Dragon Quest Heroes

Dragon Quest Heroes Yami Ryu to Sekaiju no Shiro (ドラゴンクエストヒーローズ　闇竜と世界樹の城, Doragon Kuesuto Hīrōzu Yami Ryū to Sekaiju no Shiro, subtitle translated as "Dragon of Darkness and Castle of the World Tree") is the first Japanese Dragon Quest title to be named Heroes and the fifth Warriors collaboration. It was first revealed to the public at the end of SCEJA Press Conference 2014.

Direction and production is handled by Square-Enix, and gameplay is being done by Omega Force. Yuji Horii is the general director, Akira Toriyama is the character designer, and Koichi Sugiyama is music composer. The Square-Enix producer is Ryota Aomi. Tomohiko Sho is the Koei-Tecmo director and Kenichi Ogasawara is the Koei-Tecmo producer.

The particular Omega Force members assigned to this project have worked on Warriors games and Toukiden; Horii added that they are Dragon Quest fans who offered several creative suggestions to the Dragon Quest creators. According to Horii, the concept began when Square-Enix executives wanted an action adaptation of the Enix series for its return to the PS consoles; it is a game to tide fans over for the wait for Dragon Quest XI. Kou Shibusawa remarked that it is a dream title for both publishers.

Buy the game new to receive Dragon Quest protagonist costumes for Act and Mar. Various weapon serial codes are available if the game is purchased from a particular Japanese store. The PS4 Metal Slime edition (December 10, 2014) includes an original downloadable theme based on this game and a Dragon Quest III protagonist costume code for the main protagonists.

Plot
The setting is the peaceful country Elsaize. People and monsters lived in harmony until the monsters mysteriously went berserk. Humanity is surrounded by the monster armies and use anything they can to survive.

Gameplay
Basic controls and gameflow resembles most Warriors titles with normal attacks dubbed "Attack 1" and charge attacks are named "Attack 2". Health is measured by visual number counters and experience levels up characters in real time. For the main narrative, players can choose either Act (male) or Mar (female) to be their main protagonist.

The world map includes kingdoms besides Elsaize, and the scenario is split to accommodate each kingdom's perspective of the main narrative. Hover the pointer over each location to access its available battles. Characters are fully voiced in battle and cutscenes.

Parties of four can charge into the battlefield simultaneously. The player can only control one character at a time, but they can switch between characters at whim. If a character runs out of health, another party member can raise them if they are adjacent to one another. Restorative items are used instantly in combat.

Characters can use multiple special abilities (shuffle with ) which are callbacks to Dragon Quest moves. They deplete Mana Point (MP) to use and cannot be performed unless the player has the proper amount of MP. MP naturally regenerates over time. A character builds "Tension" while dealing or suffering damage. Once it peaks into "Super High Tension", the character begins to glow a pinkish hue. Press while they are in this state to perform a catastrophic group attack.

Dragon Quest monsters and humans serve as enemies. Giant monsters have unique attributes to separate them from the mobs.

Characters
Absent Dragon Quest protagonists will cameo as alternate costumes for the playable cast.

Playable

 * Act
 * Mar
 * Dirk
 * Giulietta
 * Alena - from Dragon Quest IV
 * Kiryl - from Dragon Quest IV
 * Maya - from Dragon Quest IV
 * Bianca - from Dragon Quest V
 * Flora - from Dragon Quest V
 * Terry - from Dragon Quest VI
 * Jessica - from Dragon Quest VIII
 * Yangus - from Dragon Quest VIII

Monsters

 * Homiron
 * Golem
 * King Leo

Related Media
The producer is scheduled to present details and demonstrate gameplay for Sony PlayStation's Yuohsen presentations (September 18, 12:00~12:30 JST and September 20, 16:00~16:30 JST) and Square-Enix's Square-Enix Stage Live (September 18, 13:15~13:45 JST) at Tokyo Game Show 2014. Kenichi Ogasawara was present for the first live gameplay demonstration.

The latest information for the game is scheduled to be broadcast on Niconico Live October 10, 21:00 (JST) and October 28, 16:00 (JST).