Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below

The Dragon Quest franchise-correct writing, characters, music and even sound effects make it feel as if it were co-developed by Level-5 and quite frankly it’s shocking it wasn’t. Like all games of its ilk, it has a propensity to get repetitive, but there’s enough environmental and gameplay variations that it never becomes a slog. Although it could have been a quick cash-in, Heroes is a love letter to Dragon Quest fans that stands as its own charming adventure.

Unlike other crossover incarnations in the Warriors series, Heroes incorporates enough of the legendary RPG franchise’s traditional elements to create a giddy nostalgia trip. Even if you aren’t a longtime fan, though, you’ll have a chance to get caught up in a whirlwind of solid action-RPG goodness.

It’s all just that little bit disappointing, especially after I came away from the demo earlier in the year feeling so positive [link]. It gets off to such a strong start, but the game never quite manages to build on that. Even the story starts to repeat itself - there doesn’t seem to be much of a reason to visit new towns other than ‘uh-oh, there are monsters over there now’.