Dragon Quest Treasures PC review – Get Rich or Die Trying

I love it when franchises get spin-offs that massively change the nature of their gameplay and game structures. Dragon Quest Treasures was originally released in December of last year, only to receive a surprise PC port last week. The game divided some series fans, as it’s a completely different type of game built around exploration and treasure hunting, while also utilising a separate, yet fairly barebones, combat style. In our Dragon Quest Treasures PC review, we’ll focus on how the port is surprisingly good and the game is quite a lot of fun if you’re into what it offers. It might not provide a deep or robust experience and isn’t exactly comparable to the series in which its rooted, but there’s still hours of fun to be had.

Dragon Quest Treasures is actually a prequel to Dragon Quest XI, focusing on Erik and Mia. The tale begins with the two of them living on a ship filled with treasure hunters. Wanting to strike out on their own, they free a couple of captured monsters and take off in a lifeboat, before waking up and finding mysterious daggers. The daggers allow them to understand the two monsters they rescued, who are after a set of seven stones. The sibling duo ends up setting up a base in the nearly empty headquarters of a train company and uses it to start their own treasure hunting group.

It’s a pretty engaging setup, as the base will continue to gain new features, all while being populated with monsters recruited out in the field. The game is far from story heavy past the intro, although there are some occasional fully voiced cutscenes here and there. For the most part, Dragon Quest Treasures is happy to leave players to their own devices, as they either seek out the stones, do side quests, or simply hunt for treasure while recruiting new monsters. It all makes for a pretty satisfying game structure.

Fill those coffers

The game’s world is divided into several themed islands and, after the intro, you can take Erik or Mia there whenever you wish. Only a single one of them can be in the party at once, but you can swap to whoever you wish to control at your base. There’s no difference between them as far as gameplay, though. Each island has three train stations you can use to get around quickly, plus its own set of side quests. You’ll have free reign of the whole place right away, although stronger enemies will make it trickier to make much headway.

Enemies can be found all over, but there aren’t many types, so recolours abound. Combat is extremely simple. Erik and Mia use melee attacks in real time, but these barely do any damage. You’re meant to support your team of monsters by healing them with your slingshot, or you can strike enemy monster weaknesses, stun them, and more. For the most part, the combat is automatic, meaning that Dragon Quest Treasures really isn’t much of an action game. This is the main aspect of the game I’m not that fond of, but I also don’t mind it too much.

Upon defeating monsters in combat, there’s a chance they’ll get recruited to join your crew. You can hire them by paying a fee (usually supplying them with items they like) at which point you can add up to three of them to your party. Any monsters not in your party can be dispatched to hunt for treasure without your input, but you’ll mostly be hunting for treasure yourself. Erik and Mia have a skill that points them toward treasures chests to dig up. Bringing these back to your base will add them to your treasure vault, which will increase your treasure rank and level up your company’s abilities. It’s a satisfying loop.

None left behind

However, there are some complications. Your monsters need to carry all the treasure, so you’ll be limited by their treasure slots. If a monster carrying treasure gets downed, it will drop the chest, requiring you to pick it back up. This can result in you losing treasure, especially once you start getting attacked by other treasure hunters out in the field, who’ll steal your spoils if they can. It can be tough to get back to your base on foot when you’re stuck in hostile territory too, plus Erik and Mia getting incapacitated will require you to reload a save. Thankfully the game’s daily quests will often reward you with an item that will warp you back to your base with all of your treasure in tow. The free return option won’t allow you to bring any whatsoever.

The islands are a decent size and there’s a good amount to do in Dragon Quest Treasures, even if it can’t compare with the breadth of Dragon Quest XI. As for the port, it ticks all of my major boxes. You can uncap the framerate for gameplay (not for menus and cutscenes, though.) There are options for the draw distance and other basics, all which go a long way toward making this version look far better than the one that released on the Switch last year. The visuals are still fairly dated, but the game looks solid and there’s minimal pop-in. Overall, this is a much better version of the game.

Dragon Quest Treasures is certainly not for everyone. Most of the quests are of the fetch variety, but getting around with the various monster skills (such as gliding and sprinting) is quite fun as long as you’re looking for a laid-back, low-challenge experience, focused on hunting for treasure and befriending the game’s monsters. It won’t blow anyone away, but it’s a pleasant time all the same.

Check out more of our reviews:

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