If, like me, you love scouring instruction manuals just for the enemy pages, you’ll dig the latest preview for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.
Some folks get pumped whenever they see a new Pokémon. Others just want to see a few dozen Slimes and a Goonache Goodie, which looks like a little chocolate-stuffed croissant with a secret. Visions of flowery dragons and a bouncing Croc-a-Bugle-Doo —which is literally a crocodile with a bugle for a nose — dance in your mind. A Great Sabrecub snoozes and a Dracky flits about as David Attenborough-esque narration paints the full picture.
There are apparently over 500 “wild and whimsical monsters” to be found in the new Dragon Quest Monsters game, which hits Switch on December 1. This includes monsters you can scout and those you can synthesize, like the unholy union of Slime and Succubat that results in what looks like a Slime fronting a visual kei band. You can see that and much more in the Monster Showcase trailer.
I don’t know if I should be pleased or concerned that two of the synthesized monster examples end up being onions. Seconds after fusing two monsters to create an Onion Slime, the mad scientists at Square Enix synthesize an Ornery Onion. At this rate, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is aiming to top the list of 2023 games guaranteed to make you cry.
All of this collecting and synthesizing is in service of your quest to become the Master of Monsterkind. As recently detailed, there are also plenty of ways to take that noble goal online to challenge others in the arena. No matter your preference, all that matters is monsters. Dragon Quest Monsters is the “Oops! All Weird Little Guys” spinoff of a series that’s already filled to the brim with delightfully bizarre designs. Whether The Dark Prince ends up being a worthy entry remains to be seen, but I welcome any and all opportunities to flip through another virtual bestiary.
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