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Joking Around – Dragon Quest Monsters Joker By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman I used to love Pokemon. It was always something I used to get a lot of heat for being an adult gamer. However, it never really got me down; I’d still go to the midnight release parties to ensure that much more free time could be used on training and breeding. In fact, I used to have a special red trucker’s hat I’d wear to such events.
Being such a hardcore fan of Pokemon, I would always look at the Dragon Quest Monsters series as nothing more than a crappy knock off. There are quite a few arguments as to which concept really came first, since Pokemon was released in 1996 and Dragon Quest Monsters was released in 1998; however the Dragon Quest Monsters series is based on a gameplay element in the Dragon Quest 5 which was released in 1992. After playing Dragon Quest Monsters Joker for the Nintendo DS, all that I knew about catching cute Japanese monsters totally changed.
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker follows that formulaic monster hunting pattern we’ve all grown to love. However, unlike Pokemon you can see the enemy monsters running about the overworld. This not only aids in combat strategy, as you can sneak up to them and get a tactical advantage. But you can also get a pretty good idea of what monsters you’re about to fight with, which really helps when you’re looking for a specific species or if you’re near death and trying to avoid tough fights.
You basically run around the overworld map fighting the various monsters, in battle you can choose to make a capture attempt (called Scouting, in this game) or just kill the opposing monsters for experience points. If you choose to scout, each of the monsters in your party do a standard attack which counts towards a percentage score. The percentage rating is determined by your monsters’ strength as compared to the scouted monster’s defense, the higher the ratio the higher your successful scouting percentage will be.
I’ve seriously been ready to put the Pokemon series to rest after playing Dragon Quest Monsters Joker. This game really beats the Pokemon series in so many ways. Especially, since Dragon Quest Monsters Joker doesn’t worry about obscure statistics such as: hidden values, individual values and earned values (a huge obsession amongst the intermediate-advanced Pokemon breeders/trainers). Monsters in DQMJ all have the same base stats, but have a fun little skill/extra stat boost system; every few levels your monsters will acquire skill points. These skill points can be spent to add new moves to the monster’s moveset (which isn’t limited to just 4 like Pokemon) or boost stats.
Another thing about this game that beats the Pokemon series is the “auto turn” function. Square-Enix is really on to something in making an automated turn option, as they know how boring turn based RPGs can get. This works great against lesser enemies that get in the way or trying to level up a monster for breeding while tired and drunk. I also love the fact that you can set the automated tactics for each monster in true Dragon Quest fashion (I’ll admit this has aided me in logging in 20+ hours in this game, since I often just watch a DVD and mindlessly let my goons figure stuff out).
I love the cel-shaded design in this game, especially since all of the character and monster design is done by Akira Toriyama (the Dragonball/Z guy). I love the style and artistic design so much in this game, I was almost going to do a parody review where I made heavy Dragonball references throughout the article. The only thing I can note that’s wrong with the game’s graphics is the noticeable lag that occurs when the camera angle changes rapidly. This really isn’t much of a problem, considering we’re talking about a monster breeding RPG here. I can’t really give an objective opinion about the soundtrack, as I have a deep connection to the Dragon Quest/Warrior series through my dad. It’s basically a bunch of familiar sound effects worked for the DS and a slew of classic Dragon Quest/Warrior songs. If you like the series, you’ll like the music. If you never heard the sound effects or soundtrack; I honestly feel really bad for you. Just kidding, the music is this Japanese console interpretation of epic medieval styled music. I would seriously recommend this game to any fan of monster breeding/catching/training/sexing games. It’s a very refreshing step away from the “hold your hand” styling seen most Pokemon games. It works as an RPG that’s based on class builds and more open ended planning than other monster breeding game, which makes it feel like a more adult monster hunting game… One I don’t feel ashamed telling my friends I play as a grown man.
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