Dragon Quest Heroes II Hands-on Preview

During PAX East 2017 I had the opportunity to sit down with the upcoming action-RPG, Dragon Quest Heroes II. I ended up playing close to an hour and a half of the game, progressing past tutorials and introductions, then into the world for exploration.

First of all, the aspect that impressed me the most during my Dragon Quest Heroes II demo is the presentation and visuals from the cinematics. They are absolutely top notch and do an excellent job setting up the brand-new world that players are set to engage in. This is met well with entertaining new characters and exciting action-packed gameplay.

As players begin they have the choice to play with either one of the two cousins, Lazarel or Teresa. However, once players dive into the game, they can actually quickly swap characters to easily take control of each one that is in the party. There are four characters I got to play with during my demo which you can see in the gameplay video below. Each one has their own unique and powerful abilities. I really enjoy the combat situations as they are visually fun to view thanks to a lot of flashy particles and lighting effects surrounding different attack moves.

The storyline talks about a long period of peace before suddenly the town that Lazarel and Teresa are training in is attacked by their homeland and former classmate for reasons unknown. This is also when players meet an ally known as Desdemona who turns out to be a pretty important and interesting character. Shortly after the completion of that battle players get their first taste of the open world and come across Torneko, a tradesman who is being chased by bandits.

Being able to freely explore the open land and choose whether or not to engage in battle with enemies that are scattered about in great numbers makes the game very interesting. I could go scouting for gear and engage in battle to level up my characters, or I could quickly progress the story along instead. I really appreciated this aspect in Dragon Quest Heroes II.

I can easily see myself becoming completely engaged in this game not just because I’m a fan of the hack and slash, action-RPG style. But I also love the random openness that allows players to travel and fight in-between locations and events. Secondly, it’s easy to buy into the characters and the adventure they’re setting out on. It’s so much fun having the capability to swap between each character swiftly to attack a group of enemies with their special abilities. And lastly, again, the cinematics really brighten up the world and characters to make it more engaging for those playing.

Dragon Quest Heroes II also features skills and abilities that can be unlocked for each character. These unlockable skills can make them even more effective in battle by increasing the tension meter for a special ability or just by making the characters stronger, have more HP, and be more effective with blocking. There’s a lot available for the player to unlock on their journey. Based on my short hour and a half of gameplay, I’m excited to see and unlock even more when it releases on April 25th.

Here’s more in-game action from my demo at PAX East 2017. Gameplay is recorded using the PlayStation 4 (720p).