Offering another RPG to cap off the year, Square Enix has officially released Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, the latest addition in the Dragon Quest Monsters series. This role-playing game is now globally available, exclusively on Nintendo Switch, and can be purchased both at retail stores and digitally through the Nintendo eShop.
DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince invites players to explore the mystical world of Nadiria, featuring landscapes such as rivers of lava, ancient ruins, and cake-like towering structures. The game’s protagonist, Psaro, embarks on a journey as a Monster Wrangler, recruiting and battling alongside a diverse range of over 500 unique monsters. Players can engage in strategic online battles, experience changing seasons, and explore a newly reimagined synthesis system within the game.
The synthesis system, a hallmark of the series, returns with enhancements, allowing players to discover new monster combinations, each endowed with unique talents. The game includes two main battle arenas: the Endor Colosseum in Terrestria, the human realm, and the Maulosseum in Nadiria, the monster realm. Success in these arenas depends on effectively using a combination of monsters, battle tactics, skills, magic spells, attribute boosters, and accessories.
Strategic battles are a core element of the gameplay experience, as one would expect from any Dragon Quest game. Players can issue specific commands to each monster in their party or set overarching strategies, such as ‘Show No Mercy’ or ‘Focus on Healing.’ The party can include up to eight monsters, with four in active battle and four in reserve.
For the first time in the series, the game introduces Quickfire Contests in its online component, where battles are conducted automatically using data from 30 players. Additionally, players can engage in various online battle modes, including Ranked Matches, Friend Matches, and Multiplayer Tournaments, featuring up to eight players in a knockout format.
In addition to a standard edition release, Square Enix are also offering a Digital Deluxe Edition for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, which includes exclusive bonus items such as The Mole Hole, which offers a chance to reunite with previously befriended monster types and scout hard-to-synthesize monsters. Also included are Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym, where players navigate randomly generated dungeons to fight monsters and earn rare items, and Treasure Trunks, which yield “exciting” rewards. Items available through these trunks include the Burgundy Gothic Vestment (Cosmetic item), Warrior’s Ring x1 and Beastie Bites x10.
