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User:L95/Sandbox
Currently home to a WIP DQB2 prerelease page. I was originally thinking I could get this written up in one session but this actually snowballed into finding a huuuuuuuuuuuge amount of differences to the final game that I can't finish in one quick sweep.
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Dragon Quest Builders 2 seems to have gone through quite a few changes in development after it began previewing publicly; areas, items, and character designs differ slightly to significantly to the final release in several screenshots.
Note that some area differences may be simply due to the developers showing off certain mechanics, and are possibly not indicative of actual level design differences.
April 2018
April 2
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
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The Hairy Hermit's mountaintop temple, one of the first areas in the game the player encounters. Compared to the final game, it is rather sparsely constructed, even accounting for its intentionally dilapidated state. The terrain of the mountain itself was also reworked for final.
April 16
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
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Hargon's throne room, shown in exposition at the beginning of the game, appears to have been entirely different, featuring different floor tiles and decor. The custom green blocks, flooring, carvings, and grotesques for Hargon's citadel used in the final game don't seem to yet exist at all; rather amusingly, Hargon seems to have borrowed some of the Dragonlord's memorabilia for pre-release screenshots. Hargon appears to be standing in front of the Dragonlord's throne and is displaying the Dragonlord's standard in the back. The Dragonlord's standard and throne are obtainable in the final game, but are a postgame bonus item and a save transfer bonus item, respectively.
True form Malroth appears in this pre-release screen using the blue body with red wings color scheme common in spinoff Dragon Quest titles. The final game instead uses a green body and pink/purple wings color scheme more reminiscent of his original Dragon Quest II appearance. In pre-release screens he also has his gold chain and skull necklace from his appearance in the Switch port of Dragon Quest Heroes; in the final game he has his more typical skull necklace secured with green beads. Judging by artwork on the official site Malroth's intended design was always going to be the one used in the final version and the model here is purely placeholder.
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
 |
500px |
What appears to be a very early version of Furrowfield's town, featuring an entirely different layout and a dead tree not present in the final game. Judging by the mini medal shine in the distance, and assuming it is in the same relative orientation to the town as the final game, the Builder's Bell is on the opposite side of town compared to the final version.
April 22
Another shot of the Hairy Hermit's rather sparse temple, showing more differing landscape of the mountain under it.
Closeups of the tablets at the Hermit's temple, several of these do not appear in the final game at all. It also appears the Hairy Hermit may not actually exist at this point in development, considering he appears in what is likely the equivalent scene to this in the final version.
A closeup of an early version of the statues at mini medal puzzles.
August 2018
August 29
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
 |
500px |
- What appears to be an early version of Pastor Al's cabin.
- Different Builder's gloves icon.
- Early UI seems to suggest only Malroth gained exp? (He has an icon on the side of the screen with an exp bar, in the final game the exp bar is under the player's HP and the game explicitly states the Builder and Malroth share exp and levels.) Would line up with the previous game where the Builder did not gain EXP through combat.
- Other screenshots seem to indicate Malroth also had a persistently visible HP bar. His HP is visible in the final game only when he takes damage.
September 2018
September 3
A different, more advanced, crafting station than the final version is visible in the screenshot, (check which one, pretty sure its still in final) though it is mostly offscreen. The final version of the game places a worn down workbench here, fitting the abandoned island setting.
Additionally, Lulu's dialogue is different here:
You already made a room! ......You're amazing! You may be even more skilled than my father...
Here and other pre-release materials mention that Lulu's father is/was a master builder, however no mention of this is made in the final game; the only information on Lulu's family is that they were killed by monsters shortly before the events of the game.
September 12
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
 |
500px |
The shallows behind the boat appear to extend further than in the final game. Ruins of what may have been a dock appearing near the boat in the final game appear to be absent here.
September 18
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
 |
500px |
An NPC that appears to be the one named Clayton in the English version of the final game seems to have had brown hair instead of blue. The other Furrowfield NPCs that appear in screenshots seem to be as they are as the final game.
October 2018
October 1
- Malroth and the Builder now seem to have the unified EXP bar like the final game.
October 15
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
 |
500px |
The ruins of the bar has chests present not in the final game. The foundation blocks of the walls use a different bronze block than the final version; that kind of block is obtainable in the final game, but not during the portion of the story where the player repairs the building.
October 22
| Pre-release | Final |
|---|---|
 |
500px |
The layout of the Silver Bar is very different from the blueprint the player must follow final version. Like the first bar, it uses silver block variants that are not present in the blueprint in the final version.
- Mini medal signs are now as they appear in final.
Check: if the magnet puzzle is different
October 29
Didn't see anything obvious, though I haven't actually played multiplayer, so I dunno if the UI is different
November 2018
November 12
- Malroth's persistently visible HP bar seems to be gone now (or it may have vanished earlier, double check)
- Hairy Hermit's temple is now much closer to, if not exactly the same as, the final version.
Check: if the... checklists for explorer shores shown here are different.
Check: Getting fireworks at such a low level (and thus story progression) as in one of these screenshots is impossible in the final game, I thiiiink?
November 19
This just seems to be showing off photomode with a bunch of dev-built stuff. Hairy Hermit's temple is final here I guess.
November 26
Check: Do enemy Magi (red/green) appear here in the final game? I thought it was just Shamans (blue/purple).
December 2018
December 3
- You're never supposed to go with Malroth past the ocean whirlwinds to the tower, though there's literally nothing stopping you from sequence breaking in this game, and doing it after story completion is perfectly possible. Maybe not really worth noting, they just have Malroth there to avoid spoiling that he leaves the party.
Check: I'm not sure I recall the prison bars being used for the Great Gate's construction, which the needed item count in one of these screenshots seems to imply. Could just be misremembering though.
