Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, a Square Enix creation that’s exclusive for the Nintendo Switch, invites players to delve into the role of Psaro, a monster tamer on a quest to recruit creatures and engage them in battles within the fantastical realm of Nadiria. Boasting more than 500 unique monsters, online battles, changing seasons, and an overhauled synthesis system, the game aims to capture the essence of monster capturing and battling – a popular genre on the Switch. Let’s see how it turned out.
The narrative unfolds as a nice twist for longtime Dragon Quest fans, placing players in the shoes of Psaro, the antagonist from Dragon Quest IV. The game provides an in-depth exploration of Psaro’s side of the story, adding a narrative layer not yet seen in the series. However, the storytelling has its quirks, with a few odd transitions, particularly due to Psaro’s silent protagonist approach. So while the initial premise holds promise, there are points where the story seems to pull back, leaving room for improvement – though creature collecting perhaps doesn’t lend itself as well to narrative development as other DQ games.
The core gameplay mechanics of collecting, synthesizing, training, and battling monsters are streamlined and well-structured. The game successfully navigates complex systems without sacrificing the joy of discovery, making it accessible for both new and experienced players. The grind often not feeling like a grind is a testament to the game’s well-designed monster-wrangling mechanics.
However, there’s a notable downside in the form of an egg-farming mechanic that relies too much on randomness. We also noticed that, perhaps due to the Switch’s aging hardware, there are frame rate dips and blurry textures that detract from an otherwise enjoyable game. In that sense, this may be a Switch exclusive but Nintendo’s system doesn’t feel like the best fit.
In terms of positives, the intriguing premise and streamlined monster-wrangling mechanics are standout features, the latter being driven by Psaro’s curse – which prevents him from doing direct harm to monsters. If you’re familiar with Pokemon titles, this is a nice twist on an otherwise familiar concept.
In summary, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince provides a satisfying monster-grinding experience, marked by a soundly structured “catch them all” system. The game’s ambition to infuse narrative depth into a monster-catching game is commendable as well, even though it stumbles a little in execution. And while the game’s technical shortcomings on the Switch are clear, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince still provides a very entertaining entry in the long-running franchise, and a great spin-off for fans of the monster catching genre.
Score: 7.5/10
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