Review: Dragon Quest Treasures Offers Quite a Bounty

I need to recruit a King Slime. But to bring one into the fold, I need to convince Madame Blancmange the cook to head to my base so I can make a Solid Salad as part of the recruitment fee. To recruit the chef, I need to bring a Hat Hamwich to work for her. Which means scouting, then getting the recruit fee items for one. But also, while I’m searching for a Hat Hamwich from the Windswept Moors, I may as well get the Greywing Gateway station working for the Railway. That means searching for Lodestones. Sadly, all the green ore outcrops are giving me are Yellow Gems instead. What I’m saying is, Dragon Quest Treasures is a massive to-do list. It’s a pleasant one filled with personality, but it constantly chucks quests your way with no cooldowns.

Erik and Mia want to become treasure hunters. They crave excitement and adventure. That’s exactly what they get when they free Porcos and Purrsula, two strange monsters the vikings they’re traveling with caught. The four go to a shrine, pick up enchanted daggers for the siblings, and head to Draconia through a strange portal, a land build on former dragons’ backs. Their goal? To find the Dragon Stones for their two monstrous allies while also building up a huge treasure horde and army of monsters to fulfill their dreams of glory.

Essentially, Dragon Quest Treasures is about exploring. Your chosen protagonist wanders around Draconia. You can gather resources at designated spots, fight monsters, dig up treasure, and complete objectives. Battles are all in real-time, with players issuing general orders to allies with the D-pad while sending Mia or Erik to attack with their daggers or slingshot. The slingshot can be used to fire pellets that can deal damage, buff, or debuff, as essentially a magic replacement. Monsters can be recruited via beating them, with Buddy Pellets increasing the odds of scouting one. Recruiting one means having things like gil, gathered materials, or prepared foods on hand to pay the fee. Exploring means using monsters’ unique Forte skill, like an ability to glide through the air, jump to a higher platform, or sneak under lower-than-usual spots, to reach new areas. If you can see someplace, there is a chance you can get there! The world is well-constructed, each island is unique, and wandering around can be a wonderful diversion. Not to mention that unlike another recent monster-collecting game with open spaces, I didn’t experience any lag or ill effects.

The treasuring hunting is the inevitable draw. It can be enjoyable! I liked pushing my luck, maxing out the amount of treasure I had, then trying to get to a train station unscathed so I could reap every reward. You can use the compass tied to your dagger to get an idea of where to go. Which is probably best when going through a Treasure Hunt you picked up from another player. But when I went through Dragon Quest Treasures, it was more fun to happen upon them while doing other things. Items, be they big hauls or bric-a-brac that don’t even set the compass off, are everywhere. Your monsters will show thought bubble overhead when one is nearby, and there’ll be an audio cue and filled balloon with an exclamation point if it is inches away. You can then use your dagger to tune in and see the treasure vision through their eyes. Those images remain in the upper-left side of the screen, complete with nuances showing how each species sees the world, so you can narrow things down and claim your prize. As for those prizes, they are all callbacks to past Dragon Quest games. (Even Rocket Slime nods appear!) You can use them as decoration, and the value can go up if monsters “polish” them while you are away or others see them, which increases your net worth. This increases your rank and allows you to do more things.

This isn’t to say the battle system isn’t also enjoyable. It can be a lot of fun! It is a bit hands-off, since you aren’t personally directing allies’ actions. You need to pick a good crew that both has strong movesets that work for you and different Fortes that let you do better while exploring. You want to use the Medals you’ve found in dungeons or occasionally as drops and assign them wisely. You’ll want to keep an eye on when they are attacking, in the hopes you can attack at the right time to trigger a Monster Medley for greater damage. Not to mention I’ve often wandered into hazardous spots after saving up my Dagger Gauge to Unleash the Dragon as either a super attack with a monster or by powering up Mia (or Erik) briefly. If you build a good crew, it can be a lot of fun seeing how well you can do in, say, the Snarl or a dungeon.

But as enjoyable as it all is, it is a little overwhelming and exhausting. You have Main Quests, Gang Quests, Railway Quests, Adventure Quests, Daily Quests, Treasure Map Quests, Dispatch Quests, and Banner Quests. Euston is constantly suggesting you hit new Ranks for treasure, to increase your capabilities. Purrsula and Porcus keep asking about the Dragon Stones, which means heading into the Snarl for new tablets with clues. Not to mention there are the asynchronous online treasure hunt options. I know I’ve said this before, but… it is a lot!

Daily Quests sometimes get accomplished without even thinking about them. They can be as simple as issuing an order or visiting a place. Main Quests are more extensive and go on for quite a bit. A Gang Quest could be quick, if it turns out you already have the right items for the fetch quest, but probably can be a lot! And the Railway Quests I’ve encountered tend to have a habit of asking for rarer materials. There’s so much to do, it is always there, and the list keeps growing. Though, if you’re playing at a good pace and taking regular breaks, that should probably lower the pressure compared to trying to get everything done as quickly as possible for reasons. (Clearly, I wasn’t playing under optimal conditions!)

At the very least, Dragon Quest Treasures makes it easy to keep everyone alive. You can heal yourself with MP when not in battle at the push of a button. It is also possible to revive a fallen monster in a fight by approaching them and holding a button to bring them back to life. Enemies’ strength is indicated by the color of the title and level above their head. Blue means they are weaker than you, white means they are on par, yellow means they are stronger, and red means that foe will wipe you out. I’d even say the lines showing you who enemies are targeting help quite a bit, as it can help you decide who to target and when to dodge.

Speaking of holding, that is my biggest gripe with Dragon Quest Treasures. You need to hold down the button to dig up treasure for over five seconds. You need to hold down the button to pull a flag up when facing a rival gang and win the bout. You need to hold down the button to revive a monster. I get wanting to build suspense or encourage a challenge, but it’s too much. There’s also no accessibility option to change to to a toggle, like in some games, so I could see folks with mobility issues or arthritis just… not being able to play because of this choice.

Dragon Quest Treasures is a lot! It offers tons to do. Players get diverse islands to explore, many quests to complete, and an ample assortment of monsters to collect. It is clearly the sort of game someone is supposed to pick at for weeks. The downside is, it can almost be too overwhelming when it comes to how many tasks fall into your to-do list. As long as you take your time (and regular breaks to rest your thumbs after all the digging), it’s a manageable and sometimes even memorable experience.

Dragon Quest Treasures will come to the Nintendo Switch on December 9, 2022.