Dragon Quest Heroes II is a JRPG on fast forward. The gradual addition of new party members, the rollout of plot twists, and other typical genre roadmarkers come at you at a fast clip. If it normally takes 100 hours to amass a kill count of 10,000 enemies, this game lets you reach such milestones in less than 10. And, as one of the many spinoffs of the 20-year-old Dynasty Warriors series, it retains the best elements of the franchise’s trademark combat, where you decimate armies with rudimentary, albeit flashy, combos. Dragon Quest Heroes II distinguishes itself from its equally great predecessor with its free roam-friendly fields of battle, which feel like an homage to the open expanses of mainline Dragon Quest games.
Though it’s a sequel, you don’t need any context from the first game or Dragon Quest in general to appreciate this one’s story and gameplay. Of course, there are a handful of design similarities that fans of the last Dragon Quest Heroes will recognize. (For example, your two selectable male and female heroes aren’t childhood friends this time around, but rather cousins.) And this sequel’s premise doesn’t involve the brainwashing of once-friendly monsters–instead, you’re concerned with unexpected invasions of neighboring kingdoms.
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Now Playing: Dragon Quest Heroes 2 Video Review
It is when you embark on your journey to solve the mystery of the warring lands that you first realize how this game is influenced by the wide open areas found in many JRPG world maps. These lands are vast and filled with infinitely respawning monsters, but you can wander aimlessly with no problem; unlike typical JRPGs, Dragon Quest Heroes II doesn’t have random encounters. Rather than exterminate every imp and zombie in your field of view, you can focus on high-value targets and areas where there are tight clusters of foes, who are often tormenting some unlucky NPC. Equally unlucky are the myriad endearing creatures minding their own business, particularly in the lush hills of Greena Pastures. Murdering slime knights while they nap on the sunniest of days is downright sadistic and never gets old.
By reaching the other side of these rolling battlefields, you’re greeted with smaller but equally intense “war zones”–maps and conflicts that resemble the story-driven encounters from the first Heroes. Alternating between the larger spaces and these more intimate combat zones provides a level of diversity seldom seen in Warriors games.
The rollout of new regions as you make progress through the game’s compelling story feels orderly, but the events that unfold as you explore these territories are rich in variety. In a given hour you could be navigating through a labyrinthine swamp with brain-teasing teleportation portals, or you could be hunting down a mischievous shape-shifter impersonating townsfolk or even your protagonist. Yes, there are straightforward objectives like taking out bosses or escorting NPCs, but the game’s exploration-focused, JRPG-inspired segments avoids the tidy but boring chapter-based story progression common in many subpar Warriors anime spinoffs. And Dragon Quest Heroes II isn’t above occasional Dynasty Warriors-inspired battles, which are easy to enjoy given their infrequency.
Even with the recognizable Akira Toriyama character designs and the hearty helping of quests, this is first and foremost a Warriors spinoff. It foregoes the precision of stylistic hack-and-slashers like Devil May Cry in favor of the gratification of killing enemies en masse. This is thanks to straightforward controls, where stringing quick and strong attacks into a single combo can decimate two dozen enemies. Combat shows further depth with the return of minion coins, which temporarily add the monsters you vanquish to your squad. This form of summoning loses some of its tower defense-inspired appeal from the last game to make room for a wider array of enemy powers, including the immensely satisfying ability to transform into some of the game’s larger enemies.
For as much as this sequel differs from its predecessor, developer Omega Force wisely preserved many of the previous game’s strengths. These include classic and simple experience point-driven character progression, gear upgrades, and item alchemy. The biggest draw, however, are the guest heroes from the mainline Dragon Quest games, despite the strengths and appeal of this game’s original cadre of heroes.
This new cast features a mix of Dragon Quest Heroes first-timers like Angelo and Carver and returning characters like Jessica and Kiryl. They’re all skilled monster hunters, although some squad combinations are more effective than others. Fan-favorite Torneko, for example, is one of the few teammates who can cast healing spells, which makes him an MVP during the more challenging battles. Experimenting with different party formations is part of the fun, where you’re compelled to balance personal preference for certain characters with team composition. You have so much to choose from, in fact, that the newly implemented class-change feature feels both underutilized and redundant. Why retool your main hero as a priest and reset your level back to one when there are already characters with priest-like abilities?
While you do have to choose a main protagonist among two heroes, the ability to switch to your other three party members on the fly quadruples your potential at effective damage-dealing. Rotating through your team in order to make the most of their abilities and strengths becomes its own game of micromanagement Come from Sports betting site VPbet . This presents its share of challenges and thrills, depending on the current battle predicaments of each squadmate. However, there wouldn’t be this strong compulsion to jump from body to body if not for the modest contributions of your AI-controlled buddies. They never come close to attacking with the same intensity as you. That said, you seldom feel like you’re babysitting them, and they never feel like a burden.
To experience a party’s true ferocity, you would have to join real-life friends in the game’s multiplayer modes, a rarity for a Warriors game. When compared to playing solo, having friends along can have a huge impact on your success rate in battle. That’s not to say online play is bereft of challenges. Optional multiplayer dungeons are loaded with Dragon Quest’s meanest foes, and these ferocious welcome parties change based on your levels and team size. If you do come out on top in these monster-infested mazes, you leave with useful loot like a ball that temporarily boosts the amount of XP you earn in battle, which can make your next play session all the more lucrative.
Side quests–where you’re tasked with everything from exterminating a set amount of monsters to hunting for specific loot–are feel-good deeds that not only make NPCs happy but also serve as rewarding sources of experience. Whatever quests you take on, there are a variety of daily incentives that yield practical rewards. The real world Wednesday incentive, in particular, where there are extra metal slimes in the field, is especially worthwhile; any Dragon Quest fan can tell you that these elusive jokesters yield a ton of experience points, provided you can actually kill them.
Much like its predecessor, Dragon Quest Heroes II isn’t short of opportunities for high-volume slaughter while effectively preserving the charm of Dragon Quest. Omega Force’s thoughtful mix of familiar Dragon Quest Heroes designs and new features not only makes this sequel engrossing, but it also shows this side series’ potential for future installments. It makes for a satisfying hack-and-slasher that is not only a great Warriors spinoff, but also an effective gateway to the main Dragon Quest series.
Fortnite is gearing up for Chapter 6 Season 1, closing the book on Remix Chapter 2 with its massive Remix Finale event, the latest in a years-long run of in-game concerts that Epic has put on for players. Shortly after the event, the official Fortnite account on Twitter/X revealed that the Remix Finale event was, in fact, the biggest in-game concert the game has ever hosted.
With more than 14 million players, this latest event has usurped Travis Scott’s “Astronomical” in-game concert from 2020 as the biggest Fortnite in-game music event ever. Scott’s interactive concert saw a high of 12.3 million players. In the summer of 2021, Ariana Grande starred in the Rift Tour, a concert of a similar scale, though player counts were never revealed for it, thereby inferring the total was less…
Star Wars’ newest live-action series, The Acolyte, takes place roughly 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. The series has been earning steadily high marks, due to its fresh take on the Star Wars Universe, but the show has been given a certain moniker that has confused showrunner Leslye Headland: “the gayest Star Wars yet.”
Talking to The Wrap, Headland, and star Amandla Stenberg (who plays twins on the show), explained how The Acolyte is far from the gayest Star Wars installment and how the franchise is pretty gay already.
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Humble has revealed its December lineup of games, and this month, there’s a great selection of intriguing sci-fi, sandy action, and cyberpunk fun to pick up. In case you haven’t used it before, Humble Choice costs $12 monthly and offers several perks, including a monthly batch of PC games that are yours to keep forever, even if your cancel your subscription. Other benefits include exclusive discounts at the Humble store and access to the Humble Vault–an additional rotating library of games exclusive to members.
As far as underrated consoles go, it’s hard to beat the Sega Dreamcast. Discontinued after just a few years on the market, it never earned the critical acclaim of its competitors–the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube Come from malaysia online casino . However, Dreamcast was home to some of the best games of the generation, and you can relive its history with The Dreamcast Encyclopedia. Written by prolific games journalist Chris Scullion, the hardcover book takes a look at the console’s troubled timeline while also discussing its entire game catalog, making it the definitive destination for fans of the platform.
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HBO has released a flurry of first looks at several major series coming in 2025, including The Last of Us Season 2, White Lotus Season 3, the Game of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and more. The Last of Us footage is the first new look at what’s ahead for Joel (Pedro Pascal), Ellie (Bella Ramsey), and the horrors that await.
It’s a quick 25-second look, but in it, we get a quick peek at Ellie’s tattoo cover-up on her arm, her love interest Dina (Isabela Merced), Seraphites (aka Scars), and Jeffrey Wright reprising his role as Isaac, who is the leader of WLF (Washington Liberation Front). There’s also a look at Catherine O’Hara’s mystery role talking to Pascal’s Joel.
HBO previously dropped first-look images back in May of Joel and Ellie, with fans capturing…
The first film in actor and director Kevin Costner’s epic Western series, Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 has only been in theaters for a month, but Amazon already has preorders up for the eventual 4K Blu-ray release. You can preorder Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 for $50 right now.
Horizon: An American Saga is a passion project Costner has worked on as far back as 1988. The plan is for it to eventually comprise four movies set before, during, and after the Civil War, and leaning into the American mythology of the Old West and westward expansion Come from Sports betting site VPbet . Horizon Chapter 1 covers the four years of the Civil War, 1861 through 1865, but the whole series will eventually span 12 years.
A new patch for Dying Light 2 has gone live on PC, and between a few tweaks to the zombie apocalypse sandbox, one of the game’s more annoying bugs has been fixed. As PC players discovered, loading a fresh save of Dying Light 2 occasionally locked them into a death-loop–not that one–where they’d constantly die like an ill-prepared Tom Cruise sci-fi movie character.
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While the 30th anniversary of Mortal Kombat’s release may not be until next year, this year marks 30 years since development started on the iconic fighting game, as co-creator Ed Boon pointed out on Twitter. The developer, who also voiced Scorpion in the first few Mortal Kombat games, has used the anniversary to share a behind-the-scenes moment from the classic game. Come from Sports betting site VPbet
A video posted by Boon shows filming underway on Scorpion’s movesets, capturing footage that would later be digitised into the game. During the session, Boon can be heard spitballing on a new move, beginning with an excited “you know what would be a cool-ass move?”
The chilling cry of a spirit told me to move off the trail and head into the woods, wherein lay the next clue in my investigation. What would I find this time? Perhaps the remains of a skeleton, weathered by the elements, its bones shattered by some malicious deed. Or would it be broken arrow shafts, left behind after an intense and bloody battle? In my eagerness, I made a grave error. My sudden movements were careless, as confirmed by the arrow whistling through the air. It struck its mark, and I attempted to limp to the safety of the forest. A coarse bellow drowned out the sound of my footsteps. Bursting through the brush charged a creature in the shape of a Spanish conquistador, its armor accented by red, from the belt, to the undershirt, to the burning eyes. It looked like the spiri…
There are times in life where it feels like no matter what you do, something is waiting to ruin your day. Obstacles that come from all directions, trying to take you down when you’re just trying your best to make it to the next day. Perhaps they’re big, foreboding, and scary. Maybe there are lots of little things that can harm you just as easily. Something might seemingly come out of nowhere and just wreck your entire being. That’s the vibe of the year 2020 Disc Room, a ball of anxious energy in the form of a 2D action game. But as nerve-racking as that sounds, Disc Room is also a game that will eventually encourage you to come to terms with frequent failure, learning instead to cherish the small successes that help you push forward.
