Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Reviews
This new Dragon Quest part is fun for new players, but also for gamers who have been fans of the series for years and have been looking forward to a sequel/Spin-off. This strategy RPG distinguishes itself from its peers in several areas and is easy to play. The game is smooth enough to pick up quickly, but complicated enough to spend hours playing. Highly recommended if you are looking for hours of entertainment with the possibility of extra content and online expansion
Review in Dutch | Read full review
"Sometimes too simple despite the variety of monsters."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
For my first Dragon Quest Monster game and first Dragon Quest title in a very long time, I have to say I had mixed emotions. You have this trailed and tested turn-based combat with the monster-focused gameplay loop which is enjoyable but then it feels ruined with the dull storyline and performance issue that makes playing this game on the Switch frustrating. The Nintendo Switch has been out for a while now, so making games perfectly for it shouldn’t be an issue.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Prince of Shadows has a few things going for it, but overall I found it rather average. I'm a long-time fan of the main series, and I don't think this one can hold a candle to Dragon Quest XI. If you're looking for a game in this genre, you'd be better served by a Shin Megami Tensei V or a Persona 5.
Review in French | Read full review
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is a worthy resurgence for this beloved spinoff series. While the messy narrative pacing and poor framerate bring the adventure down a few notches, the addictive and rewarding gameplay loop with player freedom at its core more than offsets those flaws. You can spend countless hours making your ideal team to your heart's content and engaging with the post-game content after clearing the main story. Further, Dragon Quest IV fans will get more out of this journey than most, but newcomers who exhibit patience can still find themselves invested and enthralled. Ultimately, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince proves that this series can prosper, and with the promise that they'll continue, we're excited to see where it goes from here.
Much like Dragon Quest Treasures last year, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is a fun entry point into a long-running series that doesn’t ask too much of players in terms of prior knowledge (though that surely helps). If you’re after a solid monster-training game with colourful cast of characters, it delivers solidly on that front.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince does the monster catching, raising, and battling loop better than any similar game I've played. It has some good dungeon puzzles on top of that. The story isn't amazing and the performance isn't great either, but if you enjoy monster-catching JRPGs, it's certainly worth picking up.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince emerges as a triumph in the evolution of the Monsters subseries, celebrating its 25th anniversary with an incredible feat. By harmoniously fusing an engaging plot with fun game mechanics, the title transcends expectations, positioning itself not only as a standout among its predecessors, but as one of the best examples of creating and battling little monsters.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince presents an innovative twist to the Dragon Quest spin-off series, focusing on monster collection and battling with a unique progression system, although it falls short in narrative depth and visual presentation. The game shines in its engaging monster synthesis and combat mechanics, offering depth for enthusiasts of strategy and monster recruitment, but is let down by subpar graphics and an underdeveloped story.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is a stellar RPG that anyone who enjoys monster-catching games has got to play. The technical issues can be frustrating and surprising, but they don’t impede the game enough to be a serious hindrance. The depth of the synthesis system and the intriguing story make The Dark Prince easily stand as one of the best RPGs of the year.
While its best ideas are held back by its lack of refinement, the adventure remains surprisingly compelling, even as you’re wasting hours away on levelling up your favourite monsters, and experimenting with battle tactics. It doesn’t quite live up to its competitors in the monster-catching genre, but it’s certainly a memorable game, and one defined by its devotion to being fun, silly, and wonderfully weird.
There is really only so much to say about Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. It's fun, designs remain fantastic, though at its core it isn't particularly deep. Those into the Dragon Quest brand will undoubtedly enjoy it, as will those looking for a good pick up and play adventure. It would be nice if there was a bit more depth, but even in its current form it isn't hard to get your money's worth.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it has the best mechanics and combat the Dragon Quest series has ever seen, with the monster-focused gameplay loop providing endless fun. On the other hand, overcommitment to the silent protagonist trope and shocking performance issues drag the experience down significantly. Although held back by dated hardware and dated design choices, The Dark Prince is one worth courting.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince brings the franchise to the Switch in one of its most ambitious and addictive releases to date.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince displays and waves the banner of its pedigree proudly. It offers the same wonderful tone and gameplay as Dragon Quest with some nice twists. The game also gives fans of Dragon Quest IV, especially some lovely fanservice that ties in properly to the melancholic, yet hopeful, story. The loop of finding new monsters, training them, and synthesizing them is very addicting and streamlined. Making new teams and refining your strategy over time is super engaging. The only things that sully the charm of the series and the satisfying gameplay loop are its rigid structure and incredibly inconsistent performance.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince offers a mixed gaming experience. As someone who likes to collect monsters the breeding system caught my attention and it’s fun to catch and collect all the different monsters. However, the game falls short in terms of narrative depth, sporting outdated graphics and encountering performance issues. So I only recommend it to fans of the series and hope they improve their character writing and the overall game performance for the next title.
Review in German | Read full review
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince's significant performance issues unfortunately sap a lot of the joy out of the game's core loop of exploration and grinding, detracting from an otherwise solid monster-collecting experience. However, if you're able to overlook its painful opening hours and sloppy storytelling, there's a decent, comforting game lurking under the surface. Hardcore Dragon Quest lovers will find hours of grindy RPG goodness to enjoy and a colourful, varied world to get lost in – though certainly one far less polished than fans of the series would usually expect.
All of this coalesces into a game that is surprisingly chill but also full of surprises. The storytelling, characters, and monsters are all trademark DQ. And with post-game content (no spoilers here), the good times can keep on rolling. The vibrancy on display here, along with Dragon Quest's signature sense of humor, dares anyone to play it without a smile. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is one of the most fun games of the year.
While Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince offers a serviceable and sometimes fun narrative and gameplay, the overall experience is unfortunately bogged down by its performance issues and the lack of simple yet essential features.