Dragon Quest Builders producer on decisions to split the game into chapters, Switch-exclusive content, more
Theresa:
It’s an interesting design choice to have the player start each chapter from what is essentially square one, as they teleport to the next town with the most basic equipment and no access to their previous materials and constructions. What made the development team decide to structure the game in this way?
Fujimoto-san:
Actually, the initial plan was not to split the game into standalone chapters, but rather to have everything connect in one overarching flow. But during the development process, the director, Mr. Niinou, suggested that we make a big shift in this plan. He proposed that we split the story into more distinct chapters to address a problem that occurred when all of the pieces of the narrative were more interconnected.
To illustrate this problem, imagine that you’ve just rebuilt the town of Cantlin and moved on to the next area. If you’re still able to access the location you’ve completed, then collecting the resources you need for the work ahead will be a very simple task. And there goes the challenge of the game! We realized that it would be too easy of an exploit to harvest new materials by continuing to build up Cantlin throughout the game. For this reason, we changed direction and split the story experience into chapters, so that the player would be able to create each area with a refreshed outlook.
In making this change, there was a concern that you wouldn’t be able to revisit your experiences from chapters you already played*. So, we designed it so that, as the chapters unfold, some sort of progression occurs. It’s a spoiler, so I won’t say any more than that… (laughs).
*Spoiler-Free Note from Theresa: Discovering fun details in Story Mode is really fulfilling! Normally, sleeping in a game is a simple act to restore health, but in this game, there’s something more to uncover. Also, after completing a chapter in Story Mode, you’re able to unlock similar areas within Terra Incognita, so you can gather and build things that you’ve encountered previously.
There’s a satisfying feeling in creating so many things, and that over time, you’re able to build better and more complex creations. And in doing so, you feel this nice progression for your skills in the game, which sets you up for the ultimate challenge near the end.
Theresa:
Fair enough! (laughs) Let’s change topics, then… This game features music from a wide selection of Dragon Quest games. How did the team decide which tracks to include?
Fujimoto-san:
Well, to start, since the game is set in the world of Alefgard from the original Dragon Quest, we created arrangements of all of that title’s music. From there, since the game was developed with creation at its core, we pulled in songs from the numbered series that are relaxing. And for the emotional story scenes, we used stirring music from across the series.
Theresa:
What was the thought process behind adding the Great Sabrecub and Dragon Quest Game Pak as exclusives for the Nintendo Switch version?
Fujimoto-san:
Terra Incognita (free-build mode) is a vast land, so we thought it would be fun to enhance the player’s ability to move about quickly, take down monsters, and gather materials. That’s where the Great Sabrecub mount came in.
In Dragon Quest, the Great Sabrecat often appears as a mount, but in Dragon Quest Builders, its head didn’t look quite right, so we decided to use the cute Great Sabrecub for the first time.
We also have completely recreated the look of the original Dragon Quest game’s cartridge on the Famicom. We had an idea of placing it in the land of Dragon Quest Builders, and from there, thought about the possibility of creating retro Dragon Quest themed blocks and objects.
Theresa:
As a follow-up question, can you tell us more about why the development team decided to make this exclusive content only accessible in Terra Incognita?
Fujimoto-san:
If you use them in the story mode, it breaks the balance of the game. Since strange blocks and objects exist in the landscape of Terra Incognita, we made sure the exclusive content was only usable there.
Theresa:
Thank you so much for your time today! As we wrap up here, do you have anything else you’d like to say to the fans?
Fujimoto-san:
We’d love it if you used the in-game feature to upload the cities and landscapes you’ve created in Terra Incognita. We are very interested in seeing what sort of world you have created in Dragon Quest Builders. I’m sure there are those who have beautifully revived the cities, or others who’ve completely destroyed their world’s mountains and cities and everything… (laughs)
We are working hard to develop Dragon Quest Builders 2, so we hope you are looking forward to it.
Also, for those of you who haven’t played Dragon Quest Builders yet, please go try the demo.
Theresa:
Thank you so much to Fujimoto-san and the rest of the team at Square Enix for providing us some of the gritty details behind the development of Dragon Quest Builders. For me, this game has been a great intro piece to the Dragon Quest franchise and a comfortable gateway into building-style games. I hope you all get to experience it and share your stories—as well as your building masterpieces!
