Square Enix reveals the trailer for the spin-off title, Dragon Quest Treasures, at the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partners Showcase, finally showing off some detailed gameplay footage and providing more information about the story. Though not a full-blown Dragon Quest game, Dragon Quest Treasures still looks to be a massive adventure full of fun characters, iconic monsters, interesting traversal, and a plethora of other features.
Fans will immediately recognize the thief and best friend of the Hero, Erik from Dragon Quest XI, making an appearance this time as the main character of the game along with his sister, Mia. Though this was revealed in the information that came out about the game last month, the new trailer expands on the role of these characters in the game and also offers gameplay footage that shows the two characters in action.
Erik and Mia dream of collecting "grand treasures from around the world," and the game sees players venturing to the "legendary realm of Draconia" in order to become legendary treasure hunters. One of the main gameplay gimmicks that is shown off in the trailer is the ability to recruit "well-mannered monsters" to aid the player on the adventure, and the video shows a bunch of monsters following Erik around in the world, each with its own health bar and name. Monsters in Dragon Quest games are iconic, and Dragon Quest Treasures seems to be taking it to the next level by allowing players even more interaction with them. Nintendo Switch owners can look forward to playing the game when it comes to the hybrid console on December 9th, 2022.
Further, the game alludes to an item called the Fortune Finder, which will help Erik and Mia find loot and treasures around the world, similar to Erik's Nose for Treasure ability in Dragon Quest XI. World building is usually a big part of Dragon Quest games, and the world in Dragon Quest Treasures seems to be vast and open to explore, which means that traversal will play a big role in the game. Luckily, the trailer shows off players using many of the game's monsters as mounts to get around the world quickly.
The monsters are not only there to help players get around, though, as they are also helpful in battle. The trailer shows encounters with other monsters in the world in which players are aided in the fight by ally monsters. Then, the trailer alludes to base-building mechanics that aren't shown off in any more detail.
Yuji Horii, creator of the Dragon Quest series, recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Conference, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication put into the games in the series, and Dragon Quest Treasures seems to be no different. Though the trailer shows off a variety of different gameplay mechanics, it does leave a few questions unanswered, and even raises a few new questions. However, players can look forward to the game arriving in time for the holiday season.
Dragon Quest Treasures releases for Nintendo Switch on December 9th, 2022.
