Skip to main content

‘Minecraft’-inspired RPG ‘Dragon Quest Builders’ hits US shores in October

Dragon Quest Builders Announcement Trailer
Publisher Square Enix announced that its
Recommended Videos
Minecraft-inspired sandbox construction game Dragon Quest Builders is headed to the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in North America and Europe later this year.

Today’s announcement arrives on the 30th anniversary of the original Dragon Quest‘s launch in Japan, bolstering the long-running series’ latest push for stateside recognition.

Dragon Quest Builders offers an alternate-universe take on the original Dragon Quest‘s storyline, envisioning a dark future in which the game’s hero forms an alliance with the evil Dragonlord. The hero is subsequently betrayed and left for dead as the kingdom of Alefgard descends into darkness.

In the aftermath of the catastrophe, once-thriving villages are reduced to rubble, and according to Square Enix, “the few survivors scattered around the world no longer understand the concept of creativity and live through scavenging what remains among ruins.” Players must then restore the world to its former glory by rebuilding villages, brick by brick, in an RPG-styled quest.

Taking cues from Mojang’s indie hit Minecraft, Dragon Quest Builders features a block-dropping construction mechanic at its core. In addition to building structures by placing bricks in specific formations, players can craft items and weapons in order to fulfill requests from nearby villagers.

Though its main questline focuses on construction, Dragon Quest Builders also offers real-time combat and character-leveling mechanics, essentially transforming the Minecraft formula into an action-RPG. In order to gather necessary building materials, players must explore a vast wilderness in search of monsters and hidden treasure, adding an element of danger to an otherwise laid-back premise.

The PlayStation 4 version of Dragon Quest Builders will launch digitally and at retail in North America and Europe in October. The PlayStation Vita edition will skip a boxed release for its upcoming PlayStation Network-exclusive debut.

Square Enix is also readying a pair of Dragon Quest series remakes for North American release “later this year,” including upgraded Nintendo 3DS versions of 2000’s Dragon Quest VII and 2004’s Dragon Quest VIII.

Danny Cowan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…
Samsung’s new cloud service lets you play games without downloading them
A computer generated image of a Samsung phone with a gaming hub logo on it. It's surrounded by floating game iconography, like a controller, a die, and a car.

Samsung has a new way for Galaxy users to play games. The device manufacturer has been working on getting into the gaming space for a couple years, and its latest venture is a free mobile gaming platform that'll let you stream Android games through the cloud on a Galaxy device.

The program entered beta last year in the Gaming Hub, and is now available to the public. There will be 23 games available at launch, including Monopoly Go, Candy Crush Saga, and Honor of Kings. 

Read more
The best gacha games in 2024
Wuthering Waves character illustrations.

Whether you're familiar with or completely new to gacha games, there's a wide variety of options to choose from. From sci-fi to fantas, and even dress-up games, gacha appeals to a wide audience, and you're sure to find the right game for your taste.

But what does 2024 have to offer? While some of the best gacha titles have just been released this year, others are older and still widely popular. If you're looking for the best gacha game to get into, you should find what you're looking for in the list below.

Read more
How to stealth kill in Stalker 2
Key art for Stalker 2. A character in a lit-up gas mask and a gun on their back.

It won't take long before The Zone teaches you one very important tip for surviving in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, which is to avoid fighting whenever possible. You can only carry so many resources, and prolonged fights can leave you with almost nothing left. And that's if you even manage to survive. There are some fights you just can't get around, though, but going in guns blazing isn't the best strategy. There's a handy stealth kill mechanic in Stalker 2, but you won't find it in any of the tutorials.
How to stealth kill in Stalker 2

You have the ability to stealth kill right off the bat, though it is not something the game will ever explain or tell you. It works how you would think, but is tricky enough to pull off that you might not think it's possible even if you try the right thing.

Read more