Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors

"Too short, too easy, too sparse, and too expensive"

Dragon Quest Swords is one of those games that, for better or worse, exemplifies the Wii. It's simple, and at times clever and fun, but also extremely shallow and lacks the production values we've come to expect in modern gaming. The battle system is little more than waggling the Wii remote (with the occasional shield block and projectile-bouncing), the characters are about as complex as a late-generation NES RPG, and the game itself is just... sparse. The main city is sparse, the castle is sparse, the mission areas are sparse... it's an RPG in only the most basic sense. Perhaps it's best to describe it as Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, but for Dragon Quest.

That's not to say that everything's bad, because that wouldn't be true. The game has great voice acting, good character designs, and the battle system can occasionally be quite entertaining when you're not fighting the sketchy motion detection of the slashes. DQS also has great music of the caliber you've come to expect from the series. Of course, the translation is equally impressive due to Square-Enix's exceptionally high standards of translation (rivaled only by competitor Atlus).

Graphics

Dragon Quest Swords doesn't look bad, but it looks nowhere near as detailed and beautiful as Dragon Quest VIII did a few years ago. It's also, again, incredibly sparse. There's not a lot of clutter, or environment, or anything that would suggest you're playing a system more powerful than Gamecube. Or, for that matter, a system as powerful as the Gamecube. While the terrain is sparse, the character models are fantastic. Well-rounded, beautifully-animated characters fill the screen, both in battles (as enemies) and in the main city. This strange dichotomy of sparse, geometric environments with gorgeous character models is certainly confusing and suggests mixed priorities by the developers.

Sound

Excellent music (though not orchestrated like the aforementioned DQ8), excellent voice acting, and excellent retro sound effects. Dragon Quest Swords is a feast for the ears in every sense.

Gameplay

If the graphics are inconsistent and the sound is fantastic, the gameplay is clearly the weakest link. While it's admirable to make an RPG that appeals to entry-level gamers, a necessary addition to that formula would be consistent controls.

First, no game should ever attempt to be in first-person without using the nunchuck. The D-Pad controls work, for the most part, but they're incredibly clunky and slow. Fortunately this is only a problem in the main city, as the mission areas are basically on a set track so you'll only need to press forward.

The problem with DQS is that the controls aren't as responsive as they should be. The game does a poor job of registering the three kinds of slashes (vertical, horizontal, diagonal), which is unfortunate because it attempts to mix some strategy into the battle system by rewarding you for combo-killing enemies. One miss and your combo is toast. But you'll miss a lot because the game won't always register the right kind of swing. It's not game-breaking, but it does tear out an integral aspect of the game's design.

Also, the game is just too short. One could feasibly beat the game, with nothing else to do, in less than ten hours. That's inexcusably short for an RPG of any kind, and the game has very, very little replay value. Added to the problems mentioned earlier, this rips any possible value out of the game.

Overall

It's not a bad start per se, but Dragon Quest Swords is not something we as gamers should continue to allow on the Wii or any other system. Games without substance, with broken controls, and those that lack replay value (mixed with being incredibly short) should not be released in this day and age. As I said, it's a decent start, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/08

Game Release: Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (US, 02/19/08)