Dragon Quest Builders and Titanfall

On 10/17/2016 at 12:52 AM by KnightDriver

So, I put about 9 hours into DQ Builders this weekend. It's pretty fine but I got a little bored after a while. It's very much like Minecraft but with a very directed approach. You start with a busted up town and a single villager and she gives you things to do that bring more villagers to town and teach you how to build buildings and craft items. More villagers give you more quests and the game goes on from there teaching you new things as you go. There's not a lot of figuring things out. You fight in real time in the wilds and even have to defend the town occasionally.

There's lots of good ideas here that I wish were in Minecraft. I wish I could gather villagers in Minecraft and have them make things for me like in DQB and I wish I had to defend my village from waves of mobs. I also like the mega chest you can build in DQB that allows you to access all your matterials and equipment anywhere in the world.

One thing that doesn't work quite as well in DQB as in Minecraft is the digging and building. It's fine but not quite as smoothly executed as in Minecraft. I'm always jostling for position to place blocks and digging is a little more finicky. The smooth controls in Minecraft for console are closely related to keyboard and mouse controls and in DQB it's like using a four way joystick. It works, just less quickly and accurately. I found myself trying to figure out how to dig up and down and build stairs to get out of pits. In Minecraft this is super intuitive.

I've spent all my time above ground in DQB, which is weird, because in Minecraft, I'm below ground almost immediately and exploring caves. I've see cave openings in a few spots in DQB but I haven't ventured there yet because most of the matterials are visible on the surface so far.

So, I'm enjoying DQB, just not as intensely as I could be. I guess the lack of playing it co-op with my friend Mark has something to do with that too.

Finally feeling a need for action, I went back to Titanfall and played the "campaign". Then I got kinda bored playing those 6v6-plus-bots maps. The thing with multiplayer is it's kind of like being a kid chasing other kids round the house. It's fine a first but after a while it becomes pretty samey. Some people love this stuff and can do it all day, but for me, it starts feeling like I'm chasing my own tail. I got some more XP, an achievement, some more burn cards, and I was done with that for now.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to pick up Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for Mark and I and check that out. But, we'll see.

Bye.

Machocruz

10/17/2016 at 09:06 AM

Have you played Terraria? It's my favorite of these mining and building games. It's also one of the best action RPGs and side scrollers I've ever played, with some of the greatest loot and itemization I've seen in a game.. Not as immersive as Minecraft of course, but the mining and building are still fun as hell.

I never got on the post-CoD 4 bandwagon. I loved the first two WW2 games. I can be one of those people who is kind of a hipster when it comes to super popular games, but i have to admit that I'm interested in playing more CoD. I know that Black Ops 1 multiplayer has bots, but what about some of the other games?

KnightDriver

10/18/2016 at 01:17 AM

I tried Terraria for like five mintues and couldn't figure out how to build the simplest thing. I missed something in the menus for sure. But it baffled me, so I put it down. I need to go and pick it up again. I'm pretty sure I still own it.

I haven't been much of a fan of the series since it went modern day. Something about current events, even if they are not real, turns me away. I guess I look to games for something out of this world. Luckily, since Adv. Warfare, they've been getting more outlandish with exo-suits and now space missions in the new one.

Ranger1

10/17/2016 at 01:06 PM

My laptop ate my comment. Grr!

With the announcement that The Last Guardian may in fact be a reality, I've decided hat it may finally be time to invest in a PS4. Of course the first games I pick up will be DQ games! My friend Haley is playing and seems to be having a lot of fun with it, so I'm knida intrigued now.

10/18/2016 at 01:08 AM

I love the battles where waves of monsters attack your town. It makes building the thing have some meaning. I always want to build moats and defenses in Minecraft but there's really no point since mobs don't really attack in an organized way and they can spawn just about anywhere.

Cary Woodham

10/17/2016 at 09:42 PM

I just finished reviewing the strategy guide for DQ Builders. If I had a PS4, I would totally get that game.

10/18/2016 at 01:05 AM

My friend was mentioning some modes that unlock after a while that seem to maybe open up the game to a little more experimentation. I should keep at it. You know how long DQ games take to really get going.

goaztecs

10/18/2016 at 11:43 AM

My cousin told me about the DQ Builders. It sounds fun but I think I'll stick with Lego Worlds for my building games quick fix. Sounds like Titanfall would drive me nuts too.

10/24/2016 at 02:03 AM

DQ Builders has me down right now. There are too many rules to building, unlike Minecraft which has too few rules. I really want to try Lego Dimensions. As soon as a sale hits to make the starter pack $50, I might give it a try.

PixlBit