‘Dragon Quest Builders’ Mobile Review – Great on iPhone, Not as good on iPad
Square Enix released the first Dragon Quest Builders ($27.99) on mobile to mark the 36th birthday of the Dragon Quest series in Japan. When I played Dragon Quest Builders on PS4 in 2016, it was a pleasant surprise. If you haven't heard of Dragon Quest Builders before, it is a spin-off series that combines the look and building of Minecraft with the charm of Dragon Quest. On PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC, a sequel to the original Dragon Quest Builders built (no pun intended) on it in almost every way, making it a much better game. So, this mobile version of the first game was a little hard to understand. Having played it on multiple iPhones and iPads as well as consoles to compare the graphics, Square Enix has done a lot to make this game better, but there are still some strange problems that keep it from being as great as it should be on mobile.
Dragon Quest Builders takes place in the same world as the first Dragon Quest game. You play as a builder who tries to fix the world after the Dragonlord destroys it. When I first played Dragon Quest Builders, what made it special to me was how well it took things I liked about Minecraft and combined them with Dragon Quest writing, enemies, and more. I haven't played much Minecraft because I can play Dragon Quest Builders and Dragon Quest Builders 2 on most of the devices I own. These games are that good, and they give me enough direction and gameplay to keep me interested, which I never got from Minecraft.
Dragon Quest Builders is a bit strange at first in how it is put together. In each chapter location, some of the progress is reset. You don't have to do everything over again like in the first chapter, but it's also not one big adventure after another like you'd expect from a Dragon Quest game. The chapters in this game are huge, and I was happy with the game after the first chapter on PS4, even though I spent a lot of time on it. This isn't a big deal, but you should know it before you jump in and spend a lot of time thinking everything you build here will carry over into the next chapter, which is basically a new settlement map. Because of this, I'd also suggest making a different manual save for each chapter.
Let's just get this over with. On iOS, Dragon Quest Builders doesn't really work with controllers. You can connect a controller and move with the analog stick, but the only other button that works is the PS4/PS5 options button, which is set to jump. The controller doesn't work for anything else. There are some bright spots, though. Square Enix did an amazing job with the touch controls on the iPhone. They aren't as good on iPad, but I'll talk about iPad problems in a bit. With a few big exceptions, this is the best version of the original Dragon Quest Builders, thanks to the great touch controls for iPhone and the new features.
I've played Dragon Quest Builders on PS4, PS Vita, and Nintendo Switch, so I was excited to play it again on iOS to see how it holds up more than five years after its release in the West, how it plays on a touchscreen, and to compare it on different platforms and iOS devices as usual. It seems like Square Enix throws darts at a board to decide which basic features to leave out of each premium mobile release. The most recent example of this is that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters still don't work with controllers on mobile. As was already said, Dragon Quest Builders on iOS doesn't really work with controllers, but not being able to save to iCloud is what really hurts. For such a deep game, in which you will spend at least dozens of hours, not being able to save your progress or sync it to another iOS device is terrible.
Aside from these problems, Square Enix has added some useful features to the iOS version of Dragon Quest Builders. On the console, you were limited to where you could save. It was hard to play Switch on the go in short bursts because there was nowhere to save. Also, the mobile version has an undo button with a good history of the things you've done that you can undo. It also lets you tap on the screen to move and destroy blocks. These are amazing additions that make it hard to play the game on the original console. I went back to look at them again to see how they compare to the iPhone and iPad release I have, and it really stands out.
Besides the new features, Square Enix also has paid DLC for Dragon Quest Builders for iOS and Android. Most of these are for the creative mode, not the main story chapters. Once you've played for a while and unlocked Terra Incognita, you can use this creative mode to keep adding to it as you finish more of the main story. The mobile DLC includes new content that can only be used in Terra Incognita mode, as well as an all-in-one bundle that, based on its price, makes a lot more sense to buy than separate items.
So, is Dragon Quest Builders still worth it on iOS if you can't use a controller and can't save your game in the cloud? If you play it on a newer iPhone, the answer is yes. I tried it on the original iPhone SE, the iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone 12, and the iPhone 11. It runs really well on high on the iPhone 11 and 12, but it gets too hot. On medium graphics, it works pretty well, but the iPhone 7 Plus and SE had trouble keeping a frame rate close to 60fps, which the Switch version rarely did right, unless I used low graphics, where the SE also had trouble.
As it is now, Dragon Quest Builders doesn't feel like it is optimized because it uses a lot of power and makes devices warm up quickly. This makes the screen dim and slows down the computer. This wouldn't be such a big deal if the interface and text at least looked clear on the lower graphics settings. When the graphics are set to low, even the text is hard to read. Since this is a Square Enix mobile game, I can hear you all laughing, but I hope an update will fix this, because Dragon Quest Builders is sure to be a huge hit in Japan, at least on mobile.
You might want to wait if you want to play Dragon Quest Builders on your iPad. Even on my iPad Pro, the game seems to have a lot of problems running as it is now. For comparison, my iPhone 11 runs the game better with the graphics on high than the iPad Pro (2020) on medium. It felt like playing it on Switch at the highest setting on the iPad Air 2. The other problem is that I couldn't find a way to change where the controls are, so it might not feel as nice or natural depending on how you hold your iPad and what model it is. Playing on low wouldn't be a problem if the text and interface weren't also low resolution, as was already mentioned.
Now, if you don't care about the new features and just want to know which version of Dragon Quest Builders looks and runs best, the answer is a modern iPhone version. I can't compare with the M1 iPad because I don't have access to it, but right now the iPhone version runs as well as the PS4 version on PS5. One thing to keep in mind is that the localized versions of the game for North America and Europe have a few performance problems with the PS4 version that have never been fixed. These problems have to do with the frame rate on the PS4 and PS4 Pro. In the Japanese version, these problems were not there. On Switch, the game always runs at a frame rate that can't be changed, and it never feels smooth because the frames move at different speeds. On PS Vita, the game aims for a lower frame rate and is not as fun as other versions.
Aside from cloud save support, which is essential, I'd love to see proper controller support added, since this game was only available on consoles until the mobile version came out. Square Enix also needs to put out an update soon to fix the problems with the iPad version and how it heats up and uses power. This could be one of the best paid iOS games, but some of these problems need to be fixed as soon as possible.
Dragon Quest Builders is a great game as it is right now, but I can only recommend it with some big caveats and if you only play it on a new iPhone. If you're looking for cloud saves, you won't find them here. There isn't much support for controllers either. If you're thinking about it on a more recent iPhone, it's great. On iPad, it runs much worse than I expected, even on my iPad Pro (2020), and it feels almost as bad as the Switch version does on an older iPad Pro, with inconsistent performance. Square Enix did a great job with the touch controls and the new features that make life easier. This is the best version of the game on paper, but there are some problems with how much power it uses that need to be fixed.
Dragon Quest Builders won't replace Dragon Quest Builders 2 for me, but the iOS version of the first game is now the best way to play it, even with the problems mentioned, if you have a newer iPhone. Dragon Quest Builders is still $59.99 on PS4 and $49.99 on Nintendo Switch after all these years, so the price on mobile doesn't seem as bad as it is. However, I can't blame anyone for being hesitant to support Square Enix's pricing on mobile, given how bad the post-launch support can get with future iOS and iPadOS releases. This could be a 5/5 game on iOS and Android, but Square Enix, being Square Enix, has dragged it down and stopped it from being as good as it could be. I hope that Dragon Quest Builders 2 comes to mobile at some point and has a much better start.
