Dragon Quest Builders 2

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 133 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 105 out of 133
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 133
  3. Negative: 20 out of 133
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  1. Louissmroy
    Jul 15, 2019
    6
    Ok for a solo player game,but I bought to play with friend, after 12h of game play still did not unlock the online, at that point i refunded the game.
  2. Berik
    Jun 1, 2021
    6
    Back in 2016 Dragon Quest Builders was released, and was a surprise hit for me. Mixing JRPG's with Minecraft resulted in a fun and addictive game that let you build various buildings with a purpose, but also gave you freedom to create different variants. The story was quite adult and amusingly sarcastic at times. You had to rebuild cities in different locations with each having differentBack in 2016 Dragon Quest Builders was released, and was a surprise hit for me. Mixing JRPG's with Minecraft resulted in a fun and addictive game that let you build various buildings with a purpose, but also gave you freedom to create different variants. The story was quite adult and amusingly sarcastic at times. You had to rebuild cities in different locations with each having different obstacles, keeping the challenge fresh longer. There was an open world, with some exploration. My negatives for that game would be that there was a limit on how large the area of the city was where you could build a community, and that it was way too easy to reach the max. level of the city. So... how does Builders 2 fare?

    Story:
    It is noticeable that Akira Toriyama had influence in the making of this game, because it has become a typical cringy JRPG story with animé roots in it. Gone are the subtle adult conversations, gone is the sarcasm and gone is the intelligence. The characters have become typical animé stereotypes (dumb hot girl that needs you, tough anti-villain, goons that have the intelligence of a carrot). The survivors of the Dark Lord from Builders 1 are terrorising certain islands, and you are once again a builder that everyone treats like **** Only this time you got a buddy! He is Vegeta rip-off, and follows you around to act as the tough guy.

    Gameplay:
    The gameplay style is similar to Builders 1, with the addition of more room recipes, a buddy that follows you and helps you fight & collect resources, and a waaaaaay bigger world. In fact it is so large yet barely filled up that i wonder why they had to make it so large. The fact that they added fast travel points every 250 blocks should have made a developer wander: 'Why does it need to be so big?' In my opinion, more is not better. Using what you need, and making that fun is the best recipe for open world design.

    Building:
    So, more recipes and city building. The city no longer upgrades through experience points but by collecting lucky charms that erupt from the inhabitants arses. With every level new villagers arrive that start nagging you about the lack of something. They harvest your food, but also eat it. So now you also have a job to keep them fed... great... Dragon Quest Soup Kitchen. Oh, and the building recipes are only given through a drip feed, so it takes hours and hours before you know the ones that you want to build. I would have preferred the way minecraft does this, where everything can be obtained from the beginning.

    Technical state:
    Works great.

    Verdict:
    More of the same with new stuff added. However, my two big negatives have not changed. The area of the city where you can build (and where NPC's interact with it) is still too small. The city levelling is now a choir as you need lucky charms from your slaves... i mean neighbours. Also, the drip feed of recipes takes too long. The story has declined in quality, and the increase in size is more of a choir than an enhancement of the enjoyment. To me, it is an average sequel. Not good, but also not bad. I give it a 6/10.    … Expand
  3. Ulrick
    Jan 22, 2022
    7
    Dragon Quest Builder 2 struggles goes through the same dilemma the main character goes through during the game. Without destruction, you cant possess the love of creating something from the ground up. Without the creation, you don't have the process of trying something new and tearing down the old ways. Juggling to be an RPG with a deep story while using the building mechanics of games theDragon Quest Builder 2 struggles goes through the same dilemma the main character goes through during the game. Without destruction, you cant possess the love of creating something from the ground up. Without the creation, you don't have the process of trying something new and tearing down the old ways. Juggling to be an RPG with a deep story while using the building mechanics of games the Minecraft. For the most part, both come together beautifully but at moments one side takes over when you need the other side to enjoy the game for what it could be. The second game in the series, hence the number 2 at the end of the title learned a lot from its predecessor. Like after boss battles your base is rebuilt from before a giant Dragon decided his foot should be in the amazing bedroom you just spent hours working on. Little things like this made DQB 1 infuriating to the point the building process was not the main focus. This time the building process can go as far as your imagination. Want to build a train station in the middle of a giant pyramid? Hey! We got you! A pool with a bar to have your favorite cocktail? No problem busy! But we will need to finish this 3-hour questline first. This is where the game struggles on the balance of an RPG and building. I had moments after unlocking new crafting options the game would push me into a boss fight or we would have to leave the island. I felt like a child shown a new shiny toy at the store and then it was put back on the shelf. You can have this toy later but first, we have to go to a place where you have to start with no toys and a crazy slime monster will talk to you. Which is cool, but I really liked that toy. Omega-Force has experience crafting amazing stories with their work in the Dynasty Warriors games. There is a deep connection between the main character and Marloth. Which was a great call back to the original DQB game. Creating a warm-hearted story that trumps the first one in a lot of ways. You feel the struggle the characters are going through and some of the decisions they had to make to survive. But not the bodybuilder guys, they are just weird and a little creepy at times. There may have been a few times I cringed at the dialog and didn't need to speak to 10 different characters to move the story along but overall well done on their part.
    Finally, we get to the mechanics of the game. The fighting and actual building took a step back. Besides a new move, not much changed here and the battles were at times too easy. Hack away at something and ran away before you got hit on the bosses. At times use a magic potion to heal up. Oh, then there is block placement when building. When building something at eye level you will need to either jump like a mad man or move to a first-person view. This can become disorienting when working in cramped areas or large structures. The plus side of the first-person view is that you can reach blocks three times higher than you. Not sure why but it helped me several times. If you can get pass simple fighting mechanics and at times some over the top cheese then this RPG/crafting game is for you. Omega-Force added enough to make this worthy purchase in the series. Go out there and build to your heart content! Just ignore the creepy bodybuilders getting massages.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best PS4 Game of 2019
86
#86 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019
7
#7 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 63 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 63
  3. Negative: 0 out of 63
  1. Cubed3
    Dec 30, 2019
    80
    The first Dragon Quest Builders was an amazing surprise, taking all the things its progenitor did and improving on them by adding its own flair and style, now Dragon Quest Builders 2 feels bigger in every way, but only better in some. The core mechanics have been polished, the world shines, and, generally, this is an absolute joy to chill out with. It's a shame that the whole thing doesn't feel this way, with the sections that experiment elsewhere feeling a step backward and detracting from the whole experience. It's clear the developers are still experimenting, and it's very exciting to imagine what the third entry could look like.
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  2. PLAY! Zine
    Oct 8, 2019
    90
    Dragon Quest Time Devourer is back! A full-fledged JRPG with plenty of Minecraft elements comes as a ridiculously huge and open sandbox world. If there is a single element of the game that catches your eye, the bet is - you would enjoy it. Because, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a monster of a game, only one with enough spare time will manage to explore it in a full capacity.
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  3. VG247
    Sep 18, 2019
    100
    Other than that, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a masterpiece. No joke. If automation was to take my job right now, at least I’d have something to lose myself in during these long summer months.
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