Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest - The Adventure of Dai

Review

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest - The Adventure of Dai is a brand new spin-off from the popular Dragon Quest series that adapts the anime (which is based on the manga) into a videogame. I haven’t watched the anime yet, so I could be considered a newcomer in this case, though I love the Dragon Quest series and I have played most of the classic RPG titles in the past. For some weird and unknown reason, the story of Infinity Strash only covers around 50% of the anime series, so you won’t get to the end of Dai’s story by playing this game. Maybe a sequel is already in the works, but personally I don’t like to play a game that features an incomplete storyline, especially when it’s based on finished material such as the anime. Essentially, the story is about a young hero named Dai who must save the world from the Dark King Vearn. After a tough fight against Dragon Master general Baran, Dai loses his memory, so the game slowly starts introducing the beginning of his journey, how he met his friends and how he got up to this battle. The story is narrated through multiple chapters, with each one divided into story cutscenes and combat sequences. The first are basically narrated as a visual novel, with still-images and text appearing on-screen.  These images are captured directly from the anime, but they are not animated, which is really disappointing to see and makes the whole narrative boring and uninteresting. I honestly don’t understand this choice, if you are going to use the original material from the anime, at least use it in a good way. I think that they could have made all the sequences in-engine (like Dragon Ball and Naruto games do), instead they only took a bunch of images from the anime to make these visual novel slideshows. So yes, the narrative is bad and didn’t get me invested in Dai’s story as I thought at the beginning. I have watched the anime trailer and I know that it is worth watching, but I don’t think that anyone (fan or newcomer) would really enjoy how the story is narrated in this game. At least the combat sequences include some in-engine cutscenes that look pretty cool, but most of the story is told through still-images.

Despite being an action RPG, there is no exploration at all. The whole combat sequences take place in decently sized arenas in which you can move freely. Fighting seems like a mix of mousou and soulslike mechanics, but it’s pretty much bare-bones and probably oriented to a young player base. Commands are basic; you can dodge, block and combo-attack. Usually you play as Dai, but you can swap characters freely and the rest of them are controlled by the AI. Each character has a specific set of skills and spells that go in a cooldown state after use. There is also a powerful ultimate attack that needs to be charged before use and is really cool to watch. Overall, the combat is acceptable, though more adapted to casual players because of its simplicity and ease. What I didn’t like is that, except for the bosses, there isn’t enough variety of standard enemies, so you fight the same ones over and over. The Temple of Recollection is a really fun addition; it’s basically a roguelike dungeon that you can explore whenever you want, but each time you enter, your characters downgrade to level one. The Temple allows you to fight enemies through multiple rooms, with the difficulty increasing after each battle as well the possibility of collecting special rewards such as new memories and amber (used to upgrade your characters).

The artistic aspect is where the game really shines. The 3D models are gorgeous and faithful to the anime representation, while the special effects (such as fire and lightning) are beautiful to see, especially during spells and ultimate attacks sequences. The in-game cutscenes during combat look really nice too, but it’s a pity they decided to mix still images from the anime with these ones to build an inconsistent narrative. Technically speaking, the game is very well optimized and I didn’t experience any bugs or glitches.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai is really hard to recommend. After playing for many hours, I still can’t figure out who the target is in this game. Despite being a fan of the series and loving this crazy good art style, the story didn’t arouse my interest because of the way it was narrated (through many still images in a visual novel style), while the combat was generally okay, though not really engaging for someone used to playing challenging action and soulslike games. Newcomers should definitely watch the anime or read the manga first (to avoid ruining their first experience), though even fans of the original material will find the game tedious and pointless (considering it doesn’t even cover the whole anime story). The price is also insanely high in my opinion, as this is nowhere near any AAA game I have played recently in terms of content and quality. If you are desperate to try a game based on the anime, then I really suggest getting Infinity Strash with a pretty decent discount. It’s an acceptable game, but an underwhelming Dragon Quest one.

Review written by Sonic Punk for Zeepond.com

 Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai Steam Store Page