The Dragon Quest series has been very present of late, especially with the Monster series. And it’s a big surprise that Dragon Quest Monsters welcomes a new subtitled game: The Prince of Shadows. Yes, we’re going back on the road with a well-known character from the series in this little Switch exclusive.
That’s Dragon Quest IV for you…
Yes, DQM The Prince of Shadows will take us into the past of Psaro, an ultra-familiar character to Dragon Quest fans, as he features in the fourth game in the main saga. The character is the result of a union between the master of monsters and a human. But Psaro has a curse: he can’t shed the blood of monsters. And so, he’s going to rally them to his cause, to take revenge on his father who abandoned them when his mother was dying.
So we’re back to an origin story years after the game’s release. And all to our great delight. For a character becoming so obscure, we would have liked the story to go further and show us the character’s plunge into darkness.
The switch at the end of its rope…
The game being a Switch exclusive, we’re not going to lie to ourselves… It’s not crazy crazy. The characters are pretty good, the effects are nice. But the scenery is totally empty. Not to mention that the passages from one area to another make no sense whatsoever. We’re sometimes along a river, only to find ourselves on a path with no water on the next screen… You get the feeling that the connections weren’t a priority. Not to mention the teleporters that take you from one area to another without making the progression logical. So there you have it. Even if the game is good. We’re a long way from the logic of moving from zone to zone.
In terms of artistic direction, it’s all Dragon Quest. The colors are flashy and the Dragon Ball-style design remains unchanged. The downside is that on the map, there’s a lot of clipping and frame-rate drops, even though the scenery is empty and there are 4 monsters to display. You can feel that the Switch is running out of steam, even on simple games. And don’t even get us started on the Zelda titles that have frame rates dropping all the time and resolutions that become disgusting all the time. Be honest, and yes, it’s time for the Switch to come to its senses and let the sequel save the day.
As for the soundtrack, there’s nothing to say. This is great Dragon Quest, with lots of covers of well-known themes from the saga. We never tire of listening to them over and over again. It’s still Koichi Sugiyama’s master class! An aural pleasure.
Pocket Dragon Quest Monster!
In terms of gameplay, RPG fans know the drill. It’s basically a hardcore RPG where you can assemble a team to help our hero. To do this, no fewer than 500 monsters from the Dragon Quest universe are present. To recruit them, pokemon fans know the drill. We weaken and negotiate for recruitment. Some monsters may require special conditions.
For the rest, combat is fairly classic. Attacks, magic, items and other passive skills are all there to turn your team into a steamroller. Yes, we’re not revolutionizing the genre, and we’re sticking to what we know without changing a thing. But as long as it works, we won’t complain!
In the end, Dragon Quest Monster Le prince des ombres is everything you’d expect it to be: a superb origin story for an iconic character from the saga. And all in DQM gameplay, to give this character a new vision. And it’s all justified by the curse hanging over our hero! Too bad the title is a Switch exclusive. Because it doesn’t pay homage to him.
