Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors

Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors is not a main entry in Square-Enix's cultural phenomenon of a franchise. Rather, it is a spiritual sequel to a toy game called Kenshin Dragon Quest released in 2003, and the first Dragon Quest title to appear on a Nintendo home console since the Super NES. In most every aspect - from story to gameplay to presentation - the game seems like an homage to those RPGs of yesteryear.

Dragon Quest fans will recognize many trademark elements immediately, such as the musical themes, the medieval setting, the young and silent male hero, the slimes, and so forth. Like most series entries, Swords does not deviate far from the classic roots of the original Dragon Quest, which gamers may find dull or refreshing depending on their exposure to Square-Enix's franchise and their opinions of today's more complex RPGs.

It just isn't Dragon Quest without Toriyama's designs.

At the very least, Swords does not require that players have any experience with Dragon Quest. The plot is completely stand-alone, and seemingly quite 'old-school'. Players assume the role of Hero (note: he can be named anything), a swordsman who starts the game on the eve of his sixteenth birthday and the Walk of the Worthy, a test to earn his merits. This kind of overdone fantasy naming is cheesy, yes, but somehow doesn't seem misplaced - probably because Swords exhibits no shame in trying to recapture an old-time spirit. So far the pacing has held well, and the voice actors speak their 'olde' English pleasantly enough.

Swords uses only the Wii Remote for gameplay. The interface is largely point-and-click, between talking with people and selecting options at the store. The game masks a brief tutorial session on attacking and blocking through a festival tournament between Hero and his mentor. Everything happens from a first-person perspective, which may feel strange at first, but swinging with the Wii Remote is quite intuitive. Movement with the controller feels more archaic, however; the d-pad does not suit 3D travel very well, but the openness of the castle town alleviates some of the clunkiness.

Castle town is not as expansive as it might initially seem.

Locations outside the castle town are much easier to navigate, simply because players can only move forwards and backwards; these sections are essentially on-rails. The outer world involves three activities: running ahead, stopping to check the environment for items and gold, and fighting enemies. The utter simplicity of this now-unconventional design may turn off some gamers, but at least these segments move at a quick clip.

Combat is the real meat of the experience. Hero will stop when enemies appear, meaning it's time to slice and dice. The sword can be slashed vertically, horizontally and diagonally, while holding the B trigger will activate a transparent shield that can be moved around the screen to block enemy attacks. Pointing the cursor at an enemy and pressing A will initiate a lock-on, which quickly becomes important for hitting fidgety foes and those traveling in straight-lined groups. The shield factors prominently in battle, too, for preventing damage and deflecting projectiles.

Slime is jealous that this isn't his spin-off.

Master Strokes add a little flair to combat. Successfully hitting enemies or blocking their attacks will add to Hero's Master Stroke gauge. When full, one of his special abilities can be activated via the on-screen button or the 2 button. Players start with a Master Stroke called Mighty Strike, which involves thrusting the blade (controller) into the air and slicing downwards at the foe. In following Stages, we will see if these Master Strokes add any depth to Wii Remote usage and combat strategy.

Like in Pokemon, losing all HP during combat will result in Hero being sent back to town with a large chunk of money gone. Like in Baten Kaitos for GameCube, players can only save by visiting the church in the castle town, or by reaching the very end of a chapter. Players want to stock up on items in town before venturing out, and consider upgrading their sword at the blacksmith, but they can also return to town at any time through the menu. A few mini-games in town serve as a nice distraction from fighting and talking, and they also appear to be the only multiplayer element to Swords (up to four players supported).

Care for a rousing game of medieval darts, old chap?

Even with clean, pleasing visuals, decent audio, and character designs that match the quality set by Dragon Quest VIII, judging Dragon Quest Swords is not as simple as the game itself. Nothing feels out of place, but one hardly shake the sense of antiquity to nearly everything. Granted, the game seems like a good way of introducing the large casual demographic of Wii to the sometimes-intimidating RPG genre. Come back for Stage 2 to see if the plot and mechanics can expand enough for dedicated players.