Dragon Quest Smash/Grow is a bite-sized roguelite that reminds me of Dragalia Lost

Square Enix's latest mobile effort is trying to keep it simple.

Square Enix’s history with mobile gaming is a roller coaster of cool ideas, disasters, and disappointing closures on either end. While I’ve more or less ignored the latest Final Fantasy effort, the new Dragon Quest game immediately caught my attention. Yes, part of that is simply because it’s Dragon Quest; I gotta be honest. But the other part is what the game is and looks like. Dragon Quest Smash/Grow borrows heavily from action roguelikes like Vampire Survivors, and feels like it has some elements in common with Dragalia Lost, one of my all-time favorite mobile games. Smash/Grow is betting big on the short and simple, and depending on how progress and events go, this one could have what it takes to stick around for a while.

Dragon Quest Smash/Grow is a free-to-play mobile game, which means it has gacha. Of course it does. But it does the thing most people who only wade into this space prefer, which is gacha showing up in the form of equipment. You actually create your own character, with a pretty decent customization suite that lets you express yourself fairly well. Equipment has the usual star ratings, fusions for level limit expanding, and limited banners. You do get a transmog option for more customization aside from stats which is nice, because your equipment does appear on your avatar. There’s some inevitable problems you’ll run into as a result of gacha, but it’s a plus you aren’t walled off from characters if you aren’t interested in spending money.

Gameplay is simple, but not brain-dead. You run through brief levels that are broken into segments, which interrupt you with enemy groups. You attack automatically, but have to stop moving to do so, with a circle that represents your attack range. Your attack properties differ wildly depending on what weapon you’re using, alongside which “Blessings” you eventually choose. Of course, that’s where the roguelite part kicks in - collect enough gems to “level up,” and you get to pick from a group of three options. There are different kinds of spells, attack modifications, healing, proc buffs, and more. For a simple game, there’s a decent pool of possible choices, making for some important decision-making depending on what you roll. But for most stages, you won’t be cornering yourself much as long as your stats match up with the recommendation.

Combat is where I’m reminded the most of Dragalia Lost. Nintendo and Cygames’ ill-fated action-RPG/gacha joint had a lot of pizazz and production values, but at its core it was a solid, little action game. Smash/Grow isn’t quite as active, but it still wants you to be careful with your movement and positioning alongside watching what the enemies are up to. There are telegraphed AoE attacks, alongside stuff you simply have to watch out for. You can certainly press the “auto” button and let the computer take over, but in challenges in which time and score matters, and there are several of those, you’re going to have to take the wheel. This is the stuff that reminds me of my old flame, especially when taking on big bosses in co-op battles that come with cute, silly stickers you can spam. Obviously Dragon Quest doesn’t come with the J-Pop bangers Dragalia did, because it’s Dragon Quest. But these games speak similar languages, and that makes my soul feel good.

One unique aspect Smash/Grow has on offer is, well, the Smash/Grow of it all. Each weapon has a special Coup de Grace attack, for which a meter builds as you do damage and stuff. When you hit enemies with enough force to kill them, you get an EarthBound-ass “SMASH” visual, sending them flying across the stage, into other enemies, and bouncing off walls like air hockey pucks. You also get bonus XP from them in the form of larger gems, which I guess is what the “Grow” part refers to. In a game like this that combines the “pick three” build-crafting style with small stages, you want every level you can get, making your Coup de Grace more of a strategic tool than a big attack. It feels deliberately wasteful to use it directly on bosses, but crucial to aim such that it passes through the boss and takes out a few adds on the way before it fizzles. It’s almost like Star Power in a Guitar Hero game, but in a very different context. I dig it, especially because it’s more interesting to have a function for attacks like these in mobile games besides big damage or status effects.

It’s important to get as much as you can out of these mechanics, because Smash/Grow’s biggest issue at the moment feels like battle power. It’s probably a predictable knock-on effect of having the gacha be equipment-oriented. But the rate at which you level up and gain power feels quite slow, making progressing through the story something you’ll need to take your time on whether you want to or not. There’s a stamina system as well, ensuring that you’ll be taking breaks if you aren’t opening your wallet for more items. And you shouldn’t be doing that anyway. There are XP-farming levels you can access with special tickets that aren’t super hard to get, but due to having biblically-accurate metal slimes as the focal point (they run away and are hard to hit), it’s frustrating to engage with. The game’s opening limited banner has metal equipment, naturally, but getting something that makes metal slimes easier to contend with is of course a gacha pull.

As I’ve been playing, Smash/Grow’s first big event has started, which is based on the original Dragon Quest. It has these odd gimmicks in which you can go into little rooms and speak to NPCs, represented with sprites in the classic Dragon Quest style. They give you some fluffy flavor text, and you earn keys to unlock doors and treasure chests. It’s hard to tell what the balance of these will be like in terms of time and resource spend, as the event is set to slowly roll out over the next month and some change. But the big boss, the classic Green Dragon, is a lot of fun to fight. In or out of events, it seems like a lot of this game’s energy will rely on how much mileage people can get out of boss fights.

Dragon Quest Smash/Grow isn’t the kind of mobile game that has you spending time sifting through menus, managing different kinds of currency, and constantly gambling for characters. It certainly has some of the telltale tropes of “free” mobile gaming, but it is much more interested in providing a breezy, simple game that celebrates the style and energy of Dragon Quest without being too gatekeepy. It does feel too grindy at times, at least this early on in the game’s life. But for a game you ideally will only pop into once or twice a day for a few minutes at a time, Square Enix seems to be seeking out a sweet spot between casual enjoyment and investment over a long period of time. The whole Dragalia thing may be more cope on my part than anything, but I am feeling a similar cadence with the combat and co-op play, which bodes well for my willingness to keep showing up. We’ll see how it goes in the coming weeks, especially as this first event plays out. Until then, I guess I’ll have to chase more metal slimes.

Dragon Quest Smash/Grow is available now for mobile devices.

Shacknews staff does not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their content. Shacknews strictly prohibits the use of its content for AI training or to generate text, including text in the style or format used for this publication. Shacknews reserves all rights to this work.