I would never have believed back in 2011 that DQM (Dragon Quest Monsters) was about to exit the United States for an astounding 12 years. How time flies...

Speaking of which, I remember playing Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 & 2 on GBC long before those memories of Joker 2. A novel twist on the classic Dragon Warrior RPG series, but certainly a shameless copy of Pokemon's template. And much to my joy and excitement, it brings and yet maintains its own strengths and novelties to the monster capturing sub-genre.

So here we are - decades later - and treated to a true sequel to Dragon Warrior Monsters 2. While it takes ideas and rules from the Joker series, it displays leanings and references to the originals as well. It combines into a well-rounded package that's a lot of fun to play.

Between monster families, talents, and traits, there are thousands of combinations of monster synergy to offer a limitless wealth of gameplay. That said, the game does not demand it, as it can be mastered with just a decent team - including the post-game. While it requires more strategy and planning than your typical Pokemon title, it still slightly disappoints in the late-game difficulty.

Besides that, the performance is not great. It's better than the recent Pokemon titles, but that's not saying much. Prepare to tough it out when environmental effects attack your poor frame rates. If you survive, you'll have a decently-sized adventure with cool monsters, fun dungeons, a crap story, and battles abound.

Reviewed on Dec 22, 2023


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