That said, I think Dragon Quest Swords is a pretty solid title, but it's definitely a far cry from what some people will be expecting. The best way I can put it is that the whole game feels a lot like a classic light gun arcade game with RPG mechanics mixed in.

Swords revolves around a singular hero who takes on the mission of finding the whereabouts of a young Queen that's cursed with a strange mask, causing her behavior to become erratic and unpredictable. Of course there's a big bad behind things, and the game takes you thru a series of missions, or levels, as you make your way thru the somewhat standard plot to uncover all the treachery surrounding the events.

The game doesn't completely eschew the party mechanics of previous Dragon Quest titles, and throughout the game you'll encounter a few people that will join you on your mission. However, when you enter each level you'll be aided by only one party member who acts as a magical supporter, boosting your efforts with both attacks and heals. Unfortunately, the AI isn't quite suited to making the best decisions regarding the appropriate time to cast magic, and will often frustrate you when it decides to attack the enemy when you're in desperate need of some healing.

Swords does take away the large amount of exploration found in most Dragon Quest titles, and favors a mission set up with levels that can be selected from a central hub. Things are also streamlined when it comes to towns and shopping, with the game only featuring one central town, and one shop of each standard type, such as weapons, armor and items. There's even just one save point, which is basically the equivalent of just saving your game after completing each mission.

The missions themselves are fairly short, and you can typically finish them within an hour to a half hour's time. Most of them aren't incredibly difficult, with the stronger enemies being reserved for the last level of the game. Instead, the majority of the difficulty will come from being able to keep your wrist and remote level for your sword attacks, which are performed by making slashing motions in three different ways across the screen.

When attacking, you'll encounter typical groups of enemies found in most Dragon Quest titles, such as the mascot slimes and other familiar faces. You can opt to slash either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, and you'll want to do your best to hit enemies in a group for maximum output. However, the game is incredibly picky when it comes to picking up your motions, and often you'll find your diagonal slash being registered as a simple vertical attack, and at times the opposite will hold true. This can make things a bit tricky in the tougher fights, since your tactics will be tossed out the door. You can also defend by anticipating your opponent's attacks and bringing up a shield, which manages to work well enough. Eventually you'll also build up a special attack meter that will allow you to pull of a powerful super move, which looks a bit ridiculous when you have to perform it, but manages to not be nearly as finicky as your other attacks.

The movement isn't quite ideal either, and it feels a bit cumbersome and tank-like in execution. Swords doesn't make use of the nunchuk accessory at all, and instead has you moving around using the D-Pad on the Wiimote, which definitely does not feel like the most natural way of doing things. You can also run while holding down the B button, but the whole system comes off a bit awkward and could have easily been fixed by simply allowing the use of the entire control set up meant for the Wii.

The visuals, on the other hand, are really well done for a Wii title. At this point we have a pretty good idea of what the Wii is capable of, and while Dragon Quest Swords isn't pushing any limits, the visuals are definitely appealing and stay true to the entire franchise. You still have the standard Toriyama designs found in all their titles, and while some of the environments are a bit plain to look at here and there, they end up making it up for it some fantastic pieces scattered about that might manage to surprise a jaded Wii player or two. The music is also really solid, and evokes some memories of previous Dragon Quest soundtracks along with some throwbacks to old school sound effects.

Dragon Quest Swords ends up being a mixed bag of sorts on the Nintendo Wii. If you're looking for another grand, 80 hour plus adventure in the vein of the main titles you'll definitely be disappointed. However, if you have someone in your household that you've wanted to introduce to JRPG's as a genre, and felt that they might be put off by some of the more recent titles due to the time involvement or other factors, than Swords might be right up your alley. It works well as a beginner RPG, and even provides a solid, but simple play thru for RPG vets. Just don't expect anything mind blowing or new, and realize that the motion controls aren't quite perfect, and you should have a pretty good time.