Dragon Quest Monsters Switch Review
The Dragon Quest series has always seen phenomenal success in Japan, but much like the outstanding Monster Hunter Series from Capcom, it has only established a stronger footing in Western Markets in recent years. The main entries of Dragon Quest have spawned a lot of spin-offs, including one of my most favorite games, Dragon Quest Builders 2. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is the 3rd entry in the monster series, a spin-off that perhaps draws parallels with Pokemon, but I won’t be focussing on comparisons between the series. What’s Dragon Quest Monsters Like? Forget your sword, we won’t be needing that here, jump on the teleporter, and get some monster nicknames ready as we dive into the game.
The Dark Prince focuses on Psaro, a half-monster, half-human child who is hell-bent on the destruction of his Monster father after the death of his mother. After a very brief confrontation, you are cursed to be unable to hurt monsters, thus sending you down the path of learning to scout (or train) monsters to do your bidding instead. The story is rather light to start with but takes off a bit more about 10-12 hours in. During your quest for vengeance, you will meet a cast of characters from a plucky elf who cries rubies, to a mischievous thief who will help you along the way. There’s also an Army of Monsters (literally) to aid you on your journey, and really, they are the stars of the show.
Scouting monsters involves finding them in the several varied worlds you visit, giving them an item, or just straight up intimidating them to join your crew. The higher the percentage, the higher the chance of scouting a monster. These monsters can then join you right away, or you can send them to your paddock for later. Teams consist of a 4 monster primary team, and a backup team, also consisting of 4 monsters which you can swap in and out at any time. Each monster has unique skill trees to distribute points into that could be attack boosting trees, or support and healing trees to help balance out your battles.
There’s a lot of mechanics here and the depth goes deeper than the Mariana trench. You can set tactics on each monster in your party to favor attacks, healing, buffs, or enemy debuffs. You can also set the frequency of spells and abilities as well. To go even further, you eventually unlock the ability to combine monsters to create new, stronger monsters, inheriting their parent’s traits, resulting in higher classes, and unique evolutions. There’s a lot of experimentation that makes scouting monsters a rewarding experience, and thanks to the auto-battle and speed options you can enable simply by pressing the L and R buttons when entering battle, leveling is a breeze in the early stages. You can also set new monsters to your backup team so they can earn XP and grow without having to go back to previous areas and grind which is a nice touch.
There are also online options, allowing you to battle online and even quickfire battle 30 opponents in one go, which doesn’t seem to match people to your level and works very much like a mobile game like Raid: Shadow Legends, meaning more often than not, unless you are at max level, you will be decimated, so save it for the end game. Speaking of which, there is end game content that I won’t spoil here, as Square has asked gamers to keep quiet about it until the end of January next year, but fans of the series will have plenty to do once the credits roll.
All of this sounds so far so good right? There is a downside unfortunately as the game is marred by constant woeful performance, with the framerate struggling to maintain 30 FPS when exploring the zones. I’m not sure why the performance is lacking, considering Dragon Quest Monsters was built from the ground up for the Switch, and it pains me to say that this lack of polish is not what we’ve come to expect from Square Enix, especially following on from the release of the amazing Star Ocean Second Story R. I’m sure an update will deploy soon, but those looking for a silky smooth experience will not find it here.
Graphically, the game honors the art style of the Dragon Quests series, which some people may see as plain, but fans of the series will appreciate the continuing art style. Environments are varied and fun to explore, offering a range of monsters to scout. The game also features a seasonal system, which changes on the fly throughout your time, offering new monsters to the area for you to battle and collect. The seasons also open up different areas of the map, some seem superfluous, leading you to an area that features the same monsters you can catch anywhere, but others open up hidden paths and secrets to uncover.
There are also enclosed areas like the coliseums in which you work your way up the ranks, battling in the human world for fame and fortune, and the monster world for reputation. Earning this rep makes it easier to scout tougher monsters, and these sections also aim to move the narrative forward, opening up new areas to explore and scout to strengthen your army. You operate out of your Tower, which teleports with you to new areas, allowing access to vital services and healing your monsters when you enter. From your tower, you can teleport to other worlds, access online services, and bank and buy items, saving you from losing your hard-earned money should you be bested in battle.
The problem with all this content and everything to do is that the game almost starts to be a chore, and by the time the story takes a turn to spur you on, you’re already about 12 hours in. Diehard fans of the series will most likely revel in the length of the campaign but newcomers to the series may find the slow pacing off-putting.
Overall, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is a flawed game, saved by its deep mechanics and intricacies. Fans of the series will no doubt find a lot on offer and most likely be able to look past the performance issues. Newcomers may have a hard time getting into it, but those who stick around will find a deep monster battling collect-a-thon that will provide many hours of entertainment.
So What’s it Like?
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is like Final Fantasy, crossed with Pokemon.