Dragon Quest Builders Sequel Wish List
After I played Dragon Quest Builders, I made a list of improvements I’d like to see in any then-unlikely-seeming sequel. Well, now I’ve played Dragon Quest Builders 2 and found it a textbook example of how to make a good sequel, with several ways it improved on the original. So I thought it’d be fun to go back to my ridiculous pie-in-the-sky I-want-a-pony pipe dreams and see how many came true.
Spoiler alert: it was almost all of them.
Here’s the list - my commentary will follow each item in italics.
DQB 2 Wish List
- Completely overhaul combat
We didn’t get a complete overhaul, but we got many improvements that added up to a lot. I’d describe the combat in the first game as “terrible” and in the second game as “adequate” - though it’s elevated somewhat beyond that by allowing for storytelling-through-mechanics with Malroth.
- Longer days, or a way to prevent the teleporting enemies from entering your base at night
I haven’t measured it, but I feel like the days are in fact longer? The night enemies are more annoying, though. Mixed bag here.
- Better fishing (add aquariums?)
Not in the base game, but if you buy the fishing DLC - check and double check!
- Better camera for interiors like houses and tight caves
Check! The first-person camera toggle makes a lot of things easier, including navigating interiors.
- Better water (that you can create at higher elevations)
Check and double check!
- More interesting farming
Check! Farming is much more interesting and worthwhile now.
- No speedrun challenges
Check! These were the only trophies I missed in the original; I got the platinum in the sequel.
- No gating Free Mode content behind Story Mode stuff
Okay, fail on this one. In the first game, you could jump right into Free Mode but some recipes weren’t available until they were unlocked in Story Mode. In the sequel, they aren’t separate modes and you need to finish the story before you can do the multiplayer/free-build stuff at all.
- A usable map with ability to make notes
Pretty much check! The map is much better and because naviglobes are now labeled, there’s no real need to make notes anymore.
- Better fast travel - movable portal destinations, or waypoints like in Diablo 2, or ones you can craft and place yourself?
Check! Fast travel is now free and has many more available destinations. They’re like Diablo 2 waypoints, except you don’t even have to be at one to fast travel!
- More cosmetic options for the player character, especially hats
Check!
- Increase stack sizes to like a thousand, add more “tabs” to the Colossal Coffer and actually treat it as one shared inventory when sorting
Check and double check! Plus you no longer even need the Colossal Coffer.
- Fix chairs at tables so you can place a chair adjacent to the table and have it be used with the table
Check!
- Ability to rotate items when placing them, allowing you to easily fix backward roof corners or place wall decorations from above
Check, via the gloves!
- “Scaffolding” - this was an idea I saw in a forum where you can place “scaffolding” blocks while building something, and then with a single action remove all placed scaffolding.
Didn’t exactly get this, though I’d argue that it feels less necessary with the first-person toggle. And the Buildnoculars also fill some of the same need.
- Quest tracker
Check!
- Blacksmith who can repair your equipment
Equipment no longer degrades! No need for repair.
- Trash vendor or some way to get old useless materials out of your inventory without totally wasting them
Basically check! This is less important due to the expanded inventory and Explorer’s Shores, but you can also sell stuff you don’t need in the item store.
- Grass should spread, or grass seeds should be more plentiful
Check! Grass seeds are more plentiful and worm food makes it even easier to quickly make a lot of grass.
- Put “interact” and “menu” on different buttons
Check!
- “Tavern” or something where you can define a consistent party, and better pathfinding / teleporting-to-player for the party in the field
Check and double check! You can easily define parties with the Resident’s Register, and I never got separated from my party in the field.
- Let you place blueprints even if some blocks are already present, at least when those things are part of the blueprint or don’t clash with it
Check! You can place blueprints wherever. If townspeople are helping, they’ll even clear away anything that’s in the way and put it in a chest for you!
- A continual game that builds on its mechanics instead of discarding them
- Let you write longer notes on signs
Signs still have very little room, but I think you can make longer welcome messages with an endgame item? I didn’t mess with it.
- More decorative items
Check!
- Better interior lighting options? Ceiling lights? A block that glows would be nice!
Check, double check, and triple check! Though I think the ceiling light might be DLC.
- Ability to large-scale replace one type of block with another, like cladding on steroids
Check! The Transform-o-Trowel is such a quality-of-life boost. I can’t remember how I ever lived without it. Cladding seems so awkward in hindsight!