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Square Enix Drops New Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince Details

Monsters gathering in an arena in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.

A recent Square Enix blog post has revealed lots more about Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince‘s characters, world, and, of course, monsters! Check it out, and don’t miss the new screenshots below!

The latest entry in this long-running Dragon Quest spinoff series actually follows a mainline game’s central villain — Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen‘s Psaro. Psaro (voiced by Gwilym Lee, who’s behind Final Fantasy XIV‘s masterful Cid) is cursed by his father, the ruler of the monster realm Nadiria, such that he can’t battle monsters himself. Undeterred, Psaro resolves to become a monster wrangler. With the help of the player, he soon commands his very own crew of monster minions who do his fighting for him.

Though Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince appears to feature the series’s trademark lighthearted tone, its story will center on Psaro’s revenge quest against his not-so-dear dad. He meets a mystical young elvish woman named Rose (voiced by Emma Ballantine, whom you may recognize as the voice actress behind Triangle Strategy‘s Frederica Aesfrost). Together, they journey to realize Psaro’s desire for vengeance.

A screenshot of Rose standing in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.

Along the way, the pair will cross paths with a number of colorful characters, including Toilen Trubble (voiced by Hyoie O’Grady), a young researcher of magic who joins the duo to find magical ingredients in Nadiria that are absent from the human world. Our sort-of heroes will also meet Fizzy (voiced by Harriet Carmichael), a creature who’s a huge fan of monster wrangling and becomes something of a mentor to Psaro.

The party’s adventure will see them travel throughout Nadiria, an underworld domain where monsters reign supreme. Realms within Nadiria are called “Circles,” and each is comprised of three distinct areas: an upper, middle, and lower echelon, which doesn’t sound too far off from some of Dragon Quest Treasures‘ world design. While some of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince‘s world looks awfully dark, a chunk of it, like the aptly titled “Circle of Indulgence,” looks … adorably delicious?

A screenshot of the dessert-themed Circle of Indulgence in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.

As time passes in Nadiria, so do seasons. Square Enix has confirmed that with each new season, players will find that once-familiar areas feature new landscapes to traverse and monsters to recruit. The game will boast more than 500 different types of monsters — including brand-new monsters and series mainstays — to battle, befriend, and synthesize (the process by which two monsters are fused together to create a new, stronger one). Thanks to the game’s online capabilities, players will be able to duke it out with friends and foes around the globe, too. (My fingers are crossed that we’ll be able to trade monsters online as well, but Square hasn’t said a word about that yet!)

Preorders for the physical edition of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince are now live via the Square Enix Store and certain retailers, with the digital edition likely to follow soon. Square also promises that three (?!) sets of DLC will go on sale to coincide with the December 1st release of the game: The Mole Hole, Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym, and Treasure Trunks!

The Mole Hole will let players delve underground to reunite with monsters they’ve already met and scout rare ones. Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym will throw you into randomly generated dungeons with boss battles, while Treasure Trunks is basically what it sounds like — a series of mysterious, replenishing treasure chests for the player to open.

It’s clear that Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince will offer an abundance of content. Hopefully, the game sees the Dragon Quest Monsters series make waves with Western players, many of whom probably haven’t had the chance to play what’s probably my favorite spin-off series! Previous entries in the series haven’t always made their way out West.

Along with all this exciting new information, Square Enix also released a smattering of new screenshots of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. Check them out below, and check back with RPGFan for all things Dragon Quest!

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Cory Cauthon

Cory Cauthon

It took Cory a few decades to connect his interests in writing and RPGs, but he finally did! When he isn't playing or writing about RPGs, you can probably find him listening to podcasts or trying to corral his dogs.

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