"Good game for something released a few years back, with some problems"

The first impression of this game seems to be of Slime tribute, but it really is cool. Slimes to Dragon Quest/Warrior Monsters are likened to what Pikachus are to Pokemon. These games are often compared time to time again, though Pokemon is more popular, Dragon Quest/Warrior Monsters was what started it all.

Before I digress, here is my verdict on Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime. Minus the de-translimation you may find in this game.


[Controls - 6.5]

For most of the parts, the controls are pretty straightforward and characters/tutorials teach you how to use them. Though this is an early game and game developers may not have fully been able to utilise the stylus writing feature, I must say that you will definitely not need the stylus. This is ok but the complain is that it is pretty tedious to control the buttons. This game, being not really designed to be ergonomically-friendly for (button and pen) usage, seems to have an issue with the thumbs. After playing tank battles and fighting, it seems that I have obtained a swollen left and right thumb, with blisters. No thanks to the controls for this game.

Stylus is only reserved for painting feature, so if you are a fan of the stylus use, you will be sorely disappointed.



[Graphics - 8.0]

For a 2-D designed game, the graphics are pretty good to look at. You will not be disappointed by the colourful myriad and parade of slime sprites.



[Sound - 7.0]

The sounds are ok. Some of them are reused from the previous Dragon Warrior Monster games from the GameBoy and GameBoy Advanced consoles. Most of the newer musics are not catchy enough and don't get stuck into my head easily.



[Story - 6.0]

Nothing fantastic but just good to go along. It seems that everything is linear. Go through dungeons, tank battles, the occasional boss battles, go through the main villain, ending, continue. Too generic and predictable as this is the standard novel plot-casting.

The anti-hero part with Slivial and the interactions with this slime was pretty amusing, but it scores not much points to the story. So does the interactions with towns people. There is not much of character development for Rocket and amusing character interactions with the other slimes. Nothing at all that generates much hype or talk to this part of the game.



[Gameplay - 6.9]

The boss battles are way too easy to be a challenge. It seems like the beginning 4 dungeons of Zelda. About that standard, or lower or higher.

That aside, it seems that the overworld play isn't the main focus of the game. The main thing about this game which sets it apart from many other games is the tank battles. You either love it or hate it. I have tried the demo before I decided to play this game and the tank battle featured in this demo was what got my curiosity into this game. I found the tank battles amusing of course.

Rocket can carry up to 3 items at a time, and it is up to you to control the cannon that you wish to use. For the beginning, it seems ok, but as you progress into the game, it gets harder and harder. Fear not as you will later recruit 3 additional tank members. You can unlock the missing slot members by rescuing slimes, collecting at least 30 of each slob mob and then helping your parents (it has to do with your dad) after game ends.

The game seems to rely on too much of collecting for items. With Rocket being only able to send them back through the train carts, 3 at a time, it can become an exceedingly repetitive and tedious task to collect items. Way too tiring and tedious to get by the game if you want to get really good tank items to synthesis through the Krak pot. You will also need to obtain recipes from slime rescue and certain tank battles.

Moreover, tank battles seem to reward with only 1 item after every fight. That is way too little for anyone's liking. One item for a tedious and tiring tank battle is really like peanuts to your efforts. And especially since this is the main point of the game, I will expect at least 2-3 items for rewards to be fair. This is however not the case.

Some of the dialogue and references to some other relations to outside of this game can bring some chuckles to you if you enjoy light humour (e.g. T-Rax, Hacks 'R' Us). The ending credits sound like a tribute to slimes of course. Pretty understandable since this is a game dedicated to them.



[Wireless gameplay features]

No comments



[Replayability - 6.0]

The tank battles are a merit enough to keep this game playable. I have not seen the wireless gameplay features but from what I know it does not have enough of an incentive to keep this game replayable.



[Complaints Section]

- Too much collecting.
- Amount of items rewarded through tank battles are too few.
- Use of stylus limited, button controls may hurt your thumb.
- Some buggy glitch with screen. When screen fades to darkness at parts, there are some other funny flashing images which are not supposed to be there. It is a major bug since it happens all the time to everyone, although it does not affect gameplay too much.
- Dungeons too easy, for newbies to this genre, it is good, but for veterans, they will complain.
- Limited replayability value, especially if you hate tank battles.

[Game strengths Section]

- Amusing and challenging tank battles
- Good graphics.
- Good for newbies to this genre.



[Overall score - 6.8]
This score is rounded off to higher 7.
This means it is -
1) Fair - there are many other games better than this
2) Good - a few prolems, but worth the time to play

For this case, this applies to a few aspects of the game. The fair is for the overworld play and story. The good is for tank battles.



[The famous...buy or rent section]

Rent if you can. This game does not have much depth to keep you satisfied after completing the main storyline. Unless you are a Dragon Warrior/Quest Monsters series fan or collector, don't buy this game unless you have carefully weighted out the pros and cons to it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/27/08

Game Release: Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (US, 09/19/06)