Dragon Quest Heroes - PC Version released on Steam

Black Rune spotted that the Action JRPG Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below has been released on Steam:

About This Game

In DRAGON QUEST HEROES: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below, the protagonists must rise up against seemingly insurmountable odds, facing off against swarms of enemies and gigantic monsters in an exhilarating action game. Filled with characters and monsters designed by world-renowned artist Akira Toriyama, DRAGON QUEST HEROES: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below will be available on PC in beautiful HD graphics.

Story
When a dark shockwave sweeps through the city of Arba, the monsters that once lived peacefully alongside the people are driven into a frenzied rage. As either the hero Luceus or the heroine Aurora, the player joins forces with a cast of fan favorites from previous DRAGON QUEST titles, such as Alena, Bianca and Yangus, to bring the rampaging hordes of monsters to their senses and restore order to the kingdom.

Key Features:

• Overpower Hundreds of Monsters – Swing into action against seemingly impossible odds and become the hero of the battlefield. Cleave through relentless swarms of monsters and fight against gigantic foes in an epic clash of good versus evil.
• Fight Alongside Legendary Characters – Players can embark on a journey with some of the most beloved characters of the DRAGON QUEST series – all voiced – to form their own party of four and stride into battle. From the sultry Maya of DRAGON QUEST IV fame to Yangus, the thief with a heart of gold from DRAGON QUEST VIII, the player’s party will always be full of character.
• Strategy-Oriented Battles – Players can level up each character and upgrade their unique spells and abilities. Swapping between characters strategically and unleashing the right skill at the right time will help players survive the toughest battles.
• Collect Monster Medals to Turn the Tide – Gather monster medals from defeated foes to bring them back to the battlefield as allies or to take advantage of their special skills. Up to 24 monsters can fight by the player’s side at any one time.
• Legendary Trio of Creators – The title comes to life in beautiful high-definition graphics for PC with a host of distinctive characters and monsters designed by world-renowned artist Akira Toriyama. Both Yuji Horii, director and creator of DRAGON QUEST, and Koichi Sugiyama, the composer closely tied to the series since its first installment and creator of countless memorable musical masterpieces, are working on this full-scale action RPG.

Graphics options supported for high end PCs:

• Rendering resolution
• Shadow processing
• Glare adjustment
• Turning movie scene playback on and off
• Number of characters displayed
• Draw distance
• Texture Quality

Support for both full-screen and windowed display modes
Support for a maximum frame rate of 60fps
Support for full HD display at a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080

More information.

Thanks, Black Rune!

Even IGN didn't have many nice things to say about this game.

Dunno about IGN and their consoles reviews…
From Steam user reviews and forums seems the publisher thinks PC audience is a bunch of idiots with joysticks which means - the game is not playable on PC with K+M.

I mean… Unlike adventure masterpiece Brothers that declares you MUST have a controller to play and respects the audience, the publisher here is scamming people by not stating it while the game is not playable without it.

IMO this is just another avoidware port and I just can't believe Steam allowed it in their catalogue.

Their price point @ $60 with no launch discount is also too high. Should be at $40, with a 10% discount to $36.

Having played this on PS4, it has enough RPG/Dragon Quest elements to appeal despite the "musou" Dynysty-warriors fighting system. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but I agree that the current pricing is too high.

The game consists of a series of story-based missions, taking place at each region/city in the game, with a boss monster/encounter at the end of each. There are side maps to visit for more combat/loot. The loot allows the creation of many accessories via alchemy recipes, which is quite an elaborate system, but does somewhat encourage grind.

I didn't find the game overly difficult, which avoids much of the need to grind. However, it is worth doing a small amount of grind to earn extra mini-medals which can be used to unlock some of the better gear.

There are multiple playable characters from which to create a four-man/woman team. You choose the main character from a choice of two, and can name them. You can switch between the 4 selected playable characters at any time to use complementing special moves or use character special abilities etc.

Each character has a wide range of available skills to purchase with level-up points, although many are common to all. This gives you some control over how a character develops and their play-style.

All in all, don't ignore it immediately (especially the controller vs K&M brigade - honestly!) although it won't appeal to everyone due to the action-based combat and tacit encouragement of grind (which really isn't all that necessary).

Originally Posted by jpnole
Their price point @ $60 with no launch discount is also too high. Should be at $40, with a 10% discount to $36.

That's Koei/Tecmo's fault, probably, more than anyone's. They're notorious for insanely priced games at launch. I wanted really bad to get the new Nobunaga's Ambition on PC, but…$60?! Ouch, no way. And I think they've always been like that with pricing. It's a shame their sales are infrequent and not really very good.

And Irien, thank you for telling us your thoughts on it! This one caught my eye and your perspective was really valuable.

I should add that I *really* enjoyed Dragon Quest 8, and played a number of other DQ games (finished DQ4, but not 5 or 7, and never got round to starting 9). I don't care for musou games, and so Hyrule Warriors (the Zelda themed version) didn't click with me. This one did, I think because there's enough RPG depth in the various systems (gear, alchemy, character levelling, party management, titles/mini-medals, sidequests etc.

However, you'll need to appreciate JRPGs and ideally have at least seen previous DQ games to appreciate returning creatures, characters or music etc.