Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Is Incredible

Is the game that wasn't given any pre-release coverage somehow good
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[@monkeylemur]

And so Jon became the entire marketing budget for this game

[@ScoptOriginal]

Honestly the game is its own marketing budget. Dragon Quest may not be known outside Japan, but in Japan it's a household name and a part of everything, and they only need it to do well in Japanese markets.

[@ethaniall]

Honestly I have watched this a few times so it worked on me haha

[@pavelionut9113]

and now with Akira Toriyamas death,dragon quest been mentioned a lot, honestly dq is a very good franchise,loved the last game on consoles ​@@ScoptOriginal

[@Vulpas]

Square spent so much on the Ethics Department to cenzor it for western release that there must not have been enough budget for marketing.

[@SearchmanDS]

I'm so glad Monsters finally returned after all these years. And with a story that ties to one of my all time favorite mainline DQ games. It's a perfect combination that brings joy.

[@JMrealgamer]

Which DQ game does it tie into? I’m interested in knowing.

[@SearchmanDS]

@@JMrealgamerThe main character, Psaro, is from IV. Not the first time Monsters has had a tie to a mainline game. The original Monsters featured a child Terry from Dragon Quest VI and Caravan Hearts (which wasn't released overseas) starred Kiefer from VII.

[@JMrealgamer]

@@SearchmanDS cool! Thank you so much for that info. I love DQ series and like many Americans who didn’t have access to it right away I’m trying my hardest to catch up to what’s been released. So far I played a bit of 1, 3, most of V and VII, all of VIII and XI S and Builders 2. I’ve even played DQ Heroes 2. IV is one I haven’t touched yet so I may do that. You can find these games cheap on iOS and phone devices.

[@paperluigi6132]

@@SearchmanDSand the irony of Monsters 1 is that it released over here initially, yet DQVI itself didn’t until the DS remake.

[@Owl325]

​@SearchmanDS nice! So cool to know psaro is alreadh a character. I LOVE his design!

[@MatthewPalanca]

Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 and 2 on the Gameboy Color were incredible back in the day. Can't wait to get into this one.

[@wedding2710]

Would strongly recommend DQM Joker 1 and 2 on the DS and 3 on the 3DS although 3 requires a translation patch. I haven't played Dark Prince yet but it looks to be mechanically identical to the Joker series

[@beymaster531]

Tactics can still be important even if you take full control due to some passives allowing your monster to take extra moves but you can only tell it to do one thing

[@InvaderIceStrike]

This game is actually getting some decent marketing in Japan. During Tokyo Games Show, I was constantly seeing posters, flyers, and billboards for the game. There’s even a couple of DQ Monsters themed convenience stores here. Plus, there are a ton of ads for the game on JP KZbin with some good production value. Shame that doesn’t seem to have carried over to the west.

[@firenze6478]

Yeah, instead they advertise their crappy drama games and ff16

[@Freezer94]

So good to have a new Monsters game. The trio of 3DS games were so damned good.

[@kyurei4478]

Allowing other monster collecting games to exist alongside Pokemon would already be great cause there is definitely more to bring to the table than just the Pokemon franchise.

[@user-mf9nl3il9w]

thank you for acknowledging Dragon quest as the pokemon PREDACESOR! happy to see a review from someone who does their research

[@clydefrosch]

predecessor means it came out before, but pokemon red and green released like 2 years before these games. no one in their right mind would ever consider the monsters as extra characters from the main series as preceeding the pokemon formula

[@user-mf9nl3il9w]

Monster taming was first done in dragon quest 5, which was released in 95 in japan. Way before red and green in 98 which makes it the pokemon predecessor. Dragon quest monsters was after that in 2001 and pokemon went even further copying them with breeding which was the main pull in the Dqm series. Both are great but dragon quest is the og

[@ShadowEclipex]

This is on my lists of must plays! One thing I love about these games is the fact that they let you unlock final bosses from other DQ games to add to your party.

[@Jamsch101]

Such a fantastic game, and definitely gonna be an overlooked gem. Thanks for covering the game!

[@JoshArtisto]

The changing seasons is one of the things I like most about this game. It's why I love LoZ Oracle of Seasons so much and the coolest part of Pokemon BW. The performance keeps me from wanting to buy this game, but if it ever comes to PC, I'll get it.

[@Lanceolson4586]

Might be some hope as treasures was shadow dropped on pc like 6 months later

[@TheVideoRoom]

Wouldnt bet on it because DQM games NEVER released on PC. They have always been nintendo exclusive (except 1 psx title) and to be honest the performance isn't that bad on the switch, never really bothered me

[@SlimeBlueMS]

Performance issues are barely noticable

[@nindieboy4194]

I immediately thought the same. This is a banger feature, love that

[@namelessbag]

@@SlimeBlueMS Nah shut up. I dropped the demo on my switch and moved on to simply emulating the game at a tolerable performance. The framerate is beyond abysmal and inexcusable. It's thanks to people like you that optimization keeps getting worse

[@adrianjohnson1]

I played thru the demo and was floored at how fun it was. Then saw there was no coverage for this game. So sad 😢

[@Aura-Of-Syrinx]

I loved DQM for GBC, especially the fusing mechanic; need to check this out

[@sharingansasuke5]

I’m so glad to finally have an in depth review from another dragon quest fan!! I can’t believe this has gone so far under the radar I don’t hear anyone talking about it!!! I even forgot it released because I got busy :( but regardless it’s awesome that this game is a companion to IV with psaro; in a similar way that the original dragon quest monsters works as a companion to VI and follows Terry.

[@BelleAim]

Excellent review Jon! I recently tried out the demo and was completely charmed. So much so that we bought it 😄 You captured my thoughts so eloquently. Really well done!! 🎉

[@therivermarquis]

Damn straight Dragon Quest 5 is one of the best games ever made

[@jb0258]

Im having an absolute blast playing through this! The exploration for each season is so much fun. I love seeing how the environment changes. Ended up starting with Cruelcumber (nicknamed Coolcumber. Ya know, cool as a cucumber lol). I keep fusing to make another so it's the only "permanent" monster for the team, and then constantly changing up the other 3 in the party.

[@rockscolbs]

Although i can't afford the game right now, i absolutely loved Monsters Joker 2 on the DS as a kid so I hope this game gets more love

[@KevinTheTimeGeek86]

My older brother is a life-long fan of the "Dragon Quest" series back when it was called "Dragon Warrior" here in the good ol' USA. I used to watch him play it as far back as on the NES. I didn't decide to try the series myself til he got "Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King" on his PlayStation 2. I've been a fan ever since. So when I heard about this and how it was gonna be a companion game to "Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen", I was so delighted. It also gives me hope that maybe that game, along with V and VI can come to Switch sometime in a similar fashion to I, II, and III did. I recently moved in with said brother and he's been playing it on his Switch lately. I've been mulling over getting it myself as a result. Maybe I will sometime when I'm done playing through the "Super Mario RPG" remake, which is giving me such palpable joy. Great review, Jon! Thank you for your insight!

[@scramble7902]

You had me sold at Fusion and Synthesizing

[@steizgr8]

Thanks for this, John. I've was writing this one off. I love the vibe of Dragon Quest games so much, but the lack of coverage and reports of performance issues had me thinking this wasn't worth owning. You've convinced me to add a physical copy of this to my backlog of shame

[@briancode7814]

I remember playing Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 1 and 2, they were super fantastic games!! Absolutely loved it!! I should get this!

[@damienkrawczuk1435]

This will be the first game I'll be getting for 2024! Yeah I only found out about this game a little over 2 weeks ago, and lost an insane amount of hours on the demo, the synthesis system is highly addictive but what sold it the most for me was that candy land level, it gave me ell flashbacks to Castle of Illusion, yep thats Nostolgic blood in my veins, can't wait to buy it and lose myself in its world

[@fettuccinialfonso]

Good review. I think despite its small technical set backs it still looks like it runs better than last couple Pokemon games (honestly seems a lot more fun too). I totally agree that the mechanics feel a lot closer to a SMT game (especially combining monsters, inheriting traits/skills) but of course with that classic DQ whimsy (which is definitely a good thing). I loved DQ11 and will definitely check this out. Thanks for reviewing this one John.

[@Aka-Spade]

Actually, I'd say it runs about on-par with Scarlet and Violet, then again, SV is doing creature collecting RPG gameplay in one massive map compared to the collection of open areas (I'd say more comparable to Legends Arceus rather than SV in terms of the way it's set up), but as someone who loves both Pokémon and Dragon Quest 5, I'm certainly interested in eventually picking this up.

[@20ZZ20]

I would have LOVED to claim DQM is graphically superior to Pokémon but it’s really not

[@fettuccinialfonso]

@@Aka-Spade Good to know! I've only dipped into SV a little. I did however play the crap out of Legends Arceus and didn't mind the graphical short-comings at all (not that I ever really care about stuff like that when a game is just *fun*).

[@Aka-Spade]

@@fettuccinialfonso I have over 200 hours sunk into Scarlet and Violet (due to shiny hunting, mostly), so I've gotten very familiar with how the game runs, lol (it's a bit overexaggerated by a lot of people thanks to those clips of the unpredictable glitches caused by the SD card memory leak back when they released.)

[@iRemilia]

regarding the mentioned technical set backs - i've recently finished my 100% run of the game and while i was around 2 thirds of the way through the game they actually released a new patch that improved the performance quite substantially. i was progressing through one of the areas with the biggest performance issues a day before the patch and when i started the game the next day it installed the update and suddenly everything was fine. definitely made the lategame areas of the game a lot more enjoyable to traverse. it's still not perfect, but it's slowly getting there.

[@Martadore1]

i havent played the game through yet, but i like the dark prince because he Literally only wants to do what HE wants to do, And doesnt listen to others who think they know better!

[@theonewhowrotethis5681]

Truth be told, the game has a bunch of "But Thou Must" moments like some of the other DQ games. Pretty much every "Yes"/"No" option in the game has no impact on the overall story, but it does slightly change the dialogue at times (usually the NPC asking the question says something like "I know you're lying with that answer" and the same event plays out anyways). However, Psaro is still a pretty interesting character overall since you see that he has morals that are misguided due to the environment that he grew up in. He's definitely not a generic protagonist as he was originally the main tragic villain of DQIV (though he is a bit different in this game than in IV).

[@finngswan3732]

I loved the first Monster Tamer game. I had to play the demo and got a good taste. I'll have to get the whole thing some time.

[@edgarcu12]

One of the things I enjoyed the most when playing persona 5 was the fact that you could fusion the personas. This mechanic seems to also be applied to this game, which makes me believe it could be the perfect mix between two of my faves turn based rpgs. I might be sold for this game but I unsure of spending 60$ on it

[@sarahpod]

I’m definitely going to buy this. Just waiting on a sale. ✔️

[@tuckman315]

Loved your video on dragon quest the dark prince thank you for bringing attention to such a fantastic game I really want them to make another one in America

[@Twilord_]

Just finished the current Pokémon DLC and replaying Digimon World: Next Order... But this is next on the pile if I am not completely Monster Tamed by then.

[@rigbone3587]

Loving this game so so much, thanks for covering it 😎

[@PhotonSieve]

Love you Jon for giving this magnificent series the attention it unfortunately doesn't get enough of.

[@chesterfieldthe3rd929]

It's the creators fault. They refused to localize dq games in the past and it shows. It's terrible that the world missed out on SO MANY DQ GAMES.

[@kyurei4478]

It's understandable for the DQ Monster games tho and it costs to release games overseas. I suppose the sales weren't so great which is why we never got Monster Joker 3 after the first 2. But I'm glad they're finally trying again.

[@blinkingred]

Just picked this up and super excited to give it a shot. I had a feeling I recognized the name Psaro. I played dq4 so long ago it will be nice to see the main characters again

[@type2red]

The demo sold me on this game and bought it immediately, was surprised to see the copy i got the only 1 in stock at my local walmart and it has not been restocked which is crazy.

[@jumponeverything]

Played the demo awhile ago and didn't think much of it but after watching this I've given it a second chance and am really into it now, ordered the full game for Christmas!

[@Axecon1]

I've noticed a trend with the DQ games & spinoffs recently. Not counting DQ Treasures which was an intentional spinoff of DQ11, Builders 1 & 2 were spinoffs of DQ1 & DQ2, DQ3 is getting a HD-2D remake, and DQ Monsters Switch is a spinoff of DQ4. That means the next DQ spinoff or remake will be for DQ5.

[@Mattaiko82]

My personal game of the year. I haven't been so hooked on any game in years. Can't stop playing.

[@alexi111]

Dude I said the exact same thing.

[@tuckman315]

Yup it’s my personal game of the year as well

[@cenanuffz]

Same, I have 70 hours logged with no slowing down.

[@Makoto03]

I'm loving Dragon Quest monsters. So fun.

[@JMrealgamer]

DQ paved the way for the whole monster collecting/hunting genre. Seeing as it’s the 1st console RPG back on the NES it paved the way for all other RPG’s too. I’ll support whatever they do.

[@Zanji1234]

and here we have a game that looks better than the last game made by the largest Franchise of the world

[@jaretco6423]

Sad, but true.

[@iliya1933]

I may have missed your explanation of this, but what I really want to know (that would influence whether I really consider buying it or not) is whether there is enough story stuff, and, more importantly, endgame stuff that would keep me playing for a good while and that would give me an incentive to keep playing past the end of the story. What I loved about the Gameboy games is that there were a whole lot of areas to explore and things to collect past the main story, like getting that one guy's special key that he blocked access to throughout the story, breeding a whole bevy of particularly special or difficult-to-get monsters (and filling out the library as a result), and delving through dungeons within key worlds to get more and more keys and fight and defeat more and more bosses. And then there was also the special post-game arena boss. Without spoiling any specifics of The Dark Prince, does it have enough stuff like that that would keep me playing for a good while?

[@theonewhowrotethis5681]

Without spoiling stuff, the post game of this game adds to the main story of this game by having 3-4 plot relevant bosses that resolve one of the major plot threads introduced in this game's main story. It's comparable to the vanilla version of Joker 2's post game in that it's not super long (that and Joker 2 had extra boss fights against Estark, Leonyx, and Rigor Mortex), and Joker 2's is a bit longer since the Dark World is much bigger than the new area in TDP (though TDP has WAY more sandboxes in its main campaign, so it kinda evens out between those two games). It definitely relies on you playing competitive PvP matches to extend your playtime (like Joker 2 did), so the game gives you a bunch of features that makes it easier to develop your team and scout the remaining monsters once you get to a certain point in the post game. The main game's story is essentially the original DQIV but with some retcons here and there that make Psaro less of a villain and more of an anti-hero. An early example would be the event where Psaro sets a human on fire and kills him in one of IV's flashbacks, but that same human now runs away alive while still being on fire in TDP. As such, the game wouldn't be considered canon to the original, but it adds extra lore elements that were pretty neat (especially the one that ties in with the post game bosses). I liked the call-backs to the original IV as IV is my favorite of the series, but some elements are definitely different from the original while other elements enhance what we knew from the original. It's basically a DQIV Gaiden with new prequel elements added in that does its own thing at times (unlike how DQM1 and Caravan Heart TOTALLY could've happened before VI and VII, respectively, without changing plot elements from either title). As for randomly generated dungeons like in DQM2, that's relegated to the Joe's Dungeon Gym DLC (there are other DLCs that add back the Mole Hole feature from the 3DS titles and a treasure chest that gives rewards every hour). You get a list of daily dungeons that are randomly generated, and then you choose which ones you want to tackle while fulfilling specific requirements (e.g., have a party of only G-Rank monsters, etc.) to get randomized rewards. You do have keys in these dungeons, but they just unlock the next area of the dungeon that you're in, not another dungeon altogether (those get refreshed periodically and can be manually refreshed once per day if you dislike the options given). I do dislike the DLC practices that this game has as some of the 3DS games had TDP's DLC baked in as features without requiring an extra purchase, but that's just how Square Enix operates at this point I guess. Without DLC, the post game is pretty much relegated to the S-Rank Coliseum matches in both arenas, fusing the best monsters (the Mole Hole DLC makes this super easy since it makes it easier to get repeat monsters for complex fusion chains), completing your compendium, finishing up that major story thread with the post game bosses, and, ultimately, fighting in online PvP with the best builds. Again, its post game is more comparable to vanilla Joker 2 than Monsters 2 in overall execution. The post game events would take about 7-10 hours extra to complete if playing casually, but maxing out the compendium would take more time unless if you were doing this while playing through the main game. The game's still pretty fun overall. It's one of my highlights of this year overall, but I don't think it's going to win any "Game of the Year" awards whatsoever since I view it as a solid 8/10 game with a 6/10 presentation that needs a performance patch to improve framerate (though it's nowhere near as bad as Pokémon's technical hiccups). Its DLC practices are dumb, however, as the important ones were in other titles without being DLC there. As a DQM veteran, I'm definitely not disappointed with this game (besides the DLC practices).

[@fruitjuiceronline8714]

I’ve been playing palworld and I just stumbled on this game and dude this looks good can’t wait to get it and play it

[@ichi_san]

this sounds awesome. sadly i not got a switch but the plot of this being from Psaro's POV is genius. my entry point to the monsters series is Dragon Quest Monsters 2 Joker on DS

[@lukep.]

Because Pkmn Scarlet/Violet had such crisp visuals without any performance issues at launch… 😏

[@SlimeBlueMS]

At launch? They never bothered improving it, it's exactly the same as day 1 lol

[@vathsaladinkar278]

​@SlimeBlueMS pkmn scarlet and violet is way better than u think

[@vathsaladinkar278]

Dragon quest monsters graphics actually ma 12:34 kes me want to appreciate scarlet and violets graphics

[@thommccarthy1139]

Having a blast with it so far. So relieved it's actually good after the disaster that was Infinity Strash.

[@Red4350]

for me monster fusion was a Monster Rancher thing...omfg im so hype to get this game

[@alder613]

Is there any content in the game locked behind online connectivity? I heard there was going to be a shop that can only be accessed while connected to the internet.

[@chesterfieldthe3rd929]

I freaking adored the ds joker games. This game so far is doing it for me. Hopefully square gets their act together and localize ALL THE GAMES. NO EXCUSE NOT TO HAVE WORLD WIDE RELEASES FOR EVERY DQ GAME! ITS ALMOST LIKE THEY ARE AGAINST THE REST OF THE WORLD. TERRYS WONDERLAND REMAKE STILL HASNT COME WEST! DQ 10 ETC......

[@clydefrosch]

at least theres fan translations for both terrys wonderland and the cobi/tara remake

[@alexi111]

This game is SO good.

[@dantrevino4166]

Can you fight along the side your monsters and replay the story after you defeat the final boss? Does it have a different ending?

[@milesrodger3724]

Performance be looking rough. I’m excited it’s selling so well in Japan (wow, shocker) hope it does well outside. Will probably pick up!

[@NPP_1]

For some reason, the performance improves slightly in some of the later areas. Plus it runs better if... you turn off autosave, kinda?

[@SlimeBlueMS]

Performance is not that bad, hardly noticable tbh

[@jaretco6423]

It's not as bad as Pokemon: Scarlet and Violet or any Pokemon games on Switch.

[@Indi_51]

i got the demo, and i ordered the game from amazon that very same night!!

[@Aelrandir]

I'm having a blast with this game, it really is a lot of fun, especially for us Dragon Quest fans. The performance issues combined with lackluster visuals, and lack of an orchestrated soundtrack do make me disappointed though, because the game could have been so much more otherwise. It's missed potential, but if it ever finds its way to Steam in the future then maybe those things can be remedied. I'd say if you're interested in owning this one physically then pick it up now, because I have a feeling that it's going to be a harder one to grab down the line.

[@Nic5Cyprus]

I'll accept this game as an apology for the awful Infinity Strash. I just hope Square Enix releases a bundle with the other two Dragon Quest Monsters games and also Dragon Quest 4 5 and 6

[@TheVicarstownSentinel]

I didn't think it was that bad honestly

[@Nic5Cyprus]

@@TheVicarstownSentinel they duped us into thinking this was Dragon Quest's big entry into action rpgs when in reality it was a phone game in disguise

[@theonewhowrotethis5681]

There's more than 2 other Monsters titles. It's called Monsters 3 due to it being the 3rd MAIN Monsters game. Joker exists as a sub-series trilogy to the mainline titles. The list of games are as follows (mostly in order except for the mobile titles that I don't care enough about): 1) Monsters 1 (GBC) 2) Monsters 2: Cobi / Tara (GBC alternate versions) 3) Monsters 1+2 (PS1 compilation) 4) Caravan Heart (GBA) 5) Joker (DS) 6) Joker 2 (DS) 7) Joker 2 Pro (DS) 8) Terry's Wonderland 3D (3DS remake of 1) 9) Iru and Luca's Marvelous Mysterious Key (3DS remake of 2) 10) Joker 3 (3DS) 11) Joker 3 Pro (3DS) 12) Super Light (mobile) 13) Wanted! (mobile) 14) Terry's Wonderland SP (mobile enhanced port) 15) Iru and Luca's Marvelous Mysterious Key SP (mobile enhanced port) 16) Terry's Wonderland Retro (Switch port if the original) 17) Monsters 3: The Dark Prince (this game) 18) Various other ports of 1 and 2. But yeah, I do agree that the other titles would greatly benefit from a compilation title on modern platforms.

[@TheVicarstownSentinel]

@@Nic5Cyprus Phone game? Idk what game you played but it wasn't Infinity Strash. As far as I'm concerned its about on par with other similar games such as DQ Heroes and other Warriors or Warriors-like hack-n-slashes, maybe slightly less so in some degrees. A typical modern day phone game would constitute much simpler graphics and an entire ass rng gacha system you pay real world money for. I think you need to reconsider things a bit. Infinity Strash was not a bad game. You're just dumb to make such an outlandish comparison.

[@fettuccinialfonso]

@Nic5Cyprus You'll accept it as an apology? It's a video game, you act like it personally attacked you, and then you demand more specific titles/bundles. How entitled are you?

[@Bagheera23608]

New here. Excellent review. Thanks for the info

[@georgeg7259]

Where is the dragon quest treasures review? I’m still waiting!

[@themasterwhoop2077]

got the game on release date and they had one in store ONE

[@wanghosom]

This game just needed a bit more polish and ambition to be a 10/10 for me, Square should really treat this series with the respect it deserves and allocate a bigger budget to their developers, hopefully the explosive japanese sales will give them a wake up call

[@JeanKP14]

I think it's just because it IS a spinoff... those get less budget, lol

[@DavySilverwind]

I don't need a pokemon killer, I just want more monster collection games since I love them. I am a little hesitant to invest in non 1st party games on the switch at this point though, since I have no idea if the switch sequel will have backwards compatibility. Better hold off for this or a PC release.

[@jahipalmer8782]

I love it. I've been playing it since it came out.

[@Brutetank]

I hope this game does well enough in the west that we keep getting them. Playing DWMJ 1-3 makes me love the franchise, finding English patches is a pain though

[@wedding2710]

There is no "DWMJ," by the time Joker came out the series had rebranded to Dragon Quest

[@Brutetank]

@@wedding2710 Was a typo, mb

[@wedding2710]

@@Brutetank Oh that makes more sense than what I thought, which is that you were a DQ fan from the pre-PS2 era insisting on the old title lol.

[@Brutetank]

@@wedding2710 Nah, just a dunce :) Honestly first DQ game was DQMJ 1 hated it at first, but then I tried it years later. Absolutely loved it and hated my younger self for being a moron.

[@teo2805]

Is there online battling etc? I wonder if I should play it now or wait... Hopefully it gets improvement on performance or just gets announced on PS5... Unlikely but... The performance even in this video is off putting, but Im VERY big on DQM and Pokémon.

[@clydefrosch]

there is and it's as busted as it always is. 5 minutes after release there's japanese with diamond slimes and +99 special setup one move destroyer monsters. dont expect to get high in the rankings

[@Azran127]

Releases in December. Disconnected sandbox areas. The same MIDI soundtrack. Yep, it's another Treasures situation. (I've heard even less people talk about that one, so I ended up doing that.)

[@SlimeBlueMS]

Try playing games before you decide you don't like them lol

[@jaretco6423]

That's stupid dude. Play the game first before judging it.

[@Azran127]

@@SlimeBlueMS YT says there's a 2nd reply but it won't show me, so perhaps your comment is aimed at this invisible 2nd person, but just in case: I said nothing about liking or disliking Monsters. I'm comparing the circumstances of the two releases. (And in the case of Treasures, I played the full campaign and did a full review.)

[@dank2171]

This may become my fav dragon quest game. Def my fav non mainline. Its up there with DQ8, and 11. Haven't play 5 or 7. Game def performs superior to modern pokemon.

[@jb0258]

It's up there with 8 and 11 for me as well. DQ7 (remake) has been my 3rd favorite in the series ever since it came out, but this new DQM I think might take its place.

[@quincy7972]

Dragon quest monster joker was my favorite game as a kid

[@keshang_laow8325]

As someone who grew up only playing DQMJ 1 and 2 and having to wait 13 years for an international sequel, this game might as well be the most valuable thing i own

[@lancelottrivino2273]

dragon quest literally invented monster catching before pokemon ever existed

[@Ulyoth]

Enjoying the demo, but damn £45 for what looks and feels budget.

[@west3Dgaming]

Thank you John!

[@randallgoeswhere]

The reason why is because its Dragon Quest. Its literally the most popular top selling game in Japan ever.

[@MageJiro]

I hope it comes to steam...

[@Quintingent]

The presentation is so frustrating to me, because gameplay-wise it's a fantastic refinement of the Monsters subseries that I grew up with. Outside of quick travel being a little clunky (due to having to return to the tower to go between the various areas rather than just straight up Zooming there) it's basically improved on everything I liked about those games. But the presentation really holds it back. And it's not just the quality of textures. The lack of proper animations in cutscenes was quite immersion-breaking at times. Now I can look past those aspects because of the gameplay, but it makes it a hard sell to my friends. Can I in good faith recommend it over other Switch RPGs like the Octopath Duology, Triangle Strategy, or of course DQXI-S? Not really. And that's a damn shame. Still, I'm going to enjoy it in the meantime, and I can only hope it does well enough to not have the series go on extended localisation hiatus again.

[@firenze6478]

Also, psaro being silent sucks…

[@clydefrosch]

@@firenze6478 it sucks because he's both a full fledged character and he clearly does have dialogue and intentions, he's relaying shit to the characters but we're not being told he does.

[@firenze6478]

@@clydefrosch exactly. He even has voices lines.

[@streetbaron2734]

Rip akira toriyama

[@Odreaded]

0:29 what is the game in the middle??

[@Tstumpman]

The performance issues of the demo turned me off. But, your glowing review, coupled with my inbuilt love of DQ in general has convinced me to looks past the performance.

[@fruitoverflow]

will it come to pc?

[@ShinYaguchiSama]

Wait…there’s monster fusions? ＧＡＭＥＣＨＡＮＧＥＲ

[@Sylentmana]

I believe the P in Psaro is meant to be silent.

[@VinylMorpheus]

This baby coming to steam? Sounds cool

[@MJ-oi6ul]

Isn't the game we got a year before this also the same? Do we need to play it before this one?

[@auraguard0212]

How does the game look so good in your review? Did recent updates to the game for "optimization" tank its look?

[@bubblegumcrisis747]

Thanks for the review!

[@youtubedeletestheoppositio8188]

DQ is great, no doubt. But they need to make another Dragon Warrior Monsters. I still play DWM on my gbc even after 25+ years.

[@captainfach]

The only thing about this game that kind of disappointed me looking at it is that I thought when you fused monsters together it would mix the monsters physical qualities together but it seems like they just create a whole new monster I don't know if it's random or if it's like an equation sort of thing but I was really hoping for a monster that was comprised of the components of both monsters

[@johnnykeener3727]

Can't wait until it comes to PC

[@gastonslashx]

It feels horrible that I have this game, but I haven't yet gotten to play it, the backlog is the real prince of darkness.

[@lostsoulsthc7137]

Raptile X Raptile with both breath skills at 100 gives the upgraded breath skills only on the Demo at the moment but hoping to change that before Xmas love this series

[@salmonbones420]

Rip toriyama, his designs were top tier

[@oscarzxn4067]

Weird to see the game has performance issues, since I have had nothing but good experiences with Square Enix releases on Switch, and with games that are visually better than this

[@barpoe]

Yes, I agree. DQXII ran great for me on Switch and it looked way better imo.

[@hannariel]

@@barpoe OMG, you're already playing DQXII?!!, It's good? It's still turn based?

[@barpoe]

sorry!!! I meant DQXI @@hannariel I wish!!!

[@zachariahp5099]

We’ve had dragon quest in the west before.. Dragon Quest Monster Joker for the DS..?

[@SoulSilver12]

I'll probably get this later

[@friendlysoviet1]

I was shocked to realize that DQM Joker 2 came out 13 years ago. I thought surely you made a mistake. Alas, I am just very old.

[@theonewhowrotethis5681]

Yeah, the gap is big as they didn't localize 13 years worth of Monsters games after Joker 2 not doing well in the West. I feel old too.

[@CoreyC225]

lol I mained DWM in elementary school and that released 24 years ago. It only gets worse!!

[@friendlysoviet1]

​@@CoreyC225False, it peaked at DWM2!

[@CoreyC225]

@@friendlysoviet1 lol, I don't disagree with that statement. I was talking about the feeling of getting old, though 😂

[@cyruspark6472]

Such a good game

[@jgrif7891]

Idk, I think it still sticks it to Pokemon technically. If only because it's mostly 30 fps (emphasis on "mostly") while Pokemon can't barely manage 20 fps despite 1/3 of the company being owned by Nintendo.

[@MoonlitSlime]

I could absolutely be talking out of my butt, but with Treasures having started as Dragon Quest Monsters and looking better than this visually, it feels like that got the lion's share of the time and budget which is unfortunate. Still, I loved the demo for this and am just excited we have more DQM coming west again

[@casualtr4sh]

Is sham hatwitch in the game? My desire to play is entirely predicated on it

[@casualtr4sh]

Ayyy just saw them, excellent

[@STStillwell]

This sounds like a review done by someone who didn't play Joker 1 and 2. I feel like a shoutout to those is in order as well.

[@cactusman07pim]

I agree mate!

[@PopCultureGian]

It has a sweets world ? I saw cake 🍰

[@MatthewRichardson1]

Better frame rate than Pokémon scarlet/violet. I really enjoyed Monster Joker on the DS so I might give this one a go.