Dragon Quest Gets Pokémon Go-esque Makeover in New Mobile Game

Game developer Square Enix’s answer to Pokémon Go is Dragon Quest Walk, a freshly announced augmented reality mobile game that allows players to battle cute and ferocious creatures. Sound familiar?

Dragon Quest Walk is set for launch in closed beta on iOS and Android on June 11. But the game has only been confirmed in Japan so far, so the rest of the world will just have to wait. (For us non-Japanese speakers, good luck perusing the new website or watching the trailer without captions or a translator.)

With the lighthearted charm characteristic of Dragon Quest, a new trailer starts with aw-worthy slime critters before moving on to bigger beasts up for grabs and tentacle monsters ready to battle.

Much like Pokémon Go, Dragon Quest Walk players must visit landmarks in the real world, in this case to unlock quests. The game departs from Pokémon Go with more in-depth storylines and customizable rooms to decorate with unlockable items. But it seems to be missing much of the social aspect and interaction with other players that makes Pokémon Go so great. Other than that, it seems to be a bit of a Pokémon Go copycat.

The game is being developed by Japanese studio Colopl, the company, it’s worth noting, that Nintendo sued last year over the alleged infringement of several in-game patents. It seems Colopl may have a bit of a reputation for cloning games.

Dragon Quest became a global sensation and built an ever-growing franchise with manga, anime and novel spinoffs after finding its niche in role-playing games. The first game in the Dragon Quest series was published in 1986 before 11 games launched as part of the main series, not to mention countless spinoffs.

While the fan-favorite Dragon Quest XI was ported to the Switch this year, Dragon Quest Walk is the first of the franchise to only be released on mobile platforms.

Check out the new trailer for Dragon Quest Walk below.