Really fun monster battle gameplay with tons of neat ways to customize your team, with a very extensive synthesis system that will keep you busy for hours! However, the story was a pretty massive let-down. I’ve wanted a game where you get to see the events of Dragon Quest IV unfold from Psaro’s point of view for a while now, so I was stoked when this got revealed. However, you might as well hardly play as him. First of all, he’s a silent, nameable protagonist which… just boggles my mind, to say the least. He’s still very much the same character as the Psaro from Dragon Quest IV, so I don’t get why they turned him into a silent protagonist who hardly emotes instead of the extremely rash and hot-headed character he is in Dragon Quest IV. There’s also a lot of story changes to make Psaro more of an admirable anti-hero which I think is lame. He already was! His story is tragic! You don’t need to change events that already happened in Dragon Quest IV to make Psaro look like a good guy! He isn’t! He kills people for no reason!
Was going to 100% this one but got tired of grinding for the X Rank monsters, as much as I’d love to have Zoma and Estark on my team </3
Was going to 100% this one but got tired of grinding for the X Rank monsters, as much as I’d love to have Zoma and Estark on my team </3
It's fun for what it is but the gameplay loop just kinda got repetitive over time, the story is pretty mediocre, and some choice dungeons were just outright bad in design, not to mention it runs terribly on switch. But overall I enjoyed my time spent with the game and it does make me interested in checking out the other DQM games
An amazing monster collector with an insane variety in visuals for levels and monsters. The only issues lies in the ridiculous amounts of grinding required for some segments. It isn't very kid friendly in that regard. If you want a good pokemon like game with loads of hours of content, this is for you.
That was the first DQM I've played.
The monster collection of this game is different from other series, like Pokémon for example, as they are more about fusing them instead of capturing, you still can capture them, but the stronger monsters are obtained in fusion (synthese).
The combat aspect of the game is weird you can give them commands, but the game basically wants you to just let them fight, this is better seeing in the arenas, where you literally just set a role for each of your monsters then pray for them to not spam normal attacks, and also in some tougher fights, as they tend to heal and buff in better timing than commanded before the enemy moves. You can trust your monsters for the great majority of the game.
The story is meh but is not bad... something this game does that really is bad, is the "illusion of choice", there are times the protagonist do some choices invalidating the ones you make. Other things intervein and all result in the same outcome... it doesn't matter what you choose the game will do what it wants, you are not rewarded or punished in any way. I know that one is a classic in DQ games but it's specially annoying in this one, for the nature of the protagonist is different.
The soundtrack is classic DQ stuff, although there are some I did not heard before. But great as always.
And for the character design is where I say that, this was the main reason I've played this game... there is a reason why everything graphically related in this game sucks except the characters and monsters... only a legend could make such remarkable and amazing art. Seeing all those familiar creatures and characters, love their designs... that was my homage and my way to remember his work legacy, that is the way he will keep living through our memories, the inspiration and the will to create was already flourished in us fans, and will keep inspiring the new generations.
Thank You and rest in Peace, Akira Toriyama.
The monster collection of this game is different from other series, like Pokémon for example, as they are more about fusing them instead of capturing, you still can capture them, but the stronger monsters are obtained in fusion (synthese).
The combat aspect of the game is weird you can give them commands, but the game basically wants you to just let them fight, this is better seeing in the arenas, where you literally just set a role for each of your monsters then pray for them to not spam normal attacks, and also in some tougher fights, as they tend to heal and buff in better timing than commanded before the enemy moves. You can trust your monsters for the great majority of the game.
The story is meh but is not bad... something this game does that really is bad, is the "illusion of choice", there are times the protagonist do some choices invalidating the ones you make. Other things intervein and all result in the same outcome... it doesn't matter what you choose the game will do what it wants, you are not rewarded or punished in any way. I know that one is a classic in DQ games but it's specially annoying in this one, for the nature of the protagonist is different.
The soundtrack is classic DQ stuff, although there are some I did not heard before. But great as always.
And for the character design is where I say that, this was the main reason I've played this game... there is a reason why everything graphically related in this game sucks except the characters and monsters... only a legend could make such remarkable and amazing art. Seeing all those familiar creatures and characters, love their designs... that was my homage and my way to remember his work legacy, that is the way he will keep living through our memories, the inspiration and the will to create was already flourished in us fans, and will keep inspiring the new generations.
Thank You and rest in Peace, Akira Toriyama.
I thought this game was going to do what previous DQM games have done by having Psaro be transported into a wacky alternate dimension to have his little Pokemon adventure but no, Dragon Quest IV just starts happening during gameplay. Psaro will lay waste to a village as The Manslayer and then go "Excuse me, I gotta frolic in a candy and gumdrop wonderland with my girlfriend now" and I'm supposed to just accept it as canon now. Which I will, because I'm not a coward.
Nice and relaxing monster bashing time. Slightly tedious sometimss
Really truly fine beyond the deeply uninspired take on Psaro, but if I'm going to pick between average DQ monsters installments, I'm gonna get around to Caravan Heart instead.
I thought this game was fine. I liked the designs of the monsters and areas a ton. It was also fun how it mixed in with the Dragon Quest IV story. However, I wasn't the biggest fan of how synthesizing worked and also the weather system.
A fantastic Pokemon spin off. The competitive mode definitely needs some tweaking though
This review contains spoilers
Dragon Quest IV is my second favorite DQ game. Hearing that Psaro the main villain of the game was getting his own game, I was beyond excited.
The story is absolutely awful. Its a non cannon alternate take on DQ4, that doesn't understand the original's brilliance. Psaro should have had dialogue. Instead we get an awful yes and no feature that fails at every turn.
This game should have had you defeat Randolfo the Tyrant then have it end with Rose being killed, setting up the chosen's quest to revive her and save both her and Psaro. Instead Toilen Trouble uses time sand to show Psaro the future, so they save Rose and Psaro looses his redemption.
but i guess i got to use Calasmos, cool
The story is absolutely awful. Its a non cannon alternate take on DQ4, that doesn't understand the original's brilliance. Psaro should have had dialogue. Instead we get an awful yes and no feature that fails at every turn.
This game should have had you defeat Randolfo the Tyrant then have it end with Rose being killed, setting up the chosen's quest to revive her and save both her and Psaro. Instead Toilen Trouble uses time sand to show Psaro the future, so they save Rose and Psaro looses his redemption.
but i guess i got to use Calasmos, cool
Aunque en parte es triste que algunos de 3DS sean superiores en ciertos aspectos, es un paso gigante para esta saga de spin-offs de Dragon Quest, divertido, largo, y expande lore del DQ IV. Aumenta en calidad.
definitely seems more aimed at fans of dq4 than people who have liked the previous monsters entries. the plot is threadbare and half-delivered under the assumption that you're already familiar with dq4's plot, and the general progression of the game (as well as (jarringly) all the models, most of the textures, and apparently the renderer) is inherited wholesale from dqmj3 - it's the same enter area -> go to village -> beat up a guy formula. besides staying at 4 slots after jokers 3 bumped us up, monsters' resistances and traits as well as skill trees themselves have been largely homogenized, and we've changed from specific monster sizes to all monsters having a size stat that determines whether they take up 1 or 2 slots (which does mean no more max-slot monsters, yes). and we've lost the rainbow fondude already, and growths are lower so you have to grind seeds to hit stat caps, and there's egg rng, and other changes i mentioned mean that status spamming is strong in pvp (boring), and all the extra budget has gone to voice acting and none to visually differentiating this from the ds titles... while i really love the basic formula behind the dqm games, of them this has been the hardest for me to get through even including the game boy color titles and it's definitely less competitively interesting than any of the joker titles. i'm a bit disappointed
Positives
- boss battles are frequently challenging and exciting
- synthesis is an engaging system, as it rewards the player with either stronger versions of existing monsters or completely new ones
- talents can be freely transferred from one monster to another through synthesis, granting a sufficient amount of customization
- traits allow each monster to feel unique
- excellent monster variety, which includes a plethora of returning classics, alongside a selection of original creatures
Negatives
- occasional crashes
- underwhelming graphics and art style, due to most explorable areas boasting an unpleasant color palette, poor textures and noticeable object pop-in
- inconsistent frame rate, with significant drops during season and weather changes
- animations for several monsters feel incredibly limited
- forgettable soundtrack, comprised of an excessive amount of reused tracks from previous Dragon Quest games
- mediocre voice acting from both the English and Japanese versions
- mostly uninteresting main story and characters
- Psaro being a silent protagonist is detrimental to his character development, as it prevents any understanding of his thought process and motivations
- choices are meaningless, since the overall story progression is the same, regardless of which option was selected
- certain dungeon puzzles are extremely tedious because of the abundant amount of aggressive enemies scattered throughout
- some high ranking monsters are disappointing in terms of overall strength, considering the amount of time required to synthesize each one
- egg exclusive monsters make completing the monsterpedia more time-consuming than necessary
- boss battles are frequently challenging and exciting
- synthesis is an engaging system, as it rewards the player with either stronger versions of existing monsters or completely new ones
- talents can be freely transferred from one monster to another through synthesis, granting a sufficient amount of customization
- traits allow each monster to feel unique
- excellent monster variety, which includes a plethora of returning classics, alongside a selection of original creatures
Negatives
- occasional crashes
- underwhelming graphics and art style, due to most explorable areas boasting an unpleasant color palette, poor textures and noticeable object pop-in
- inconsistent frame rate, with significant drops during season and weather changes
- animations for several monsters feel incredibly limited
- forgettable soundtrack, comprised of an excessive amount of reused tracks from previous Dragon Quest games
- mediocre voice acting from both the English and Japanese versions
- mostly uninteresting main story and characters
- Psaro being a silent protagonist is detrimental to his character development, as it prevents any understanding of his thought process and motivations
- choices are meaningless, since the overall story progression is the same, regardless of which option was selected
- certain dungeon puzzles are extremely tedious because of the abundant amount of aggressive enemies scattered throughout
- some high ranking monsters are disappointing in terms of overall strength, considering the amount of time required to synthesize each one
- egg exclusive monsters make completing the monsterpedia more time-consuming than necessary
A 5-star game trapped inside of a 2-star game. The actual monster battling, leveling, and synthesizing are phenomenal and offer a lot of depth for dedicated players, but just about every other aspect of the game falls apart in real time, which ultimately diminishes the strengths of the game's core mechanics.
The graphics, while being wildly mediocre at best, are forgivable since everyone knows DQ games are made on a budget of exactly $2.67, are also combined with horrible framerate drops and general choppiness that is impossible to ignore.
The lack of any real world building, side quests, and general overlapping objectives leaves players with a bland narrative that is not presented well or even coherently at all. That being said, if Monster battlers are your thing, you'll enjoy it since the game delivers in that regard, but stay away otherwise.
The graphics, while being wildly mediocre at best, are forgivable since everyone knows DQ games are made on a budget of exactly $2.67, are also combined with horrible framerate drops and general choppiness that is impossible to ignore.
The lack of any real world building, side quests, and general overlapping objectives leaves players with a bland narrative that is not presented well or even coherently at all. That being said, if Monster battlers are your thing, you'll enjoy it since the game delivers in that regard, but stay away otherwise.
It's probably going to be a long time before I actually finish this game, and this is one of the few instances where that's a good thing in a game. This game is exactly what I wanted it to be, a new excuse to pour hundreds of hours into fusing monsters, and this time I get to fuck around with the DQIV canon, which is my favorite DQ game. The fact that they pulled TOSE out for this is awesome, and having played through the original DQM again not too long ago, you can still feel their influence here.
That is to say that not much has changed, and I'm thankful for that, the formula was already so addictive and fun, all it needed were a few QoL and gimmicks to pull me in. I'm over 30 hours in, and I just became the Manslayer, that just shows where my focus is. I want to collect all of the monsters, and get the best traits for my favorites, that can take a really long time, to some people that will be a major downside. But for me, that's the whole point of these monster RPGs, the grind that comes with team building is so cozy to me. I can shut my brain off after a long day, turn on a podcast, and spend 5 hours building up my Fat Fuck Slime (L). If Pokemon was about the story, then people would treat it with the same reverence that they do with Telefang or some other generic monster RPG.
It's about spending time with the weird fucked-up little guys, and Dragon Quest is FULL of charming little fellas. But if they aren't enough to keep your interest, then this game (and this entire genre tbh) isn't gonna be for you.
That is to say that not much has changed, and I'm thankful for that, the formula was already so addictive and fun, all it needed were a few QoL and gimmicks to pull me in. I'm over 30 hours in, and I just became the Manslayer, that just shows where my focus is. I want to collect all of the monsters, and get the best traits for my favorites, that can take a really long time, to some people that will be a major downside. But for me, that's the whole point of these monster RPGs, the grind that comes with team building is so cozy to me. I can shut my brain off after a long day, turn on a podcast, and spend 5 hours building up my Fat Fuck Slime (L). If Pokemon was about the story, then people would treat it with the same reverence that they do with Telefang or some other generic monster RPG.
It's about spending time with the weird fucked-up little guys, and Dragon Quest is FULL of charming little fellas. But if they aren't enough to keep your interest, then this game (and this entire genre tbh) isn't gonna be for you.
Main Story: April 22nd.
100%: April 30th (176 hour play time).
This is one of my absolute favorite games of all time and that's mainly due to the fact that DQ4 is in my top 5 games and I'm a huge monster tamer fan. Getting a combination of both with my favorite mainline character Psaro as the protagonist is just the perfect game to market towards me. I enjoy every moment of 100%ing this game over a nearly half a year period. I truly took my time with this game like none other.
Story & Characters:
Let's start with the flaws. Despite having dark plotlines this game was noticably always in an uplifting mood. That's not necessarily bad, heck most of my favorite games are like that, but I do wish this game put greater emphasis on emotional value of characters. That's a quality that made me fall in love with DQ4. This game is a nice add on to DQ4's narrative though. It's wonderful to see events transpire from a different point of view, getting to explore Nadiria further, and the new lore fleshes out the world's backstory nicely. I do wish the Chosen showed up more potentially in boss battles against the player. Dragon Quest isn't used to anti heroes or antagonists in the protagonist role and it does kind of show. I definitely prefer Psaro and Rose in DQ4 than this game in all honesty but that's not to say I dislike them here. There's just something a little off about them to me compared to how I interpreted them in the original game. The new characters like Ludo, Dolph, Randolfo, and Azabel are all super cool and interesting though. Ludo is my favorite amongst them. The family dynamic between some of the cast was awkward in a good realistic way despite the fact they're a crazy demon lord family that mostly hate each other. It was also neat to see Toilen from DQ5 in this game but much younger and with an entirely unique design this time around. Healie also got a human form redesign and he's honestly cute. I actually wish he was a party member that accompanied Psaro more often because of how great his design is.
Exploration & Season Changing:
This game is split up into regions that you can fast travel between. Early game typically has smaller areas and you unlock larger areas as you progress. Every area has its own distinct climate and season cycle. The human world now known as Terrestria has a typical Earth season cycle but the Circles of Nadiria are all so unique and interesting. One moment you're in a green poison swamp with acid rain and the next thing you know the season changes with a blood moon overhead. New parts of the map open up in some seasons like being able to ride large flowers through the air in spring, climbing vines in summer, or walking across water/honey in winter. Honey? Well yes one of the underworlds is food themed which is honestly really cool. The Circle of Indulgance is probably my favorite setting in game because of all the tasty looking food everywhere. The Circle of Caprice is hard competition though because I love the waterfalls coming from magic in the sky and the constellations in the night sky with shooting stars. Some areas in the game simply look nothing short of beautiful but there are some kind of ugly areas too TBH. One such area is the Circle of Temper especially during winter. I don't know why but winger tends to be the ugliest season in terms of textures in game. Spring almost always look beautiful everywhere though thankfully. I don't really care about graphics that much and I do think the good areas outweigh the bad but still it is a flaw worth mentioning.
Monsters, Taming, Fusing, & DLC:
Having over 520 monsters to collect even with some being recolors is very impressive. The fusion system that is akin to Shin Megami Tensei is quite fun to mess around with but it can make obtaining every monster the game has to offer a big time sink. The Mole Hole DLC helps save hours for sure but unfortunately it is a paid DLC mode. I do think it could've been free in base game along with multiple day one DLC. Regardless, I do think I got my money's worth out of all three DLC packs. I also managed to get a hold of a code for the McChallenge event which was fun and got me some very rare monsters that not many players have. Those monsters are rather low ranked though so after I beat the main story I dropped them in favor of more powerful monsters. This game has most mainline final bosses and some side villains but it's definitely easy to tell they didn't go as crazy as the Joker games which were full of other spin-off representation and some unique monster ideas. I would've loved to use the Rocket Slime tanks, the Realm of the Mighty, Gomechan, and other crazy monsters those games had again. That is one way in which I think Joker 3 is better than The Dark Prince. Still, most mainline games including 11 now are represented well. Only DQ10 felt a little lacking in The Dark Prince to me since it only has 3 bosses that are all from Version 1 but I'm not that upset by it since I know not many western fans have actually played 10. The Dark Prince's roster size took me 175ish hours to get em all so there's definitely not a lack of content. It's honestly kind of crazy that DQM2 remake on 3DS has even more monsters (600).
Joker 3 VS The Dark Prince:
Joker 3 has so many crazy monsters, new variation concepts, let you actually ride all the monsters, had a much cooler setting, and more too. A part of me wants to say Joker 3 is objectively a better Dragon Quest Monsters game but something about The Dark Prince does make me like it more. Besides the fact it's connected to DQ4 with Psaro as the protag (absolutely massive pro), I think being able to play it on my TV instead of only on a handheld system is a huge plus. No other DQM has that advantage. Handheld gaming is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I like to just lay on my bed with my TV nearby and chill that way. The seasons changing every few minutes to change what parts of the map you can explore and what monsters spawn is also a pretty big pro, especially when the changing is in real time and has a noticable impact on the map. At the end of the day exploring space with sci-fi elements and exploring the underworld with delicious treats are both fun. I love both games a lot, they're equally amongst my favorite monster tamers of all time, heck within my top 25 favorite games of all time too.
Conclusion:
The Dark Prince is a fantastic game that was well worth the decade long wait. It has flaws but so does every game really. In my eyes this game was a blast and a 10/10 experience which I don't say often. I would highly recommend it to fans of DQ4, monster tamers in general, and those simply looking for a calm turn based RPG that can help relieve stress. I love you DQM3 and I hope many more people try this game and enjoy it the way I have.
100%: April 30th (176 hour play time).
This is one of my absolute favorite games of all time and that's mainly due to the fact that DQ4 is in my top 5 games and I'm a huge monster tamer fan. Getting a combination of both with my favorite mainline character Psaro as the protagonist is just the perfect game to market towards me. I enjoy every moment of 100%ing this game over a nearly half a year period. I truly took my time with this game like none other.
Story & Characters:
Let's start with the flaws. Despite having dark plotlines this game was noticably always in an uplifting mood. That's not necessarily bad, heck most of my favorite games are like that, but I do wish this game put greater emphasis on emotional value of characters. That's a quality that made me fall in love with DQ4. This game is a nice add on to DQ4's narrative though. It's wonderful to see events transpire from a different point of view, getting to explore Nadiria further, and the new lore fleshes out the world's backstory nicely. I do wish the Chosen showed up more potentially in boss battles against the player. Dragon Quest isn't used to anti heroes or antagonists in the protagonist role and it does kind of show. I definitely prefer Psaro and Rose in DQ4 than this game in all honesty but that's not to say I dislike them here. There's just something a little off about them to me compared to how I interpreted them in the original game. The new characters like Ludo, Dolph, Randolfo, and Azabel are all super cool and interesting though. Ludo is my favorite amongst them. The family dynamic between some of the cast was awkward in a good realistic way despite the fact they're a crazy demon lord family that mostly hate each other. It was also neat to see Toilen from DQ5 in this game but much younger and with an entirely unique design this time around. Healie also got a human form redesign and he's honestly cute. I actually wish he was a party member that accompanied Psaro more often because of how great his design is.
Exploration & Season Changing:
This game is split up into regions that you can fast travel between. Early game typically has smaller areas and you unlock larger areas as you progress. Every area has its own distinct climate and season cycle. The human world now known as Terrestria has a typical Earth season cycle but the Circles of Nadiria are all so unique and interesting. One moment you're in a green poison swamp with acid rain and the next thing you know the season changes with a blood moon overhead. New parts of the map open up in some seasons like being able to ride large flowers through the air in spring, climbing vines in summer, or walking across water/honey in winter. Honey? Well yes one of the underworlds is food themed which is honestly really cool. The Circle of Indulgance is probably my favorite setting in game because of all the tasty looking food everywhere. The Circle of Caprice is hard competition though because I love the waterfalls coming from magic in the sky and the constellations in the night sky with shooting stars. Some areas in the game simply look nothing short of beautiful but there are some kind of ugly areas too TBH. One such area is the Circle of Temper especially during winter. I don't know why but winger tends to be the ugliest season in terms of textures in game. Spring almost always look beautiful everywhere though thankfully. I don't really care about graphics that much and I do think the good areas outweigh the bad but still it is a flaw worth mentioning.
Monsters, Taming, Fusing, & DLC:
Having over 520 monsters to collect even with some being recolors is very impressive. The fusion system that is akin to Shin Megami Tensei is quite fun to mess around with but it can make obtaining every monster the game has to offer a big time sink. The Mole Hole DLC helps save hours for sure but unfortunately it is a paid DLC mode. I do think it could've been free in base game along with multiple day one DLC. Regardless, I do think I got my money's worth out of all three DLC packs. I also managed to get a hold of a code for the McChallenge event which was fun and got me some very rare monsters that not many players have. Those monsters are rather low ranked though so after I beat the main story I dropped them in favor of more powerful monsters. This game has most mainline final bosses and some side villains but it's definitely easy to tell they didn't go as crazy as the Joker games which were full of other spin-off representation and some unique monster ideas. I would've loved to use the Rocket Slime tanks, the Realm of the Mighty, Gomechan, and other crazy monsters those games had again. That is one way in which I think Joker 3 is better than The Dark Prince. Still, most mainline games including 11 now are represented well. Only DQ10 felt a little lacking in The Dark Prince to me since it only has 3 bosses that are all from Version 1 but I'm not that upset by it since I know not many western fans have actually played 10. The Dark Prince's roster size took me 175ish hours to get em all so there's definitely not a lack of content. It's honestly kind of crazy that DQM2 remake on 3DS has even more monsters (600).
Joker 3 VS The Dark Prince:
Joker 3 has so many crazy monsters, new variation concepts, let you actually ride all the monsters, had a much cooler setting, and more too. A part of me wants to say Joker 3 is objectively a better Dragon Quest Monsters game but something about The Dark Prince does make me like it more. Besides the fact it's connected to DQ4 with Psaro as the protag (absolutely massive pro), I think being able to play it on my TV instead of only on a handheld system is a huge plus. No other DQM has that advantage. Handheld gaming is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I like to just lay on my bed with my TV nearby and chill that way. The seasons changing every few minutes to change what parts of the map you can explore and what monsters spawn is also a pretty big pro, especially when the changing is in real time and has a noticable impact on the map. At the end of the day exploring space with sci-fi elements and exploring the underworld with delicious treats are both fun. I love both games a lot, they're equally amongst my favorite monster tamers of all time, heck within my top 25 favorite games of all time too.
Conclusion:
The Dark Prince is a fantastic game that was well worth the decade long wait. It has flaws but so does every game really. In my eyes this game was a blast and a 10/10 experience which I don't say often. I would highly recommend it to fans of DQ4, monster tamers in general, and those simply looking for a calm turn based RPG that can help relieve stress. I love you DQM3 and I hope many more people try this game and enjoy it the way I have.
Man... I wanted to like this. I really tried. I even played through all of DQ4 shortly before so I'd be able to understand all the little plot references, and... it didn't actually help me any, because the only link between this and DQ4 was awkward plot contrivances. I don't know, maybe it's on me for expecting coherent storytelling from a DQM game. I haven't played the previous entries, maybe it's just not something these spinoffs Do.
Even going off that assumption, though, there was just nothing right with the writing in that one. Toilen could have been a fun character, but pretty much only existed to take part in some contrived, unearned character beats. Rose was about as passive all throughout as her DQ4 incarnation, despite accompanying Psaro on his adventures. As for Psaro... him being a silent protagonist really hurt his characterization, and it really felt like anything he did was only because he had to in order for DQ4 to happen. One of his conversations with the Zenith Dragon was especially egregious. Maybe "I don't want to renounce my monster blood" means "I want to kill all humans" in the dragon language, I don't know. I know the game is technically an AU, but it feels like the writers weren't sure how much they should deviate from the original plot, other than making sure someone else did the worst of Psaro's war crimes so he could still be a sympathetic protagonist. Sadly, that fell flat for me since DQM3 Psaro wasn't enough of a character to elicit any feelings, be it sympathy or otherwise.
The villains... existed, I guess. I kind of wish the game had delved deeper into Psaro's messed up family dynamics. I mean, it ostensibly is about that, but it's hard to take seriously when it seems to be entirely told through Psaro getting his own backstory exposited back at him by random monsters. I love me some Evil Women so Azabel conceptually appealed to me but she only really showed up in one flashback and one fight so... eh.
Moving on to the technical side, the game doesn't look great. Sometimes the art direction makes it work (I do like the color palette of the circles of conquest) but environments overall reminded me a lot of Rune Factory 5: too big, too empty, with too-low-res textures. To be perfectly honest, I don't need everything to be Ultra HD Now With 4K Sephiroth Skin Pores; my main issue here is that despite looking straight out of the WiiU era, the game just doesn't run well. I saw some improvement in the lower echelons after updating the game to the latest patch, but when I got to the upper echelons everything was back to looking like a slideshow. In all fairness, I haven't tried playing the game docked, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it to run a little smoother than this in handheld mode.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the seasons gimmick. It was neat in theory, but in practice the places only reachable in a specific season were often just... empty. I think a lot of them were egg-spawning spots, but it's kind of a bummer when you get there and there's nothing. At least there's ways to cycle through seasons.
Oh, and there's day 1 DLC that should really have just been part of the game, because of course there is.
I've been overly negative, though, so I'd like to mention the things I did like. One big thing was, thankfully, the monsters! DQ as a game series is consistently full of delightful little guys. I don't know if the comments I've seen saying that the models were just ported from the 3ds entries are true, but despite the textures being a little blurry I really did like the animations and special effects, and this is coming from someone who tends to prefer spritework to 3d models. On the gameplay front, being able to make messed up little creatures was definitely a highlight, though I feel the exp scaling could have been a little more generous to make new monsters easier to catch up to speed. As it is, I made a cannonbrawler with bang virtuoso somewhere in the early mid game and never felt like it was worth swapping it out because it was coasting on its higher level all the way up to the final boss. A lot of these bosses are weak to explosions, huh?
I've also seen people complain about the voice acting, but I thought the actors were quite nice and competent, even if it felt a lot of characters shared VAs. I can live with that, though. I've played a lot of Bethesda games.
For some closing words, I'll say that I hope there's a next entry in the series, and that it's better than this. A franchise having low budget spinoffs is fine, but that one was just rough.
Even going off that assumption, though, there was just nothing right with the writing in that one. Toilen could have been a fun character, but pretty much only existed to take part in some contrived, unearned character beats. Rose was about as passive all throughout as her DQ4 incarnation, despite accompanying Psaro on his adventures. As for Psaro... him being a silent protagonist really hurt his characterization, and it really felt like anything he did was only because he had to in order for DQ4 to happen. One of his conversations with the Zenith Dragon was especially egregious. Maybe "I don't want to renounce my monster blood" means "I want to kill all humans" in the dragon language, I don't know. I know the game is technically an AU, but it feels like the writers weren't sure how much they should deviate from the original plot, other than making sure someone else did the worst of Psaro's war crimes so he could still be a sympathetic protagonist. Sadly, that fell flat for me since DQM3 Psaro wasn't enough of a character to elicit any feelings, be it sympathy or otherwise.
The villains... existed, I guess. I kind of wish the game had delved deeper into Psaro's messed up family dynamics. I mean, it ostensibly is about that, but it's hard to take seriously when it seems to be entirely told through Psaro getting his own backstory exposited back at him by random monsters. I love me some Evil Women so Azabel conceptually appealed to me but she only really showed up in one flashback and one fight so... eh.
Moving on to the technical side, the game doesn't look great. Sometimes the art direction makes it work (I do like the color palette of the circles of conquest) but environments overall reminded me a lot of Rune Factory 5: too big, too empty, with too-low-res textures. To be perfectly honest, I don't need everything to be Ultra HD Now With 4K Sephiroth Skin Pores; my main issue here is that despite looking straight out of the WiiU era, the game just doesn't run well. I saw some improvement in the lower echelons after updating the game to the latest patch, but when I got to the upper echelons everything was back to looking like a slideshow. In all fairness, I haven't tried playing the game docked, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it to run a little smoother than this in handheld mode.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the seasons gimmick. It was neat in theory, but in practice the places only reachable in a specific season were often just... empty. I think a lot of them were egg-spawning spots, but it's kind of a bummer when you get there and there's nothing. At least there's ways to cycle through seasons.
Oh, and there's day 1 DLC that should really have just been part of the game, because of course there is.
I've been overly negative, though, so I'd like to mention the things I did like. One big thing was, thankfully, the monsters! DQ as a game series is consistently full of delightful little guys. I don't know if the comments I've seen saying that the models were just ported from the 3ds entries are true, but despite the textures being a little blurry I really did like the animations and special effects, and this is coming from someone who tends to prefer spritework to 3d models. On the gameplay front, being able to make messed up little creatures was definitely a highlight, though I feel the exp scaling could have been a little more generous to make new monsters easier to catch up to speed. As it is, I made a cannonbrawler with bang virtuoso somewhere in the early mid game and never felt like it was worth swapping it out because it was coasting on its higher level all the way up to the final boss. A lot of these bosses are weak to explosions, huh?
I've also seen people complain about the voice acting, but I thought the actors were quite nice and competent, even if it felt a lot of characters shared VAs. I can live with that, though. I've played a lot of Bethesda games.
For some closing words, I'll say that I hope there's a next entry in the series, and that it's better than this. A franchise having low budget spinoffs is fine, but that one was just rough.
Me encantó que la historia sea una línea alternativa a dragon quest IV, ya que le da un trasfondo a uno de los mejores personajes de la saga, pero en ocasiones daba la impresión de no estar completamente pulido.
Esperaba que más mecánicas de los Monster joker se mantuvieran, pero al final resultó tener unos cambios propios que no terminaron de gustarme del todo, pero sin duda cumple y hace que la síntesis sea mucho menos tediosa
Esperaba que más mecánicas de los Monster joker se mantuvieran, pero al final resultó tener unos cambios propios que no terminaron de gustarme del todo, pero sin duda cumple y hace que la síntesis sea mucho menos tediosa
Awful framerate from a game with awesome monsters mechanics reminding me of SMT.
I've been waiting for a new Dragon Quest Monsters game to release over here for years now, and I wasn't disappointed with this one. It's a solid entry in the series and I had a lot of fun with it.
My only issues is the story features some odd choices in terms of it being a retelling/reimagining of IV, and I do wish it had as many monsters as some of the Japan-only 3DS entries, as a number of my favorite monsters didn't make the leap over. Overall, it's a really fun time though and I enjoyed the hell out of it.
My only issues is the story features some odd choices in terms of it being a retelling/reimagining of IV, and I do wish it had as many monsters as some of the Japan-only 3DS entries, as a number of my favorite monsters didn't make the leap over. Overall, it's a really fun time though and I enjoyed the hell out of it.
This truly had the makings of a great game, and in some regards, it does shine. Unfortunately, this needed more time in the oven, as it didn't live up to the expectations of its predecessors.
This is still a fun game; the synthesis and monster fusion mechanics are the best they have ever been, the world is vibrant and interesting, and the combat is strategic and calculated. The biggest downside to this is the story and characterization. Not that I was expecting a glorious tale, however, Dragon Quest has a reputation for light-hearted yet deep stories of heroes and monsters in a fantastical world. On top of that, this was to be a retelling of an older title story, mainly Dragon Quest 4's story but told through the lens of one of the villains, Psaro.
What we get instead is what amounts to a fetch quest in segmented areas that don't add any nuance to the original plot. Psaro and his team just tend to change their minds about things on a whim, and very little is dedicated to certain plot points or character moments. It truly feels like going from one plot beat to the next.
It was extremely disappointing that the story was as bad as it was because otherwise, this game does play quite well. Which makes it even more unfortunate that this game has almost no post-game content to offer. There is 1 new area to explore and a couple of super bosses to face, but that amounted to ~3 hours more of gameplay. Dragon Quest is known for its sprawling post-game, so to barely have any is extremely shocking.
I can recommend this game to people who like the Monster Taming genre. By all accounts, it is better than most of the Switch Pokemon games in many ways. However, as its own game and by the standards of games within this series, it should be so much more. If it goes on sale, definitely check it out at least, but don't expect Dragon Quest 11.
This is still a fun game; the synthesis and monster fusion mechanics are the best they have ever been, the world is vibrant and interesting, and the combat is strategic and calculated. The biggest downside to this is the story and characterization. Not that I was expecting a glorious tale, however, Dragon Quest has a reputation for light-hearted yet deep stories of heroes and monsters in a fantastical world. On top of that, this was to be a retelling of an older title story, mainly Dragon Quest 4's story but told through the lens of one of the villains, Psaro.
What we get instead is what amounts to a fetch quest in segmented areas that don't add any nuance to the original plot. Psaro and his team just tend to change their minds about things on a whim, and very little is dedicated to certain plot points or character moments. It truly feels like going from one plot beat to the next.
It was extremely disappointing that the story was as bad as it was because otherwise, this game does play quite well. Which makes it even more unfortunate that this game has almost no post-game content to offer. There is 1 new area to explore and a couple of super bosses to face, but that amounted to ~3 hours more of gameplay. Dragon Quest is known for its sprawling post-game, so to barely have any is extremely shocking.
I can recommend this game to people who like the Monster Taming genre. By all accounts, it is better than most of the Switch Pokemon games in many ways. However, as its own game and by the standards of games within this series, it should be so much more. If it goes on sale, definitely check it out at least, but don't expect Dragon Quest 11.
I've never seen a modern 3D rpg replicate so perfectly the vibes of, like, random mid-tier Game Boy rpgs like Robopon or Legend of The River King. From the extremely abstracted, yet somehow small and isolated, environments, to the wordy yet breezy and somewhat hollow structure of the game itself, which mainly exists just to prop up the excellent monster battler mechanics. All those are vibes that I thought were lost to time, and seeing them resurface here put a nostalgic smile on my face.
To be fair, this stuff can either be good or bad depending on your tastes. It can maybe come off as cheap in what's supposed to be a "modern 3d game for grown ups". But, like, it is definitely a very Distinct vibe, and you gotta at least respect it for that.
I didn't really want to stick with it for 40 hours. Which is also true of a lot of those mid-tier game boy rpgs it reminds me of. But what I've played I enjoyed thoroughly. Which is also true of a lot of those mid-tier game boy rpgs it reminds me of.
To be fair, this stuff can either be good or bad depending on your tastes. It can maybe come off as cheap in what's supposed to be a "modern 3d game for grown ups". But, like, it is definitely a very Distinct vibe, and you gotta at least respect it for that.
I didn't really want to stick with it for 40 hours. Which is also true of a lot of those mid-tier game boy rpgs it reminds me of. But what I've played I enjoyed thoroughly. Which is also true of a lot of those mid-tier game boy rpgs it reminds me of.
Great but very challenging monster collecting game. Doesn't come close to the charm of the old days, but it's still worth playing.
Dragon Quest 4 is my favorite DQ, it got me into the series, and while I haven't played much of the DQM games (I played a good chunk of the first one in anticipation), I had a feeling that the format of a Monsters game would take the wind out of the sails of the promise of a retelling DQ4 from Psaro's perspective... which it did. But that's okay, the game is fun fan fiction of DQ4 with lots of interesting wrinkles in the lore of Zenithia, and I did enjoy the fan service given, even if it was all a bit hamfisted. It helps that the core of the game is a satisfying, frictionless gameplay loop of ascending your roster of monsters to newer heights. Don't regret my time at all with this one, even if it wasn't quite what I wanted from the premise.
I really enjoyed this, It's got a lot of elements that get bogged down by its hardware from long load times and low framerates. But it's a really good monster collecting game, I just wish there was more to do once you beat the main story.
There is a good monster collecting game in here somewhere, but its mired by the games excessive faults.
This game just feels cheap, of course its a spinoff series, of which the spinoff series was always originally on handhelds so of course it would not stand toe to toe with the mainline Dragon Quest games. However the transition to the Switch was faulty at best, and a complete floundering at worst. The Switch is a weak console, and this game was not prepared for it, with frequent crashes that interrupted gametime (Only saved slightly due to the frequent auto-saving), environments on some later worlds being very drab, and endlessly reused music from other Dragon Quest games instead of relying on new tracks. This game feels like a disappointment.
The story is a semi-retelling of DQIV through the perspective of Psaro, a fan favorite villain of the series and the central villain of DQIV. Though, the telling of the story leaves a lot to be desired. Psaro only having a voice when capturing monsters and not having a voice in the story strips the player of being able to get into his mind since he can't speak, and the game tries to present multiple points where you choose what Psaro says, but every choice is an illusion since Psaro is a pre-established character and you cannot alter his story by doing things he wouldn't do. This can be confusing at many points as you have to get into a silent protagonist's head to figure out what the game wants you to do, but he never tells you and so you will say yes to a dialogue option, only to have characters berate you because Psaro actually meant the other option. This impacts the whole story as they then need to have an abundance of flashbacks that do nothing for the player but stand in for Psaro's background, because he can't just talk about it since he's silent. Most of the worlds have alright little self contained stories, but each world is disconnected and you only get the pay off way later in the game, as a result, you do 6 introductions, 6 midway points, and then 6 separate conclusions to each world. Culminating in finally the ending of the main story that is admittedly not bad with some homages to the DQIV party. But the rest of the game can just feel like a checklist of things to do.
Taking us into the gameplay, where it feels like the monster collecting section of the game is off. While the start of the game functions fine, leveling your monsters, fusing them to get higher power talents and getting more talent points from fusing, and then using your new powerful higher ranked monsters to tear up the competition, the end game ends up being miserable despite this. This is due to the fact that every time you fuse your monsters, they are reset to level 1, which would work well, but they all gain experience at roughly the same rate, with small adjustment changes like you'd see from Pokemon. This proves to be a problem, since later on, it feels very tiresome to fuse your A rank, S rank, and X rank monsters for what amounts to very little actual power difference compared to your B rank monsters, especially when you have to re-level them all the way up after fusing, when leveling at that point will take a lot of grinding to get back up to the levels required of you by that stage of the game since ranks don't impact their experience gain. The main concession then is metal slime hunting, which is based on luck, or using a guide to hunt them down which is using outside information to limit your grind. Similarly, some of the fusions requirements for A rank, S rank and X rank are very obtuse and lead to frustration in even getting some of your A rank, S rank and X rank monsters, requiring a lot of fusing and grinding for the hopes of getting some monsters that barely out-perform B rank monsters, and will be weaker at level 40 than your level 70 B rank monsters at that point. The game is then more enjoyable with using the fan created guides and I'd recommend that, but it seems the game would rather you do something else... Giving into paying for the DLC that helps your grind. It feels like the game is trying to push you toward it, beause unlike SMT you cannot resummon previously created monsters, BUT you can buy the DLC that lets you refight monsters you already have in your compendium to recruit. How kind to put this behind a paywall along with the gold and EXP farming zones. Not predatory at all.
All of these combined factors soured this game on me a lot. While the core monster raising, the strategy that comes from late game fights, and the idea behind the characters(Even if not executed well) kept me playing to the end, the game has too many flaws to rate it higher. 2.5/5.
This game just feels cheap, of course its a spinoff series, of which the spinoff series was always originally on handhelds so of course it would not stand toe to toe with the mainline Dragon Quest games. However the transition to the Switch was faulty at best, and a complete floundering at worst. The Switch is a weak console, and this game was not prepared for it, with frequent crashes that interrupted gametime (Only saved slightly due to the frequent auto-saving), environments on some later worlds being very drab, and endlessly reused music from other Dragon Quest games instead of relying on new tracks. This game feels like a disappointment.
The story is a semi-retelling of DQIV through the perspective of Psaro, a fan favorite villain of the series and the central villain of DQIV. Though, the telling of the story leaves a lot to be desired. Psaro only having a voice when capturing monsters and not having a voice in the story strips the player of being able to get into his mind since he can't speak, and the game tries to present multiple points where you choose what Psaro says, but every choice is an illusion since Psaro is a pre-established character and you cannot alter his story by doing things he wouldn't do. This can be confusing at many points as you have to get into a silent protagonist's head to figure out what the game wants you to do, but he never tells you and so you will say yes to a dialogue option, only to have characters berate you because Psaro actually meant the other option. This impacts the whole story as they then need to have an abundance of flashbacks that do nothing for the player but stand in for Psaro's background, because he can't just talk about it since he's silent. Most of the worlds have alright little self contained stories, but each world is disconnected and you only get the pay off way later in the game, as a result, you do 6 introductions, 6 midway points, and then 6 separate conclusions to each world. Culminating in finally the ending of the main story that is admittedly not bad with some homages to the DQIV party. But the rest of the game can just feel like a checklist of things to do.
Taking us into the gameplay, where it feels like the monster collecting section of the game is off. While the start of the game functions fine, leveling your monsters, fusing them to get higher power talents and getting more talent points from fusing, and then using your new powerful higher ranked monsters to tear up the competition, the end game ends up being miserable despite this. This is due to the fact that every time you fuse your monsters, they are reset to level 1, which would work well, but they all gain experience at roughly the same rate, with small adjustment changes like you'd see from Pokemon. This proves to be a problem, since later on, it feels very tiresome to fuse your A rank, S rank, and X rank monsters for what amounts to very little actual power difference compared to your B rank monsters, especially when you have to re-level them all the way up after fusing, when leveling at that point will take a lot of grinding to get back up to the levels required of you by that stage of the game since ranks don't impact their experience gain. The main concession then is metal slime hunting, which is based on luck, or using a guide to hunt them down which is using outside information to limit your grind. Similarly, some of the fusions requirements for A rank, S rank and X rank are very obtuse and lead to frustration in even getting some of your A rank, S rank and X rank monsters, requiring a lot of fusing and grinding for the hopes of getting some monsters that barely out-perform B rank monsters, and will be weaker at level 40 than your level 70 B rank monsters at that point. The game is then more enjoyable with using the fan created guides and I'd recommend that, but it seems the game would rather you do something else... Giving into paying for the DLC that helps your grind. It feels like the game is trying to push you toward it, beause unlike SMT you cannot resummon previously created monsters, BUT you can buy the DLC that lets you refight monsters you already have in your compendium to recruit. How kind to put this behind a paywall along with the gold and EXP farming zones. Not predatory at all.
All of these combined factors soured this game on me a lot. While the core monster raising, the strategy that comes from late game fights, and the idea behind the characters(Even if not executed well) kept me playing to the end, the game has too many flaws to rate it higher. 2.5/5.
This was my first Dragon Quest Monsters game, and it didn’t disappoint. I had a few issues with the game, like how the pacing at the beginning of the game is incredibly slow, or that you need the DLC if you want to take hours off of the time it takes to synthesize high rank monsters. That said, the characters were likeable, and I did love obtaining all of the different monsters in the game. How many other franchises have a collectible monster named “Crabble Dabble Do?” None, absolutely none.
This game really exceeded my expectations, yet it also fell behind in some areas. The gameplay loop of exploring the open areas and collecting iconic DQ monsters is the core of the experience. They also have dungeons in each area which are hit or miss. Some of them are really fun, while others can be a convoluted mess. Synthesizing towards stronger monsters becomes addicting, especially if you find one you really want. One aspect I'm conflicted about is the story. In some aspects it goes beyond the generic DQ story with you playing as the villain and seeing Psaro's descent into hating humanity. Yet the way the story is told can feel pretty bland and disconnected at times. The story is enough to get you through the experience and not much more. Get ready to hear the same couple of midi DQ tracks, since this game hardly has any original tracks to call it's own. The performance is iffy. In some portions it's fine, but when the weather changes or in certain spots it tends to dip a little bit. The graphics/art style I actually really like, some of the areas are really pretty and feature pretty seasonal changes. Overall, this game is something that really surprised me. I planned on skipping it entirely but since I've gotten my hands on it it's been hard to put it down. This game is honestly a great time, but with a little more effort it could have been so much more. Highly recommend for fans of monster catching, Dragon Quest, or someone looking for a simple JRPG.
Unless you like your monster-catching games full of grind and devoid of heart and soul, I'd avoid Dragon Quest's attempt at Pokémon. However, they did manage to emulate Pokémon's recent frame rate drops and added their own awful voice acting and excessive loading screens. As for the creatures you'll be adding to your four-person squad, you'll change your members so regularly that it'll be hard to get attached to any of them. This is because monsters are separated into in-game tiers, with higher tiers eclipsing the lower ones in viability. This also has the horrible side effect that even if you find a creature you are fond of, you won't be able to keep it in your party for long. You know it's poorly planned when the default names of some monsters are longer than the character limit for names, causing them to cut off.
Just to get the stuff many others have said out of the way: Yes the graphics are dated. Yes the performance tanks from time to time (althouh I never experienced any crashes or major stuttering in my playthrough). Yes the story is basic. So why do I give it 4 stars? Simple: It's fun. Very fun.
The monsters' design is as good as ever, the designs of the different worlds is great, with some notable standouts (Hello Circle of Indulgence), and the raising of monsters is very addictive, with so many little things you can always work towards. If you like monster collecting games, this bad boy will suck you right in.
The monsters' design is as good as ever, the designs of the different worlds is great, with some notable standouts (Hello Circle of Indulgence), and the raising of monsters is very addictive, with so many little things you can always work towards. If you like monster collecting games, this bad boy will suck you right in.