Square Enix announces Minecraft-clone Dragon Quest Builders
Square Enix's Dragon Quest Builders has been announced for the PS4, PS3, and Vita and appears to be yet another Minecraft clone.
Square Enix has announced Dragon Quest Builders is currently in development and will be released on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita in Japan this winter.
Dragon Quest Builders appears to be Square Enix’s attempt to develop its own version of Minecraft, which appears to be the craze these days as Warner Bros. is also currently developing Lego Worlds.
Information regarding the game is scarce at this point, but according to a Google translation of 4Gamer, our assumption of it being a Minecraft-like game may be correct as it’s being deemed a “block make RPG.” If that doesn’t scream “Minecraft clone,” then we don’t know what does.
One thing we notice is Square Enix appears to be focusing on combining the blocky world of Minecraft with high-res characters and enemies populating the world. The main character, dragon, and other various enemies appear to offer a much higher-quality look to them when compared to how blocky Minecraft's characters look.
There’s no word on whether or not Dragon Quest Builders will get a western release, but considering how immensely popular Minecraft is here, we wouldn’t be surprised if it does shortly after its Japanese launch.
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replyDaniel Perez posted a new article, Square Enix announces Minecraft-clone Dragon Quest Builders
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Looks cool, and I've heard elsewhere it's coming this way, but likely only the PS4 version.
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Blatant copying of the Minecraft art style is what brands it a clone. Beyond that, it might also still be a little early to call it it's own genre. It was years before the MOBA became it's own genre, escaping from the "DOTA-clone" tag. Same thing for FPS games--in the beginning they were all DOOM clones.
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The MC artsyle isn't present there at all. It's got blocks, sure, but look at the trees and the character, along with the monsters. They're not copying MC other than it being a building game that uses cubes.
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Dude...those blocks scream Minecraft. I'll grant you that the props and characters look unique but any casual observer is going to see Minecraft in that.
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Yeah, it's more minecraft-like than minecraft-clone, although that's more nuance than is necessarily warranted.
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Yeah, it looks like their blocks are very Minecraft like: http://cache.www.dragonquest.jp/builders/teaser_assets/images/block_left.png
http://cache.www.dragonquest.jp/builders/teaser_assets/images/block_right.png
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Given how much money Minecraft has already made, even if it collapses tonight and no one ever buys a copy again, it'd still be such a huge cultural element (especially for kids) that it's kinda irrelevant. I'm sure MS will continue to fund the team to expand the scope, and perhaps some day, make an actual sequel that's significant improved and expanded.
They've certainly got the resources to do so, more than any other developer today.
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don't remember the game name either but googling Wolfram Von Funck should turn it up
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SquareEnix is welcome to do such, just as Gearbox was able to use Codehunters' art style ( https://vimeo.com/7432584 ) for Borderlands, S2 Games' using the style and interface of Warcraft 3 for Heroes of Newerth, or Chucklefish using the style and artist from Terraria for Starbound (three I could think of off hand).
However, appropriating very distinctive worlds and/or non-photo-realistic styles inherently brings forth comparisons. Sometimes they're seen as loving homages but often it is less favorable.
Personally I am disappointed that they're going with a visual clone, especially considering the the massive art and creative staff at SquareEnix. That said, given that it has basis in a well explored franchise, I hope that they will leverage every bit of DragonQuest, thus allowing the gameplay to differentiate it enough that it will remain mostly a surface comparison.
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