Square Enix has revealed new story details for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.
While most gamers may not have recognized this game’s lead, Psaro has a very important role in Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. If you didn’t know about this, you might actually be better off playing this newer game first, as this one is set in an earlier point in his life.
Suffice to say, if you were a huge Dragon Quest fan, you understand very well why Square Enix opted to make this side story instead of moving forward with Dragon Quest XII.
So let’s assume you don’t know anything about Dragon Quest lore. In Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, Psaro lives with a curse given to him by his own father, the rule of Nadiria. Because of this curse, Psaro cannot harm any monster directly.
As you may remember from the introduction trailer in the last Nintendo Direct, Psaro found a way around this by becoming a monster wrangler. In this way, he builds a formidable monster army, that he can command to defeat monsters, and humans as well.
Psaro is looking for vengeance, but he has to accomplish a lot of other things before he gets there. For those who know, Solo’s appearance in the middle of that introduction trailer suggests that we’ll see this game’s connection to the rest of the Dragon Quest timeline as part of the story as well.
Now, along the way Psaro assembles a human party to match his monster army. That includes Rose, a gentle but strong willed elf who uses her magic powers to help Psaro find his way in the world.
Also joining Psaro is Toilen Trubble, a magic researcher keen in finding rare magical ingredients.
Finally, there’s Fuzzy, who is more than a floating Monchichi knockoff. She actually teaches Psaro the ways of monster wrangling.
There’s a few things to be said about Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince’s setting as well. Nadiria has a seasons element to it, which changes the landscapes you have to traverse, as well as the monsters you can get to join your party, or have to fight.
On top of that, Nadiria has different circles, each representing an individual realm, which distinguishes itself from other circles. Each realm also has a lower, middle, and upper echelon.
As you can see, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is every bit as much an evolution in the Dragon Quest Monsters series as it is a key side story in the Dragon Quest timeline.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince will be releasing exclusively to the Nintendo Switch on December 1, 2023.
