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| Dennis Rubinshteyn |
We go back to collecting slimes... and other monsters, I guess.
06.09.11 - 4:43 PM
At E3, Nintendo suddenly unveiled a new DS RPG that will be coming to the US soon: Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, a Pokémon-esque spinoff from the Dragon Quest series. The first game came out in the US back in November 2007, and its sequel came out in Japan last year. It also got an enhanced version called "Professional", which came out a few months ago. Nintendo of America representatives went around showcasing the game to attendees and we at RPGFan got some hands-on time with it.
In DQMJ2, players can recruit and form a team of three monsters while engaging in straightforward turn-based combat. Players have free reign to control what actions the monsters will take, or set tactics for each monster and let the AI handle the fights. All enemies are clearly visible, so players have a choice of engaging in battles or avoid them all together. When leveling up monsters, they gain skill points which enable them to get new passive traits or active skills.
In order to recruit monsters, the player has to use an ability called Scout, which is a basic test of strength. Players choose the monster they want, and each party member attacks the targeted monster. There is a meter that gauges the attack strength so the higher the overall party strength is, the higher the chance of the monster joining your team. There are over 300 monsters to recruit, and the player even has the ability to even combine them into new monsters. As a bonus, players who have Dragon Quest IX or Dragon Quest VI can Scout monsters from those DS titles and bring them over to DQMJ2. Players can also fight one another through local wi-fi or online multiplayer.
Not much else has been unveiled in the demo as of yet. It seems unlikely that the US will be getting the professional edition from Japan - this version of DQMJ2 will likely be the standard version. However, we do have early confirmation that the game should be released in the US this August. Stay tuned to RPGFan for more information as we get closer to Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2's release!
