Dragon Quest Treasures Review
Initial release date: December 9, 2022
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Genres: Role-playing video game, Action game, Adventure game, Fighting game
Dragon Quest has never been as hugely successful in the west as it is in Japan, I say this because in Japan, Dragon Quest is almost like a national event enjoyed by people of all ages there and is THE RPG for people there instead of games such as Final Fantasy and the like. While we here in the west have gotten almost all of the games brought over, save for Dragon Quest X, and nearly all of the spin off games; one of the things I never expected to see was a spin off of Dragon Quest XI set before that game’s events staring Erik and his sister Mia. Given that I have enjoyed the spin off Monster games and because I always am looking for more DQ goodness, Dragon Quest Treasures was one of the games I was looking forward to the most this year. While I enjoyed my time with the game, there were aspects of the game that I can see many not liking.
Dragon Quest Treasures stars Erik and Mia from Dragon Quest XI during their younger years leading into how they became treasure hunters. They have been raised by Vikings and have internalized their way of life and love of seeking adventure and treasure. One night while the Vikings are throwing a party in celebration of a recent conquest, Erik and Mia decide to sneak out onto the deck of the ship for fun and then notice two odd looking creatures that were caged near the mast of the ship. After freeing the two creatures, they go on to introduce themselves as Purrsula and Porcus, Erik and Mia then decide to go out and seek treasure on the small boat they find on the side of the ship.
After some time sailing, The party comes across an island that is housing two mythical daggers, as soon as the pair grab them, a portal opens and they are all transported to the continent of Draconia which is composed of five individual islands formed from the bodies of two large entangled dragons. Erik and Mia are given the opportunity to not only seek treasure here, but also are tasked with the quest from Purrsula and Porcus to find the Seven Dragonstones hidden on Draconia.
While this premise is purely here to give us a reason to have Erik and Mia on this adventure, you shouldn’t go into this game expecting a story on the level of Dragon Quest XI and should purely treat this as a gaiden or side story of two of that games’ main cast members. That’s not to say thagt this is a completely forgettable tale as it does have some really endearing and compelling moments, but its safe to say that the focus of this game should be on the gameplay above all else.
When it comes to the gameplay of Dragon Quest Treasure, it is essentially a semi-open world action-adventure dungeon crawler with monster taming thrown in. You’ll gain over time numerous quests of which you can go out and start exploring across the vastness of Draconia. Combat isn’t the deepest out there for a hack-n-slash as you won’t have complex combo strings on the level of Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, but you will have a standard attack along with the ability to use your slingshot. The slingshot is multifaceted as it has the ability to not only shoot projectiles like pellets and elemental pellets, but also can heal your party members. Your monster allies have a larger variety of abilities that they can use during combat which makes it often pointless to have Erik or Mia get too involved in battles due to how limited their skill set is.
Erik and Mia don’t really get more combat abilities beyond their daggers and slingshot which I find to be odd given how the game will frequently through you into dungeons that will emphasize combat. While I don’t mind the hacking and slashing affair, the fact that you don’t get more combat options and the general lack of combat progress does bring this game down a couple notches for me as I would’ve liked more in the way of not just offensive options but defensive ones as well.
When it comes to getting more monster allies, you have to beat them up to a certain point and then try to persuade them to join you. This is a relatively simple task and isn’t complex in the way that demon negotiations are in a SMT or Persona game can be.
Combat aside, the main aspect of this game is the treasure hunting and exploration, and that is where this game truly shines. The five islands of Draconia are each very different and yet each one is massive in scope and scale. You’ll find treasure chests all over the islands within caverns, dungeons, on the field, and within nooks and crannies. The way you can get around on the field and explore is up to you as you can do your usual running and jumping and climbing, but you’re also given the ability to use your monster allies to give you addition maneuvers called Wild Sides that can range from using the slimes as trampolines to jump higher to being able to glide and more.
Visually, Dragon Quest Treasures has a uniqueness about it that goes between looking amazing to looking like something from the Gamecube generation. It really isn’t the best-looking game on the Switch by any means and that’s ok because it’s also not trying to be. Erik and Mia look good as do all of the more major characters and villains, but beyond that everything else is fairly basic looking and the environments don’t really do much to look that impressive.
The games audio is your standard Dragon Quest affair with all the normal beats you’d come to expect. The level up theme, item get theme, and more return and sound the same as always. The voice acting is pretty good with the actors doing the best they could with this script. I can’t really complain about the audio if I’m being honest.
Dragon Quest Treasure is a game that you’ll find the most enjoyment out of if you’re either a DQ fan or don’t mind the game’s more casual approach to everything from the story to the combat and more. If you were expecting this to sit up there with DQXI then you’ll definitely be disappointed as it’s not trying to be nor was it meant to be on the level of that game and is best enjoyed as the DQ Monsters game that it is. Dragon Quest Treasure is a fun and enjoyable experience that I find to be best enjoyed when played in spurts and for casual fun. It may not be the best game on the Switch of 2022, but it is nonetheless an enjoyable game that’ll keep you coming back to it time and again.
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