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  • Dragon Quest of the Stars is finally playable

Square Enix has revealed this morning that its mobile RPG Dragon Quest of the Stars is officially available on the Google Play Store for pre-download. We last heard about Dragon Quest of the Stars back in January when Square announced that the title was available for pre-registration and that it would be officially released on February 25th. Well, clearly today isn't the 25th, but you can indeed install Dragon Quest of the Stars a day early if you'd like to prepare for tomorrow's release.

The above cinematic trailer doesn't actually offer any insight into what's to be expected from Dragon Quest of the Stars, which is a common tactic used by shady devs so that interested parties have to install the game to see what it offers. This is also a tactic Square Enix often employs for its free-to-play mobile releases, despite being a clear sign a title's gameplay isn't actually worth showing off.

Luckily Dragon Quest of the Stars isn't a new game (it's actually four-years-old, which is why the title looks so dated), at least not in Japan, and so we already know what to expect from the title, mechanically. Essentially this is a casual RPG that offers turn-based battles, where you'll typically have to time your attacks to build momentum, all thanks to the game's Skill Gauge Battle system. Sadly the title also includes a subscription service, which is a little tough to swallow when you consider that this is a four-year-old game. Unfortunately, we don't yet know the price of the Star Pass subscription service in the West, since there is no way to play the game yet. As it stands, we do know that it's a free-to-play title that contains in-app purchases that range up to $79.99 per item, so heavy monetization is expected, even if you don't sub to the Star Pass.

So there it is, Dragon Quest of the Stars is officially available for pre-download on the Google Play Store, and its servers should go live some time tomorrow. So if you'd like to jump in the second the mobile RPG is available to be played in the West, then feel free to pre-load the title through the Play Store widget linked at the bottom of the page.

 

Source: Facebook

UPDATE: 2020/02/25 7:35am PST BY MATTHEW SHOLTZ

Dragon Quest of the Stars is finally playable

As expected, the servers for Dragon Quest of the Stars are live as of this morning, which means everyone can finally jump into Square Enix's latest free-to-play mobile RPG. So far, I've noticed that performance isn't great, though it appears to smooth out a little once you get out of the forced tutorial. At its core, this is a gacha game through and through, so expect multiple currencies, a convoluted upgrade path, auto-combat, loot boxes, tons of in-app purchases, and of course, a monthly subscription that locks ease-of-use features behind a paywall. Heck, there's even a fast-forward button so that people can grind with ease.

I suppose if you enjoy gacha games, or simply adore the Dragon Quest series, you may have some fun grinding through this title, though it's clear the game is having a rough start today, which is definitely something to keep in mind.