless, constant comments about how beautiful this girl is and how they can't wait to see her dance and the prospect of her dancing makes them work harder and the jealousy when she gives your character food, etc. It's absurd how hard they leaned into this sexist trope.

They will never change Dragon Quest. They just won't. They don't make it for the West, they make it for Japan and share it with us. This is why the main-line games are SO brutally old school. Any time they even think of bringing the slightest change to the series Japan threatens to implode.

It's stupid, and I agree that these tropes are extremely tired and problematic.

But that's Dragon Quest. I don't see it changing... maybe ever.

I don’t really have a problem with this in a mainline Dragon Quest game, but DQB feels like it’s written and designed for a much younger audience in mind. Maybe I’m being overly prudish, but that’s what’s weirding me out most about this situation.

I think there's a number of conflicting but can be true at the same time opinions above.

Personally for me, knowing what I know now, I'll ignore the dialogue and push forward with the game I purchased. In the future, I probably won't buy another DQ game. As fun as it is, it's setting the world back decades in terms of social norms. It's drastically worse given it is targeted at a young audience.

Aristophan wrote:

On another island, I came across a "tough" enemy - it was big and the music changed. I ran away, so I don't know how tough it was, but perhaps there can be more to fighting in the later stages of the game.

You should get these guys, they give unique recipes for armor/weapons, at least the few I've killed have. They really aren't that tough, they just take longer to kill, especially if you have a healing item or two you're fine.

r013nt0 wrote:

They will never change Dragon Quest. They just won't.

I get that. And I get that I'm coming at this from a perspective that doesn't include the history of the franchise. But I'm dismayed that games like DQB2 get a "pass" because of their history or that it's from Japan.

I just went off on a whole rant against Nintendo, etc. that's not worth actually posting. There's nothing to be done, of course, other than not playing or not paying. I just needed to vent. Carry on.

Just to be clear, I agree with you that it's gross, unfortunate, and shouldn't get a pass. But it does. We've all been complaining about it for years.

There are plenty of critiques you could level at Nintendo in this area, for sure. Don't get me started on Fire Emblem.

AcidCat wrote:
Aristophan wrote:

On another island, I came across a "tough" enemy - it was big and the music changed. I ran away, so I don't know how tough it was, but perhaps there can be more to fighting in the later stages of the game.

You should get these guys, they give unique recipes for armor/weapons, at least the few I've killed have. They really aren't that tough, they just take longer to kill, especially if you have a healing item or two you're fine.

Yeah - today I came across another one, and I decided to fight it and got a new recipe. I also found a new item in an out of the way area, smashed it to bits with my hammer, picked it up, and obtained the recipe for it. Creation through destruction.

I think I’m done with this game. It’s quite an addicting game, but I don’t think for me that’s super healthy. I could stay on this treadmill forever, but it’s very obviously a treadmill and the more I play that the more I see the loop.

Shall we play a game? How about a friendly game of thermal nuclear war or tic tac toe?

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Shall we play a game? How about a friendly game of thermal nuclear war or tic tac toe?

Basically.

And it doesn’t make sense. Other games are “pointless” in the sense that I could spend my time doing something more “valuable”. But that particular loop is so addictive and yet so transparent.