Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai Preview - Anime Goodness

Video game adaptations of manga and anime are nothing new, but Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventures of Strash features a surprisingly refreshing game mode, showcased at PAX West 2023.

But first and foremost, what is Infinity Strash? This is a game that takes place within the Dragon Quest universe, but pulls material from the original manga from the 90s (and by extension its anime adaptation). Even still, fans of Dragon Quest will love Infinity Strash.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai's Roguelite Elements

The main game mode for Infinity Strash is more of a hack-and-slash, action RPG following the events of the manga and anime. We didn't get a chance to play the main story during PAX West, but we did check out a cool new roguelite-inspired mode.

Called the Temple of Recollection, players control Dai and a gang of characters through an endless labyrinth of dungeons. As you complete each room by defeating various monsters, you can choose upgrades to permanently upgrade your characters.

These permanent upgrades are pretty simple, at least so far. Most of them either increase your defensive or offensive capabilities. Upgrades might get old after a while if they're simply percentage modifiers as they were in the demo, so hopefully more options become available later on.

At the moment, I'm not quite sure what the overarching gameplay benefits of this Temple of Recollection grants, but it's at least a very fun time. I'm even told the difficulty increases greatly as you descend floor-by-floor. I suspect many players will seek to complete the Temple in its entirety. 

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai Shows Promise for Fans

Admittedly, Infinity Strash isn't the most complex game, but what I did play was satisfying. It's a bit like a musou in that combat comprises few button presses but creates flashy combos and attacks. 

You're also able to switch between characters on your team, so I could control Dai -- your typical sword-wielding hero -- as well as Pop (a mage) and Maam (a healer). The Square Enix representative by the demo booth also confirmed at least one other character joins, who in this case should be Hyunckel.

Simple button presses create giant effects with your abilities, so the flashy anime fights you expect from Dragon Quest and other anime-like games is definitely present here.

As for the overall aesthetic, Infinity Strash's visuals are faithful and authentic to both the series. I especially love its enemy designs, which are represented so well in the Temple of Recollection.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai | Final Thoughts

Anime games are often times a tough sell. Usually, these games are for the most hardcore fans of the show or manga, but I think Infinity Strash will have a larger appeal than that. It is still a part of the Dragon Quest series, after all.

So in that regard, it's exciting to see a new Dragon Quest title on the horizon. It's not your traditional turn-based RPG that we expect from the series, but Infinity Strash should still offer fun action gameplay -- and even some roguelite goodness, too.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai was previewed at PAX West 2023.