Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker Review for the Nintendo DS (NDS)

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker Review for the Nintendo DS (NDS)

Compared to the original Dragon Quest, it’s simpler, cuter, smaller, and a little dumber

It’s unlikely that hardcore Dragon Quest fans will be satiated by Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, since it has as much in common with Pokemon as it does with Dragon Quest. And it’s also unlikely that Pokemon fans will fall head over heels with this game either. It lies somewhere in between Dragon Quest and Pokemon.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker screenshot

It’s got some depth, but it also touts the collect-’em-all theme that turns games such as Pokemon into a mindless grind. If you’re looking to spend tons of hours collecting, training, leveling up, combining, and combating monsters, then Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker may be just what the doctor ordered.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is like the equivalent of Lil’Archie. It’s not as sophisticated as the original. It’s simpler, cuter, smaller, and just a little dumber. Consider it Dragon Quest Lite. Although it shares a lot of Dragon Quest’s elements, it does so more in theory. The RPG elements, such as leveling up, for instance, seem to equate depth with repetition. It takes an awful lot of time to level-up your characters, and we all know that translates to an awful lot of combat. There are some other ways to earn points, such as performing side-quests and training missions, but nothing gets you the juice like good old-fashioned, turn-based battles. But there are some really good features that make this worthwhile. For one thing, you have more control over your progress. You can pick and choose your battles. There’s more emphasis on adventure as you interact more with NPCs and your environment. There may be repetition but there’s rarely a dull moment.

Stories aren’t terribly important to game such as these, and Square Enix knows that. They don’t bog you down with all kinds of superfluous details. It’s kept simple. The scene is set, and that’s all that’s needed. In this instance, a young boy is admonished by his father for his monster-battling propensity. But after his father sees that his boy has talent for his hobby, he decides to recruit him to perform some missions for his secret organization. Now the kid is free to join the professional monster-battling leagues, but he’s also got to perform some top secret side-quests for good old dad.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker screenshot

You don’t actually get to play as the boy, since his character is in direct control of his party of monsters. These monsters are collectible and trainable. As you pit them against competitive combatants, you will earn points which will level them up, ultimately making them stronger and more valuable. As an example of the added depth, in addition to their skills, you will be able to outfit and upgrade the monsters with weapons and armor. Many of the same items are available in Dragon Quest. You can have more than a hundred of these monsters in your collection, but you can only imagine how long that would take to level them up to make them valuable.

Fortunately the gameplay doesn’t force you to collect-’em-all. A fusion function allows you to combine two different monsters and create a special hybrid that incorporates the best powers of both beasts. It sounds great in theory, but in practice you can end up wasting a lot of time as some of your creations just don’t work out the way you want them to. There is a lot of trial and error if you want to experiment. The objective is to try to combine the best abilities of each monster, but to do so requires that each monster be sufficiently leveled-up. You can’t even fuse them until they reach a level of 10. And if things don’t work out, that’s a lot of time wasted. You can’t undo it, and you can only do it once. There are guides that will help you make more informed decisions as to what you can expect using specific monsters. You can also get some suggestions from friends online.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker screenshot

Another way of acquiring monsters is through a scouting feature which attempts to persuade enemy monsters into joining your party. When you approach a monster, you will be given a percentage that displays the likelihood of acquiring it. Of course the bigger and badder the monster, the less likely you will be to get it, but at least you know your odds. If you have less than a 10-percent chance, you may want to wait and come back when you’re more powerful. Trying to convert it at those odds can be a real time waster.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker screenshot

On the surface, DQM is good looking game. It’s bright, colorful, and has a very easy-to-navigate interface. I found it easier to use the face buttons rather than the touch buttons on the bottom screen. I would also recommend not using the stylus. It’s an option, but a rather cumbersome one that seems to be more trouble than it’s worth; like having to learn to eat with chopsticks when you’ve got a fork on the table.

There are some collisions detection flaws in some of the 3D environments. Invisible walls block your path, and you get stuck around corners and behind obstacles. There are pop-up issues, and some of the commands from the D-pad aren’t always smooth and responsive. Overall, these flaws don’t ruin the experience, just slightly blemish it.

There is no online play per se. You can’t battle another player’s monster online but you can communicate, share data, and trade monsters. I’m not even sure the multiplayer component is something that will be missed. After the 30 hours of gameplay in the single-player mode, the game has pretty much peaked and waned. For the money, that’s still a pretty good deal considering that you’d pay this for games that lasts less than 10 hours.

Features

  • The “big three” comprised of series creator Yuji Horii, legendary manga artist Akira Toriyama, and renowned composer Koichi Sugiyama, teams up once again to create an unforgettable gaming experience
  • Witness the same breathtaking visuals that brought Akira Toriyama’s art to life in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
  • Create new species as you synthesize customized monsters from a selection of more than 200 different Dragon Quest creatures Experience an innovative and exciting mix of the monster arena battles from Dragon Quest VIII and traditional Dragon Quest gameplay
  • Challenge your friends via local wireless play to see whose team is the strongest
  • Robust Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection component allows players to upload and download monster team data for battle on their Nintendo DS systems.

    RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.3 Graphics
    Crisp, clean, and colorful but suffers from occasional mechanical flaws. 3.7 Control
    Best to use the face buttons. D-pad can be unresponsive. 3.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
    Average music and sound effects. Turn on your iPod instead. 3.1

    Play Value
    Long single-player mode, with some online sharing and trading.

    3.8 Overall Rating – Good
    Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

  • To top