DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince

tanosii

I've been playing the mainline Dragon Quest since the original, but I've only briefly dabbled with this spin-off series a couple of times. I tried the demo, and it didn't really capture me. Caught this on sale for $10 on Dragon Quest Day, and decided to give it a shot. The demo doesn't really do it justice. I think I'm a little spoiled by the jumbo demo for DQ Builders 2. There are constant goals in front of you between clearing new areas, scouting and sythesizing monsters, and collecting all the treasures. The seasonal system creating paths you can't take during other seasons means you can't get through any area too quickly, and is something of a minor puzzle sometimes. The puzzles are challenging without being too bad except for the one water puzzle in the late game. I don't know how anybody solves that one without looking it up or destroying their desk by bashing their head into it. If you're a blind play purist, you're going to be trying to get through that dungeon for a while. Sythesizing new monsters is enjoyable, and if you don't want to use a guide, there are some in-game ways to see what combinations will create. You'll just need to do a lot more synthesizing if you don't know exactly what you're aiming for. It's a must, because you'll never beat the game with scouted monsters alone. Start synthesizing early. The combat is likewise enjoyable, and only gets better as you build a stronger monster team. The tactics options are lacking a balanced option where monsters don't blast everything with the strongest, most MP draining ability they have, but you always have the option of directly controlling every monster's actions anywhere except the arena battles. Fast battle speed is nice once you're familiar with how combat works, and auto battle is nice for when you're just grinding away. Music is awesome as always in a DQ game. The ambiance is very much Dragon Quest. The storyline takes place during Dragon Quest 4, and I feel as if some of the events tying it to the Hero's journey are a little weak. The brief interlude where Psaro becomes the champion of the Arena does little more than slow down your progress in my opinion. Once you reach a certain point in the story, this becomes an Elseworld story where it deviates from DQ4 and becomes its own tale. Meeting the Chosen Ones after that point is actually quite smile-inducing. Overlooking some of the minor tacked-on elements tying it to the original story prior to the turn, it's quite an enjoyable story. Achievements aren't too tedious, and mostly happen as you progress the story without going out of your way. The only one that's going to take you a while is synthesizing a rank X monster. If you get to the end of the game and you've been scouting/grabbing eggs, you should only need a few hours to pull it off with a guide. Maybe less if you've been synthesizing more, or maybe more if you're going blind. Overall, I'm glad I gave it a chance, and now I'm excited for the upcoming Monsters game with Bianca and Flora.