Info about Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai:

Official game description:
Infinity Strash: DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai - Digital Deluxe Edition
===========================================================================
*   Legendary Mage - Popp Outfit  
*   Legendary Priest and Legendary Martial Artist - Maam outfits  
*   Legendary Swordsman and Legendary Warrior - Hyunckel outfits
INFINITY STRASH: DRAGON QUEST THE ADVENTURE OF DAI is now Steam Deck Verified!
==============================================================================
About the Game
==============
The legendary DRAGON QUEST The Adventure of Dai manga and anime arrives as an exhilarating action RPG!  
Relive the events of the anime in INFINITY STRASH as you take charge of Dai and the Disciples of Avan in their battle against the Dark Army!  
Bond Memories: These items recreate iconic scenes from the original manga. Earn and equip them to augment your abilities according to your playstyle.  
Temple of Recollection: Play through over 100 room combinations in the endless dungeon, where monsters and traps change each time you enter.  
Hack and slash through hordes of enemies to reach the final floor.
\[STORY\]
---------
It has been many years now since The Hero restored peace to the land...  
In a world tormented by the forces of evil, a swordsman and  
his companions set out to defeat Hadlar, the Dark Lord.  
On an isolated island in the southern seas, a boy named Dai lives among monsters,  
yearning to become a hero himself someday.  
Everything changes when the Dark Lord is revived.  
With a new crisis facing the world, Dai makes a promise to his mentor,  
encounters new friends, and slowly learns about his own inescapable fate...  
This is the beginning of Dai's adventure, and his quest to become a true hero!

Release date: 12 Oct, 2023

Categories: Action RPG, Roguelike, Single-player Story, Real-time Combat, Character Progression, Linear Progression, Card-based Gameplay


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Beautiful Graphics & Art (weight 0.36): The game is widely lauded for its beautiful graphics, stunning animated cutscenes, and well-made, detailed character models. Reviewers highlight the faithful capture of anime counterparts and the overall visual appeal, making it a treat for the eyes.
- Faithful Nostalgic Adaptation (weight 0.24): The game excels at faithfully adapting the original manga and anime, evoking strong nostalgia for fans. It allows players to relive beloved scenes and interact with characters, serving as a "love-letter" to the series with rich story content and easter eggs.
- Engaging & Entertaining Game (weight 0.23): Many reviewers found the game to be highly entertaining and capable of consuming several hours of playtime. Its charming nature, immersive content beyond the story, and overall fun factor contribute to a refreshing and enjoyable experience.
- Enjoyable Playable Characters (weight 0.12): Players appreciate the ability to play as various characters from the series, finding them comfortable and fun to control. Specific characters like Popp and Martial Artist Maam are highlighted for their enjoyable gameplay.
- Excellent Audio & Voice Acting (weight 0.07): Reviewers highly appreciate the game's audio quality, specifically mentioning Yuki Hayashi's OST and the inclusion of full Japanese voice acting from the 2020 anime series. The voice acting is consistently described as excellent.
- Good Technical Performance (weight 0.07): The game is praised for its lack of significant bugs and smooth performance, including good cutscene quality in missions. Its compatibility with Steam Deck and relaxed play experience further contribute to a positive technical impression.
- Innovative Sanctuary Mode (weight 0.06): The "Sanctuary mode" is noted as a fresh and innovative addition to the gameplay, offering a roguelike tower-like experience for leveling up gear. It provides a distinct gameplay loop separate from the main story or Temple mode.

Common complaints:
- Overpriced, Low Content Value (weight 1): The game is consistently criticized for its high price point, which reviewers feel is disproportionate to the limited content, short playtime, and overall low quality. Many express regret over purchasing it at full price, often comparing its value to mobile games or budget titles.
- Incomplete Story, Static Presentation (weight 0.94): Reviewers are highly critical of the story's incompleteness, as it ends abruptly and covers only a fraction of the source material. The presentation is largely static, relying on slideshows of anime screenshots and narrated text rather than animated cutscenes or interactive gameplay, making it feel like a visual novel.
- Unbalanced Difficulty & Pacing (weight 0.94): The game suffers from poorly balanced difficulty, with the story mode often being too easy and the challenge mode becoming excessively difficult. Boss battles are noted for frustrating mechanics, sudden difficulty spikes, and repetitive design, impacting overall pacing and enjoyment.
- Shallow, Repetitive Combat (weight 0.92): The combat system is described as basic, lacking depth, and quickly becoming monotonous button-mashing. Specific issues include sluggish controls, animation locks, and unrewarding dodge/block mechanics, contributing to a general lack of impact and fluidity.
- Lacks RPG Exploration (weight 0.9): The game is criticized for its linear, corridor-like level design and absence of open-world exploration, a staple of many RPGs and the Dragon Quest series. Reviewers feel it deviates significantly from traditional RPG or adventure game elements, focusing primarily on segmented fights and cutscenes.
- Mobile Game Design (weight 0.89): The game's design, controls, combat, and overall structure are frequently compared to low-quality free-to-play mobile games. This includes the use of gacha-like mechanics and short, segmented missions, leading to a perception of a lack of depth and polish expected from a full-priced title.
- Disappointing Dragon Quest Spin-off (weight 0.32): Many reviewers, especially fans of the Dragon Quest series, express disappointment, stating the game fails to live up to the standards of previous Dragon Quest Heroes titles. It's seen as a downgrade, lacking the expected gameplay depth and exploration of the franchise.
- Repetitive Post-Game Grind (weight 0.15): Post-story content, specifically the Memory Temple and roguelike maze, is criticized for being repetitive, tedious, and grindy. Players report frustration with losing progress due to AI issues in these modes, making them feel unrewarding.
- Square Enix Development Issues (weight 0.11): Beyond pricing, reviewers express frustration with Square Enix's perceived lack of ambition and flawed approach to developing new IPs or adapting existing ones. This suggests a problematic attitude towards game development and a disregard for the license's potential.
- Few Playable Characters (weight 0.09): Players are disappointed by the limited roster of only four playable protagonists. Many wished for more variety or the inclusion of other popular characters from the source material.
- Poor Teammate AI (weight 0.09): The AI for computer-controlled teammates is frequently criticized for being ineffective. They often fail to dodge attacks or position themselves poorly, leading to frustrating losses, especially in challenging encounters.

Gameplay feedback:
- Extensive roguelike dungeon mode (weight 0.45): The "Temple of Recollection" (also called Sanctuary or Memory Temple) is a significant roguelike dungeon mode. It features procedural rooms, character level resets per run, and increasing difficulty across multiple layers, requiring players to manage buffs and items efficiently.
- Story-driven action RPG combat (weight 0.36): The game primarily features a linear, stage-based structure with long cutscenes (resembling manga/anime) interspersed with action RPG combat sequences. Gameplay often involves re-enacting key battles against bosses or small groups of enemies in arena-like settings.
- Difficult, Soulslike boss fights (weight 0.16): The challenge mode and boss battles are noted for their significant difficulty, often described as "Soulslike," requiring players to learn varied boss patterns and precise timing. This mode is considered a positive and engaging part of the game.
- Linear, limited game scope (weight 0.14): The game features a linear, mission-based structure selected from menus, lacking an open world or exploration. It also misses key features like a functional shop system, a revive mechanism for teammates, and substantial end-game content beyond replaying story modes.
- Simple, accessible gameplay (weight 0.13): The game's overall gameplay system is described as simple and accessible, with small, basic level designs. The story mode is considered easy and serves as a tutorial for the more challenging content.
- Material grinding for progression (weight 0.08): Game progression involves some level of grinding for materials from dungeons and challenge content. While present, the grinding elements are not considered overly significant for clearing the main game.
- Card-based character upgrades (weight 0.07): The game features a card (memory) upgrade system where players equip cards to characters to boost their statistics like HP, attack, defense, and magic. Card slots unlock as campaign progression advances.
- Limited character skills (weight 0.07): Characters unlock a limited number of spells and special attacks as they level up. Players can swap between characters mid-battle to utilize their unique abilities.
- Precise dodge/parry system (weight 0.06): The combat system includes a precise dodge and parry mechanism, allowing for perfect timing. There are different dodge types (neutral vs. directional) with varying recovery, and most attacks can be easily dodged.
- Challenging arena battles (weight 0.05): Beyond specific boss fights, general combat encounters are described as difficult, often taking place in arena-like settings. This indicates a consistent challenge throughout the game's battles.

Performance notes:
- Stable 60 FPS, PC limitations (weight 0.14): The game is praised for its stable performance, consistently maintaining 60 FPS with very few bugs or crashes reported. However, PC players express frustration over the strict 60 FPS cap and limited resolution options, which are considered restrictive for a modern PC title.

Recommendations:
- Niche Audience, Specific Genre (weight 0.67): This game is primarily recommended for existing fans of the "Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai" anime/manga and those who enjoy simplistic action hack-and-slash or roguelite gameplay. It is not suitable for players expecting a traditional Dragon Quest RPG or a comprehensive introduction to the Dai story.
- Anime is Better Experience (weight 0.33): For those interested in the "Adventure of Dai" story, many reviewers recommend watching the anime or reading the manga instead of playing the game. This is particularly true for newcomers to the series, as the game is not considered a good entry point for the narrative.
- Wait for Sale Price (weight 0.22): A recurring sentiment is that the game is not worth its full retail price. Reviewers strongly advise waiting for a significant discount, often suggesting a 50-70% price drop, before considering a purchase.
- Better DQ Alternatives (weight 0.1): Many reviewers suggest that players interested in the Dragon Quest series should consider other titles, such as Dragon Quest XI or Dragon Quest Heroes, instead of this game. Some even recommend purchasing the manga to support the "Adventure of Dai" series directly.
- High Refund Rate (weight 0.08): A notable number of players reported refunding the game or expressing strong regret over their purchase. This indicates a significant mismatch between player expectations and the game's offering, leading to immediate dissatisfaction.
- Research Before Buying (weight 0.07): Reviewers consistently advise prospective buyers to thoroughly research the game, particularly by watching gameplay videos, before making a purchase. This is to ensure expectations align with the game's actual genre and mechanics, preventing frustration.
- Desire for Story DLC (weight 0.05): Many players hope for future downloadable content (DLC) that would expand the game's story to cover the entire "Adventure of Dai" anime narrative. There's also a wish for more playable characters to be added.
- End-Game Potential (weight 0.04): A few reviewers suggest that the game's unique gameplay loop or more enjoyable content might be found later, specifically in the "Temple of Recollection" or during the end-game. This implies the early game might not fully represent the experience.
- Needs Major Overhaul (weight 0.03): Some reviewers believe the game requires a significant overhaul to improve its quality and commercial viability. There's also a suggestion that future adaptations of the series should be handled by different developers.
- Simplistic Gameplay Loop (weight 0.02): The game is characterized by its very simplistic gameplay mechanics. Players are advised to approach it with this expectation, as it does not offer deep or complex systems often found in traditional RPGs.

Other player notes:
- Mixed Story Presentation (weight 0.16): The game's story presentation is a mix, featuring amazing 3D CGI and animated cutscenes, but these are often short-lived. Critics note a reliance on "photocopying" manga/anime images for story segments, and the overall narrative scope is limited as it's a supplemental adaptation, not a full retelling of the original story.
- Engaging Music & OST (weight 0.07): The game's soundtrack is highly praised, featuring engaging music and an OST that includes rearranged tracks by Yuki Hayashi, consistent with the anime's score. The background music is generally considered good.
- Specific Character/Mission Details (weight 0.05): The game includes cool, specific details in missions, such as Popp's Megante sacrifice or Dai casting Raidein. However, some minor issues like Matrif's cloak being poorly rendered on Popp or the absence of 3D models for characters like Meruru and Princess Leona are noted.
- Limited Language Options (weight 0.04): While interface texts and subtitles are available in some languages like Castilian Spanish, voice acting is limited to English or Japanese only, which might restrict accessibility for some players.
- Good 2D Skill Effects (weight 0.02): The game features well-executed 2D skill effects (FX) that are noted to be of high quality, even surpassing the 3D VFX seen in the anime.
- Missing Trailer Content (weight 0.02): A character featured in a trailer, shown in a more open area, is reportedly not present in the final game, indicating a discrepancy between promotional material and the released product.
- Beloved Character Inclusion (weight 0.01): The game features popular and beloved characters from the series, such as Popp, Maam, Hyunckel, and Crocodine, which is a positive for fans.

Emotions:
- Disappointment (weight 0.35): Disappointment primarily stems from the game's incomplete and poorly presented story, often feeling truncated or lazily told. This is compounded by shallow, repetitive gameplay, a mobile-like structure with limited exploration, and excessive, unskippable cinematics that detract from actual gameplay. Players also felt let down by the game's high price relative to its perceived low quality and unfulfilled potential, especially given misleading marketing.
- Frustration (weight 0.21): Frustration arises from repetitive gameplay, frustrating mechanics, and a perceived lack of exploration due to small, confined spaces. Players were annoyed by excessive and often unskippable cutscenes that interrupted gameplay, coupled with poor AI, rigid combat, and a tedious roguelike mode. The high price, deceptive marketing, and overall poor design choices, including mobile-like controls, also contributed significantly to player frustration.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.16): Players found satisfaction in the game's enjoyable combat mechanics, particularly challenging boss battles and hidden combat systems, along with the engaging roguelike mode. The appealing visuals, faithful adaptation of the story, and effective fan service, including character representation and references, also contributed to a positive experience, especially for fans of the original manga.
- Anger (weight 0.08): Anger primarily stems from the game's perceived poor quality, design choices, and high price, which many felt was a "scam." This anger is often directed at the developer and publisher, Square Enix, for their perceived disrespect towards players and the Dragon Quest IP, as well as their overall development practices and decisions regarding the license.
- Joy (weight 0.03): Joy is largely driven by nostalgia for the original manga and the realization of a childhood dream, allowing players to interact with beloved characters and relive the adventure. The game's visual style and overall positive experience also contributed to this emotion.
- Regret (weight 0.03): Players expressed regret primarily over purchasing the game, especially at full price or as a pre-order, due to its perceived low quality and high cost. There was also regret over the game's unfulfilled potential and the perceived waste of resources like voice acting.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Boredom was caused by repetitive and excessive static cutscenes, a lack of exploration, and the game's visual novel-like presentation. The overall lack of challenge and engaging gameplay also contributed to players feeling bored.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): Excitement was generated by the game's appealing visuals, engaging gameplay, and the inclusion of challenging boss battles. The roguelike mode was also a significant source of positive anticipation and enjoyment.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Nostalgia is directly linked to the original series, which resonated deeply with players and influenced their overall perception and even their Steam ratings, despite other criticisms of the game itself.
- Betrayal (weight 0.01): Players felt betrayed by a perceived lack of care from the developers, leading to a strong sense of disappointment and a feeling that their loyalty as fans was not respected.
- Affection (weight 0.01): Affection for the game stems directly from players' love and appreciation for the original series it is based on.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Players were surprised by the extensive amount of narration in the game and the unexpectedly tight dodge windows in combat mechanics.
- Bitterness (weight 0): Bitterness arose from the game's high price point relative to the amount and quality of content provided, leading players to feel they did not get their money's worth.
- Despair (weight 0): Despair was caused by the perceived lack of new content, suggesting a concern about the game's longevity or future development.
- Contentment (weight 0): Contentment was specifically attributed to the game's combat mechanics, indicating that this aspect of the gameplay was well-received and satisfying.
- Sadness (weight 0): Sadness was caused by the game's incomplete story and the limited number of playable characters, leaving players feeling unfulfilled.
- Annoyance (weight 0): Annoyance stemmed from discrepancies in cutscenes and the excessive use of static slides, which detracted from the visual presentation and immersion.
- Amusement (weight 0): Amusement was derived from observing the reactions of other reviewers, suggesting a shared, perhaps ironic, experience or commentary on the game's reception.
- Defiance (weight 0): Defiance was expressed in response to negative opinions, indicating a desire to counter or disregard widespread criticism.
- Suspicion (weight 0): Suspicion arose from certain development choices, leading players to question the motives or reasoning behind specific game design decisions.}