Why ‘Dragon Quest Builders’ Is a Worthy Minecraft Alternative

Dragon Quest Builders is the best kind of bait and switch. It looks like Minecraft, clearly takes inspiration from studio Mojang’s block-harevsting sandbox, but it’s really a traditional Dragon Quest roleplaying game that’s borrowed a bit of Minecraft‘s recipe-oriented grammar.

As I wrote in my review, Square Enix has fashioned “a beautiful, voxel-informed, crafting-focused, thematically relatable fantasy roleplaying extravaganza that’s better because of its constraints, not in spite of them. It’s the sort of thing those who’ve bounced playing Minecraft but still find its crazy everywhere appeal intriguing should pay attention to—an exquisite, Lego-like builder deftly equipoised between structured and freeform play.”