Dragon Quest Builders 2 is another fantastic entry into the internationally beloved Dragon Quest franchise that has mountains of content to discover in it. The Story Mode alone can take over fifty hours, and that's not including all the time people tend to spend customizing and "perfecting" their base on each island.
That said, some players may not even realize that this game also has a multiplayer mode as well. So, let's go over all the aspects of DQB2's multiplayer, how it works, and if it's "worth" buying the game for.
How To Unlock It
Quite honestly, the biggest hurdle of DQB2's Multiplayer is actually unlocking it. This is a chunky game, with even the tutorial itself taking a few hours to get through on average. And, sadly, the Multiplayer takes even longer to gain access to. Essentially there are four parts of the game players must get through before the Teleportal (which allows access to Multiplayer) is unlocked. They are:
- Finish the Tutorial introducing the "Heroes" of DQB2.
- Clear the Isle of Awakening Starting Island.
- Go to Furrowfield and progress the story until it sends the player back to the Isle of Awakening.
- With the newly recruited NPCs and shiny new Tools, complete the Four Tablet Tasks back on the Isle of Awakening.
While these four steps might not seem like much, each of them takes at least three to four hours minimum, with the Furrowfield Island step taking over ten hours even at a breakneck speed.
How Multiplayer Works
Now the Multiplayer aspect of Dragon Quest Builders 2 is pretty separated from the main content of the game. In fact, it's so separated that a lot of the fanbase for the game felt they were lured in by the concept of going through the story with friends, only to find out that all of the online content is segregated to just the Isle of Awakening and the Explorer Shores Islands, both of which have no bearing on the story of the game.
In any case, once players have unlocked the Teleportal, they can then use this device to travel to the Isle of Awakening of other players or invite/open up their own Isle to visitors. As the host of this island progresses through more of DQB2's story, more of their Isle of Awakening unlocks and players have access to different Explorer Shores with different NPCs and Resources.
What Are The Explorer Shores?
By the time Multiplayer is unlocked, every single player will have at least a tiny bit of experience with Explorer Shores, as getting the Chicken for Lulu to unlock to Teleporter requires that players travel to Soggy Skerry, one of the Islands in the "Explorer Shores" category.
Once a player arrives at any of these Islands they're given two small lists of "resources" to find somewhere on the Island. Once all of these are found, the host is then given access to an infinite resource supply that is randomly chosen between two different options. This is the majority of the "progression" that players will be making in Multiplayer, as they clear more and more of these Islands and unlock more and more resources with an infinite supply.
Though it does need to be said that new Explorer Shores are only unlocked as the Host progresses through more of the Islands in the Main Story of DQB2, and they don't all become accessible until after the Main Story itself is completed. And, since these Main Story Islands are single-player only, advancing the Multiplayer side of DQB2 requires the Host to play a lot more of the game on their own than anyone else they're playing with.
Is It Worth It & Commonly Asked Questions
Finally, let's just come out and say it, DQB2's Multiplayer is a nice little bonus to an already enjoyable addition to the sub-category of lesser-known Dragon Quest games, but is also likely not worth buying the game exclusively for. The reason for this is simply because it feels very "tacked-on" compared to the quality of the Main Story.
The only situation where it would really make sense for a group of friends to all get DQB2 is if that group of friends:
- Picks one of them to host and spend their own time advancing the Main Story.
- Loves building in Minecraft-type games and/or customizing a home/town in Animal Crossing-type games.
- Doesn't care that the actual Story of DQB2 is locked to singleplayer.
Otherwise, it isn't recommended to purchase this game for the Multiplayer alone. Thankfully, it is on Xbox Game Pass, so the monetary hurdle is much easier to get over. To boil it down, get the game if the single-player content looks enjoyable, and then personally check if the Multiplayer seems like it will be fun as well.
Now, because the Multiplayer in this game isn't explained in the most crystal-clear terms, there are a ton of questions that players have asked online about it, and here are some answers to the most common ones:
- Does everyone need to get past Furrowfield to play Multiplayer?
- Sadly, yes, anyone who wants to play together will need to get their individual copy of the game to this point of the story.
- Will the Isle of Awakening Multiplayer Host need to keep their game running for players to keep building on it while the Host is AFK?
- Yes, they will. There's no "server system" in this, players are directly connecting to their friend, so if they close the game, anyone on their Island is automatically booted out.
- How "big" is the Multiplayer Island?
- Well, it's as big as the Isle of Awakening, which is absolutely huge once all of it is unlocked through story progression. The Island is big enough for a group of players to each build their own individual cities if they wanted.
- Can players bring anything to their friend's island?
- Nope, no bringing resources from a player's Story to their friend's Island.
- Is there a lot of "progression" in the Multiplayer?
- Outside of the Explorer Shores checklists and the tools this can unlock, not really, it's basically a creative mode for friends to build their own Islands to whatever degree they desire. Any "progression" is solely the result of self-made goals by the players.
- Is there split screen?
- No, separate copies of the game are required to play together and it can't be played on the same TV/system.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.