This is one of the most graphically appealing 3D environment DS games. It even has monsters running around the overworld which is both a first for the franchise and something extremely uncommon for the genre on DS. Very few RPGs were this ambitious on handhelds in 2006. The combat is standard turn based combat where you control three monsters in a 3v3 format. The way you scout and fuse monsters is moderately akin to the SMT/Persona series. The story isn't anything crazy but it does have a few twists in its relatively short run time.

This game's sequel was one of the first games I've ever played but I never went back to play this one for some reason until now. I played the older Monsters games first. The first two Monsters games were great GameBoy monster tamers but clearly showed their age. I did not enjoy Caravan Heart. That said, this game and its sequel reign supreme when it comes to the genre during this era. They're both quite fun and I'd still recommend them to people today.

I do prefer the sequel for having giant monsters, a more interesting setting, and some QoL changes but it's hard to say I was disappointed in this game in anyway at all. I guess movement speed is a little slow but eh. Overall a wonderful experience. Peak DS monster tamer duology.