Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (DS) Review - It was a Monster Mash!!

Everybody knows Dragon Quest, right? The series started off in North America as Dragon Warrior so as not to be confused with the board game DragonQuest. Anyways, I mention this because Joker is the first game in the Dragon Quest Monsters series to have the name Dragon Quest. Confused yet?


Dragon Quest Monsters Joker is a monster collecting game, kind of like that series which I won't refer to in this review. Joker is a game where you can, get this, run around in a 3D environment and actually see the monsters you are about to fight. This makes the game really fun because you want to keep exploring.


Oh, yeah, then there's the whole monster collecting thing. You can have three monsters on your team at a time, with which you can fight and tame other monsters. Battles are initiated when you walk into a monster which is wondering around the one of many islands it may be on. Just minding it's own business, until you, being the selfish sociopath that you are, send out three foreign creatures to battle until the inevitable death of one of them. Your monsters don't faint, because goddamn monsters don't faint. They die. Literally. You have to bring them back to life at hospitals.

Other then the deep psychological trauma, this is a very fun game. It's a mix of Puzzle, Monster-Fighting, and deep RPG. The story is really entertaining also, and while I won't spoil it for you, you begin in jail! Doesn't that sound fun?

Gameplay - Monsters fight till the finish, it's all good. The only complaint I have is that there is a very hard enemy battle very early into the game, but it is optional. 8.7/10
Sound - Not the best, but will keep you entertained for a while. 7/10

Graphics - The monsters can be bright, cheery, and cute or the embodiment of Satan himself. Very good graphics for a DS game. 9/10

Controls - Good with the D-Pad for running around and stuff, but I'd put it into a 3DS and use the joystick instead. 7.5/10

Random Category - Birds! - There are several bird-based monsters in this game, including an android owl. Pass!

Price - About $15.00 (Or $15.00 more then what I get paid for these reviews. :) )
FINAL SCORE - 8.2/10


Fun fact: WarioWare D.I.Y just barely made all the money back it cost to produce it.