Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest - The Adventure of Dai Review (Thalita's Wife || Dalia)
I am of course a very big fan of the dragon quest franchise, and the Adventure of Dai story is one I unabashedly love. After seeing that the characters from the series may be brought to life in game form, I was ecstatic. Dai, Maam, Pop, and Hyunckel all in particular.
As a forewarning, this *is* a game based on an anime first and foremost. As a result, it suffers as bit from similar issues that other anime-based games do. You'll specifically be reliving the anime's story and fighting at core moments within it. A fair bit of the game revolves around cinematics and recounting the story, as is expected for a game like this. But if you'd like complete control over your game from start to finish in the gameplay, this may not be the game for you. Which is totally understandable, so it's important to know what youe're getting into so you don't end up disappointed.
The main cast here feel just as loveable as the real things, but what is most important to me is that I get to continue interacting with and experiencing these characters that I've come to be attached to and love. This offers that for me. So at its core, regardless of gameplay (which I'll still get into, this game has an inherent connection with me and is something I enjoy wholeheartedly.
As for the actual game, it seems a lot of people didn't know what to expect. Which is totally valid, but at the same time I'd discourage leaving negative reviews based on misconceptions or misunderstandings about what the game is. Infinity Strash isn't a traditional JRPG, and you won't find a grandiose retelling of the main story here.
The game revolves mostly around fighting, so some have come to refer to it as an arena fighter. Though fighting isn't necessarily *all* the game is, it really is the main focus. You can think of games like dynasty warriors for a reference in terms of the balance of fighting and story. Which is a fitting comparison, since Dragon Quest already has some collaborations with the dynasty franchise. If you're skipping through the story as you may already be familiar with it, then that's the experience you'll get — instance-based fighting against enemies.
The combat is fun. Nothing particualrly unique, but a very safe solution for action-based combat. With that in mind, though, there are some parts of the combat experience I do still find super refreshing. Due to the AI and aggression system, I'm able to play wahtever character I'm most fond of exclusively. In my case, that's Maam. Since most of her damage is from the backline with her gun, it's important that one of the forwards on my team (usually Dai) is drawing aggression from enemies. The AI makes this possible, and allows for the team to really flex and meld to what YOU want to play. This is the essential part of the combat experience in Infinity Strash that I think makes things feel good to me. The game really revolves around your ability to enjoy the characters you may have come to love, and the developers seemed to recognize that and build the game around it well. You may, however, want to increase the difficulty for a real challenge. Despite being action combat, you benefit a lot from taking your time in the fights and not spamming attacks. Increasing the difficulty will help punish you for when you don't take your time, and assuming you have a grip on the combat system, the normal difficult is pretty easy.
The beginning intro of the game is directed very well, and I was pretty surprised by the production value of it despite what this game is. Easily an experience that will be heightened immensely by having experienced the original story, but doing so is not necessary to enjoy this gem. Just bare in mind that there WILL be spoilers, and it isn't very good as a retelling of the story. This is simply supplemental material TO that story.
The artstyle is fantastic, a perfect reflection of the core series it's based on both in anime and manga form. I think the strongest part of this game from a functional standpoint is definitely its art and effects. Although I don't own the devices my self, I've also seen it praised for performance on Steam Deck and Switch. Living in an age where so many games perform poorly on the switch or eventually drop support for it, I can add my bit of praise for GameStudio tending to the console properly.
I also inevitably need to dedicate a line to this game's music composition, because I can at the very least share unabashed praise for its soundtracks, even if just by inclusion.
Infinity Strash has been such a refreshing experience to me, and is a reminder about the point of games in the first place. Sometimes you don't need a serious story or hundreds of hours of content in order to enjoy a game. Sometimes... a game is just meant to be fun.
Infinity Strash is exactly that — fun for people that have come to love the story of Dai and its characters. A game that allows you to continue to explore, enjoy, and immerse yourself in the world of Dai's adventure. It could have been more, for sure. But what we got? It's something I still wholeheartedly love and enjoy.
Just as one bonus note... entirely based on my own experiences and opinion. But it seems like a lot of the gaming audience these days has developed a bit of a bizarre/twisted view on games as a product. Have we forgotten what this medium of entertainment is all about? Is this why people make the claim that gaming is no longer 'fun' for them? That's really unfortunate, and is an ideology I hope many can pull themselves out of in favor of experiencing these unimportant parts of life in a much more positive light. Sad to see so many feel that they've grown out of video games because of it, since there's a lot of magical experiences that games have to offer; if this isn't a magical experience for you, that's okay. It's such a vast industry that there is bound to be something out there that fills that hole for you.
On the note of the mundane early gameplay loop:
I think despite the beginnings being fairly limited in terms of mechanics and gameplay, I recommend holding out until the ~1 hour mark, or when you first reach the temple of recollection. From this point on the game's little twist on the series add a certain layer of uniqueness that might be able to refresh your attention and enjoyment of it even if it wasn't what you may have expected or wanted. It's effectively like a roguelike, and offers so much playability that I can't wait to explore into the future as I continue to play Infinity Strash out of love for the characters.