For this week's iPhone Friday i tried DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow, from Square Enix, on my iPhone 17e. This was recorded using the phone's screen recorder function with my audio recorded onto my computer.
DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow is a game i've had on my iPhone maybe since it came out and yet i've not really heard anyone talk about it or seen much buzz for it. So i'm glad i checked it out as it could easily make the Game of the Year list for games which have an additional download.
The way DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow handles to additional data downloads is refreshingly polite after some recent rude games. there's a tiny initial download before the character creator and tutorial part of the game and then there's a much larger download before the main game. both times the game asks before downloading them and suggests using Wi-Fi. for the first one you're probably fine using mobile networks but the second download was over 1GB so use Wi-Fi for it.
From the tutorial, it's clear that the controls are very simple and more importantly they don't change when we go from the tutorial to the main game, which has happened in some games this year. there is a joystick control to move our character, there's a "super" move button, and there's the option to switch between characters. in battles the screen is uncluttered and it's clear to see enemies. What was nice was how clear it was to see when the enemies were about to attack. for simple attacks the enemies have an obvious tell and for big attacks a red line appears showing the area that will be hit from the attack.
As you defeat enemies, you get to level up your attacks where you can choose between different power ups. sometimes these grant you new powers like ice arrows and other times it grants power ups to those abilities like seeking so the ice arrows now seek out enemies.
The only thing that DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow stumbles with is the roguelike aspect to it's gameplay. it's mentioned on the game's App Store page but after nearly 2 hours of gameplay i have no idea what it means by roguelike. if i had to guess perhaps it's the choosing of different power ups. when a run fails, we don't keep any items or experience gained from that run but we don't loose stamina so maybe that's why it calls itself a roguelike.
In the near 2 hours i played of DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow, i didn't get to see it all. there is a surprisingly huge amount of story. there's story for the main quest and there's more unlockable story that i never got to see. Each stage is short and it's clear that the game is designed around mobile devices. so whilst there's a lot of content, you're able to tackle it little by little or in larger goes. I feel that DRAGON QUEST Smash/Grow is great for new comers or more experienced players and is well checking out.
Version 1.6.0 Played
