During Gamescom in Cologne, I played a preview build of the upcoming Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on Nintendo Switch and experienced the next iteration of the popular sub-franchise of the Dragon Quest series.
While the game belongs to a spin-off series, veterans of the franchise will immediately recognize the hero, Psaro the villain of Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. Of course, this isn’t the first time he appears in Monsters, but this time he’s the hero, which is a nice touch.
Of course, he’s much younger in the new game, in line with the younger target of the Monsters sub-series.
Dragon Quest Meets Pokemon
If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it can be pretty much defined as the Dragon Quest answer to Pokemon. The main point of the game is that your character cannot fight, so you have to recruit monsters to do it in his stead. Does that sound familiar? Good, because it is.
The previous games of the series were on 3DS, so the visuals have evolved considerably. While the Switch isn’t exactly a powerhouse nowadays, the graphical jump from titles like Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 is pretty sizable and very visible
The world looks colorful and almost festive, but also rather complex, with plenty of elevation changes and extensive areas to explore. To amplify the colorful look is the dynamic changing of seasons, which radically alters the feel of the map.
The character models are charming and cartoony, with the 3D models doing a great job highlighting Akira Toriyama’s absolutely unmistakable art style. You could consider it one of the most powerful elements that tie the Dragon Quest series together, mainline and spin-offs.
The design of monsters is also cute and full of diversity, with plenty of variation in shape, color, and size. Fans of the series will find plenty of returning favorites and won’t be bored by all the monsters they’re able to befriend and send into battle.
Combat Feels familiar and is Suitable for Playing on the Go
Speaking of battles, Square Enix doesn’t reinvent the wheel here. They’re turn-based as you’d expect, with the game definitely retaining the traditional feel of the series.
That being said, there’s an auto-battle feature if you feel like playing mobile-style, letting the AI make the decisions. This is certainly convenient when playing on the go alongside the ability to set default commands that your monsters will automatically follow.
Battles can also be sped up, which is convenient when you have to fight many in a row, or you have only a few minutes to play the game, which, again, can certainly happen when you’re out and about.
Your monsters progress independently from each other and if a monster is down at the end of a battle, it won’t receive any XP, which is quite old-school and nostalgia-inducing. As they level up they can gain new abilities, which you can pick and choose.
On top of that, you can recruit new monsters when you fight them in the field, and you can even combine them Persona-style. Newly scouted monsters can be named and, alongside the option to choose their abilities, this lets you make them truly your own.
I mentioned sizes, and monsters can be either small or large. You have four slots in your party and small monsters take one, while large monsters will require two slots. This adds a further tactical level to your party combinations.
You can also have up to four monsters in your reserve pool, and swap them in for additional tactical flexibility. There are 500 monsters in the game, which should be enough for anyone to find their favorites. ù
Changing Seasons Are a Promising Innovation
Seasons aren’t just a visual element to make the game prettier. They influence the monsters you’ll meet in the field and your traversal options. For instance, in the winter you can walk on a frozen lake, but you’ll need a boat to cross it in the summer. On the other hand, you may be able to use mushrooms to climb to a higher location only during the appropriate season when they actually grow.
Ultimately, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince has promise, especially for fans of the Monsters sub-franchise, which always had its own specific fanbase, encouraged by its Nintendo-specific nature and the Pokemon-style gameplay.
While the similarities with Game Freak’s franchise are pretty obvious, the Dragon Quest Monsters series always had its own distinct personality and quirks, and The Dark Prince certainly is no exception. Fans of monster taming games will feel right at home, but this game doesn’t feel like it’s just another Pokemon clone.
It’ll be interesting to see whether it’ll manage to draw in more enthusiasts of the mainline series, and the chance to take a look at Psaro’s young years may certainly be an attractive factor.
Those who prefer a more classic adventure with a human party or action gameplay may want to take a look at our preview of Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince was previewed in person at Gamescom 2023 with Square Enix.
