Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Review — So Cheeks, Yet So Addictive

I have always been intrigued by Dragon Quest lore because I know just how deep it goes, with seemingly every iteration adding to their universe in some way. That is why, whenever there is a spinoff that is not asking me to commit to another massive traditional JRPG, I am usually down to try.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince gave me the perfect opportunity to hop back into the franchise and see what all these little monsters were about. And it started off exactly how Dragon Quest usually does: cute. Adorbs. Charming as hell. I’m also then slapped with how absolutely cheeks these graphics were.

Now, this is not another graphics > gameplay argument. I am very much on the opposite side of that debate. But there reaches a point where poor visuals become impossible to ignore, and The Dark Prince violates that line too often.

Remember when everyone was roasting Game Freak over Pokemon Sword and Shield? And even more recently with Pokémon Legends: Z-A? If you were around for those online twitter wars, then you already know the kind of topic I am talking about on game development effort. Because, visually, we are dealing with some of that same energy here. And it is a damn shame because this game is actually a hella lot of fun.

The monster wrangling occupation is easily the highlight of the entire game. It is basically Pokémon again, except I guess it’s Pokémon in cute hell. The monster-building system is without a doubt the best thing The Dark Prince has going for it because you constantly find yourself wondering, How ridiculously OP can I make this team? How many of them do I gotta sacrifice for my ultimate monsters?” Damn, guess we are all the Dark Prince after all.

You have to keep scouting monsters if you want more options for synthesis, which means you are inevitably going to waste hours collecting monsters just so you can smash them together and create something better. (They call it “scouting,” not catching, but in our hearts of hearts it’s always catching.)

The synthesis system is a blast. There is always another monster you want to attain, another, and another skill set you want to pass along. It becomes incredibly addictive. It probably was the main reason I kept playing. I also appreciate how this entry ties into Dragon Quest IV since my Dragon Quest resume is still fairly limited outside of Dragon Quest Builders 1 and 2, but that is one thing I respect the hell out of with this franchise, it allllll relates. You’ll recognize enough elements of other DQ games to get sucked into their world.

Let me tell you though, outside of building monsters and the endgame, there really is not much replayability here. The colosseum competitions are both incredibly easy and incredibly short, and there are basically no meaningful side quests or additional objectives outside of them.

I guess monster building is probably the main reason most people are here anyway. I guess that’s why I’m here. But that does not change the fact that the game essentially gives you two things to do:

1.       Progress the story.

2.       Build monsters.

That’s it.

For a game built around exploring different worlds and collecting creatures, I really expected a little more. And I know this might be a reach, but even if the game looks this way because it is trying to capture some kind of old-school Dragon Quest aesthetic, It still don’t work. Because at least the old games were cute. There is a difference between retro and looking unfinished. The worlds themselves often look like they were copied, pasted, and then somebody slapped a different colour and called it a new area.

Some of these environments are just boring to look at. And there is barely any reward for actually exploring them. Like sure, you will find the treasure chest here and there, and a whole bunch of useless eggs, but there is very little that actually rewards exploring. You can pretty much speedrun through many of these areas, grind whenever the game decides you need to, and move on to the next whenever you’re. And that is exactly what happened during the second half of my playthrough. Which is unfortunate because you spend a LOT of time in these environments just grinding and grinding and grinding.

Then there is the Circle of Temper. There is this “lava rain” effect that instantly reminded me of two meme-worthy graphical disasters: the rain from the GTA Trilogy on Switch and those infamous trees from Pokémon Sword and Shield.

I am here to report that Dragon Quest Monsters somehow decided to have both. It looks bad. So bad. And before someone tells me, “Well, that is just the Dragon Quest aesthetic,” other Dragon Quest games have already proven that you can preserve that retro style while presenting it in modern times.

The audio side of Dragon Quest can sometimes be cheeks too. Aside from Toilen Trubble and Ludo, the rest of the voice acting cast is mad cringe. It’s just embarrassing. Actually, I will also give some credit to Grayden and Randolfo, they weren’t bad either. I appreciate that the game even has voice acting at all, but why does it sounds like the team that worked on the game decided to save some budget and voice the characters themselves??? There are also certain general sound effects used during cutscenes that sound like they were ripped directly out of a Super Nintendo. And again, I understand the nostalgic angle. But nostalgia still needs polishing.

Grinding is obviously something you expect from an RPG, especially one built around raising and synthesizing monsters. But The Dark Prince pushes it. There are two strange difficulty spikes where you question reality and wonder whether you accidentally skipped an entire part of the game. It also does not help that EXP-boosting items are scarce. And this is where the grinding gets unbearable. Yes, yes, there are badges. But some of the useful ones arrive fairly late because the gold medals required for them are limited and rare enough that you are probably not getting everything you want early on.

Thankfully, the game does have one saving grace here: You can increase the speed of battles and even turn on auto-battle. That’s a mega dub in my books for a game like this. Considering how much time you will spend grinding, these features are pretty much mandatory. Being able to speed through makes the process big time less painful. But without them, I genuinely don’t know if I would have finished the game.

At this point I know I have probably made Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince sound like one of the worst games ever created. Yet here I am finishing the damn thing. So clearly there has to be something good here.

It’s the damn monster system really is that much fun. Scouting monsters feels good because every new one you get another ingredient in a synthesis chain for a champ monster. Watching your team evolve from adorable little homies into absolute chonks is just so damn good. It’s extra satisfying when you can just hit auto battle and you don’t even have to worry about the battle cause the team is mad strong.

The game is also genuinely cute. There is a lot of classic Dragon Quest charm underneath all the rough presentation, and parts of the story kept me invested enough to continue. I appreciate that there is voice acting. I appreciate the battle-speed options. I appreciate auto-battle. And I absolutely appreciate the synthesis system.

 

The Salt Scale Verdict

All in all, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince manages to be so bad on so many levels while still somehow being genuinely fun, which should matter most. And yes, I know this is coming directly from the grumpiest person in the Suite, so of course there were going to be complaints.

But I did still finish the game.

The problem is that by the end, I was so bored and worn down by the grinding, repetitive worlds and whack dungeon designs that I had absolutely no desire to continue into the endgame. It can be ridiculously addictive.

But I just do not understand how a game carrying the Dragon Quest name could feel this unpolished. In a lot of ways, The Dark Prince feels like one final shining reminder of the limitations of the original Nintendo Switch, and an equally strong reminder of just how far Nintendo hardware has now come with the Switch 2. But hardware limitations cannot excuse everything. There are parts of this game that feel lazy. I swear at times, it genuinely feels like a low-budget indie game wearing a Dragon Quest reskin. And that is probably the most frustrating thing about it. There is a good game in here. A really addictive one, actually. I just wish everything surrounding the monster system had some more love.

On the Grumpy Gaming Suite Salt Scale, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince gets Extra Salty outta five.

(That’s a 2.)

Mr. Grump