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Dragon Quest Champions reveals gameplay and details in Japanese reveal stream after being teased earlier this week

Dragon Quest Champions reveals gameplay and details in Japanese reveal stream after being teased earlier this week

After teasing the announcement last week, Square Enix has revealed their next mobile entry into the legendary Dragon Quest JRPG franchise, this one titled Dragon Quest Champions. Made in collaboration with Koei Tecmo - known mostly for their Warriors spin-offs of which Dragon Quest has an entry as well - this one is a tried and true RPG adventure with traditional combat and some interesting multiplayer mechanics.

Given that the reveal within the livestream, which is shown below, is in Japanese, it’s tough to make out all of the mechanics on display here. What does certainly appear, however, is a peek at the combat systems. It seems to operate somewhat like an Etrian Odyssey game, with only portraits of your party shown on the bottom of the screen while full 3D models of your opponents are displayed front and centre.

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Otherwise, combat seems mostly like your standard turn-based affair, dealing out commands to each member of your party in between attacks from your enemies. Again, it is all in Japanese so take the following with a grain of salt, but it seems like there’s some PvP thrown in the game as well, as we can see what appears to be the player-controlled party doing battle against another party of customised human characters. There’s also that side of things for our more competitive gamer crowd.

Outside of combat, the game appears to be fully 3D MMO-like, with an open world to explore and uncover collectable items, secrets, and battles within. This is an interesting direction to take the series, but even if it’s not exactly your bag, it’s cool to see Dragon Quest back on mobile devices after many years.

If all of this sounds interesting to you, you can currently sign up for the closed beta, which is unfortunately exclusively for Japanese gamers thus far, at this link. In the meantime, check out the official website for a deeper look at Dragon Quest Champions.

Looking for more anime-inspired role-playing games in your pocket? Check out our Top 25 best JRPGs for iOS!
Connor Derrick
Connor Derrick
Connor is a diehard JRPG fan and an equally diehard fan of writing. When he isn’t putting 100+ hours into the latest Atlus release, he’s playing board games with his partner or blasting a mid-2000s punk record. Music, film, writing, and games are his biggest passions, and he hopes to one day unite all of those in some way or another.