Pickaxe to grind

Japan's biggest game of 2016 may be one that you least expect, as Dragon Quest Builders is shaping up to be every inch the commercial smash. Square Enix's block breaking role-playing release promises to give Minecraft's occasionally mindless brick busting a bit of structure – while also augmenting the entire experience with something commonly referred to as art direction.

The game will release on 28th January in Japan across all three flagship PlayStation formats, with a Western release looking extremely likely a little down the line. As alluded, we expect this game to blow up in its home nation – and it may yet surprise overseas as well. Best of all, while it may be a somewhat shameless clone at heart, we reckon that it's shaping up surprisingly nicely.