Dragon Quest Heroes II

Even better than its predecessor, this action RPG is good fun for those looking for a mix of combat and light adventure mechanics -- especially for fans of either Dynasty Warriors or Dragon Quest games. Along with the two main protagonists, Lazarel and Teresa, you can play as familiar series characters like Aurora, King Doric, Isla, Healix, Alena, Kiryl, and Maya, to name a few. Lazarel has a multislash sword attack and Cold Fission tornado move, while Teresa has a "Spinferno" specialty (where she spins around to knock out enemies with her weapons) and upward slash attack. While it's easy to pick up and play, this game doesn't have the best story, dialogue, or character development. But where it excels is in the exploration, the variety of enemies you'll face, and the choices you can make with your party and its fighting options. Whether it's wielding an axe, upgrading to a Crushed Ice attack, using a leg-sweep move, or unleashing a Maelstrom vortex, the fun is in exploring everyone's skills, and upgrades. After you've built up enough experience, your two main characters earn the ability to join vocations, such as Priests or Magical Artists -- something you couldn't do in the original 2015 game.

Finding players online from within the game was easy enough, but there wasn't always enough for a four-player game -- perhaps not until the game becomes more popular in the United States. But the game played smoothly and mostly lag-free, even when there were multiple enemies on-screen at once. While not entirely perfect -- mostly due to some repetition and weak puzzles -- this battle-heavy game is ideal for those who enjoy slashing their way through an "RPG-lite" game by themselves or with friends.