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Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Arrives December 1st

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Screenshot of a silver-haired protagonist with a sword fending off floating eyes and a swirling darkness

We just learned from the recent Nintendo Direct that Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is coming to Nintendo Switch on December 1st. The Dark Prince is the latest in the Dragon Quest Monsters spinoff series, of which the last entry, Joker 3, never left Japan. The series is all about catching and raising the DQ‘s various monsters from slimes to sabercats.

Here is the trailer in all its glory. More details below.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Overview

Follow Psaro, a cursed prince, and his companion Rose as they travel through the demon realm of Nadiria. Explore and scout monsters, freely combine raised monsters to create more powerful allies and take on enemies with your powerful dream team through changing seasons. 

People who’ve played Dragon Quest IV will recognize the names Psaro and Rose. Judging by the trailer, this is almost certainly a follow-up of sorts to that (fantastic) game. I won’t go into exactly who these people are, but they are quite integral to the narrative.

Speaking of narrative, here’s a little more background on the story of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, courtesy of Square Enix.

The new game puts you in control of the titular Dark Prince: a youth named Psaro.

Due to a curse, Psaro is incapable of harming anything with monster blood. He’ll have to command a vast selection of monsters, making smart use of their abilities and attributes to ascend to the top.

Of course, to do that, he needs powerful monsters on his side – his hunt for ever more powerful creatures will take him through the ever-changing seasons of Nadiria and across its unique environments – from flowing rivers of broiling magma to mysterious ruins… and even imposing (yet delicious) towers of sweets.

He’ll also find allies beyond monsters, including Rose – a kind-hearted elf who joins him on his mission to scout new monsters to take into battle.

Of course, becoming the Master of Monsterkind is no easy task, but Psaro has a useful trick up his sleeve: Synthesis – the ability to combine two monsters to create an even more powerful creation. As for whether that will be enough … well, that’s up to you.

Ooh, mashing monsters together sounds like fun. You’ll find more details about the Synthesis mechanic if you follow that Square Enix link. For now, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince can be wishlisted on the Nintendo eShop now and can soon be preordered on the Square Enix store (as of this writing, there isn’t a specific product page up yet).

Check out first screenshots below, with more on our Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince game hub. Keep reading RPGFan to stay up-to-date on Nintendo Direct and Dragon Quest news!

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Gio Castillo

Gio Castillo

Gio is a writer and editor with a deep fondness for role-playing and management games. He lives in the Philippines with two cats he loves dearly.

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