Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (1st December 2023)

[Hero-of-Time]

Thanks for the impressions.

I've been very tempted to pick it up (loved Treasures) but I'm too busy with other games at the moment. If I finish Bravely Default II before Christmas then I may treat myself and purchase it.

[darksnowman]

18 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Thanks for the impressions.

I've been very tempted to pick it up (loved Treasures) but I'm too busy with other games at the moment. If I finish Bravely Default II before Christmas then I may treat myself and purchase it.

That's still one I want to get. Think it came out around the same time as something else I went for instead. 

A few more things to add to those impressions. On the point of synthesis, you need monsters that are lvl 10+ so I've looked at it but haven't committed to anything as yet. It tells you to prioritise gold monsters and I've spotted a few golden slime variations I will probably go for though I'm not certain what happens to the monsters you use—like, can you buy them back like SMT or do you need to go scout them again—which is holding me back from depleting my stock too quickly at the moment, as my monsters that are eligible for synthesis are the ones in my party. You carry eight monsters with you (four in the active party and four in reserve) so I've started swapping out the inactive four to level a greater spread for potential synthesis, or make them viable party members. Noticed the monsters in the paddock are closer to lvl 10 than I expected so it looks like they gain experience whether they're with you or not? Would be a cool bit of streamlining if that's the case. 

I'll see how it goes because often the biggest hurdle for me in these kinds of RPGs is to resist becoming loyal to the early monsters.

Got past where the demo stops you, meaning I've encountered the other character from the cover who seems a twerp though I'm sure he'll come good by the end. And peeked into the fourth area where my first monster encounter offered to join me. Score! Even better is its above lvl 10 so it looks like synthesis options will be easier to come by. I will say, entering and checking the immediate area, panning the camera was pretty choppy. It seemed to find its footing but I'll be keeping an eye on the Switch in case it starts sparking under the immense pressure of rendering these bleeding edge visuals. Sad that Treasures and this don't have the level of polish they deserve. Well, at least this has an increased monster roster.

[Ike]

The demo does let you fight the Cyclops...

Don't ignore the Reverse Search when synthesising, it's quite handy. If say you want a higher rank Slime family monster it'll show which monsters you can use to get one.

I started hitting some difficulty spikes with bosses, I think due to the fact I haven't been synthesising much since I have monsters I like in my party. Trying to synthesise a bit more, my highest rank monsters are rank D currently.

[darksnowman]

34 minutes ago, Ike said:

The demo does let you fight the Cyclops...

Don't ignore the Reverse Search when synthesising, it's quite handy. If say you want a higher rank Slime family monster it'll show which monsters you can use to get one.

I started hitting some difficulty spikes with bosses, I think due to the fact I haven't been synthesising much since I have monsters I like in my party. Trying to synthesise a bit more, my highest rank monsters are rank D currently.

Is that so? Would have sworn one of those yellow text pop-ups prevented me from it in the demo. Dodgy memory.

Roughly how far are you? I've been getting through battles on autopilot so far. The boss at the Infernal Gate got one of mine down to 1HP (Capischum I've incidentally got on healing duty) then we finished it on the next turn anyway before I got the heal off. G ranked party here.  Don't want to hit an impasse but wouldn't mind having to put some thought into it.

[Ike]

Yeah,  the game warns you, but doesn't stop you. I've beaten it in the full game, but it seems scouting it is extremely difficult.

I've done the first area in the middle echelon, you're not too far behind so you'll probably catch up soon. There's some stuff that happens between going from the lower to the middle echelon is where I started having trouble.

[darksnowman]

Forgot to mention. You can't check cupboards, drawers and bookcases (though I try them all the same) so that cuts down on hidden collectables however you aren't gearing up with weapons and armour so it's an understandable omission. There are still pots to smash and chests to find for items and accessories. Some have mini medals. And the content of each area is basically quadrupled as the changing seasons allows you to reach different places and the roaming monsters change, too. Hoping for a way to pick and choose seasons eventually in case I'm ever on the hunt for something specific. For the time being I'm happy to watch it flow from one to the next to see what changes. Having the music stop in winter is a nice ambient touch.

I synthesised with a triple choc (?) slime tower NPC to get a Sugarstar Slime which I put straight in the party to begin levelling. Sadly it started at lvl 1. It'll take over healing duties when it catches up as it's a higher rank than what I have.

Needless to say, you're listening to the usual array of accents and it's brimming with fun wordplay—they haven't really skimped on anything except, unfortunately, the technical side. Highest praise I can give it is I'm not seeing the time fly by when I'm on it.

11 hours ago, Ike said:

Yeah,  the game warns you, but doesn't stop you. I've beaten it in the full game, but it seems scouting it is extremely difficult.

I took the warning to heart.  

The one in the fourth area freaked me out when I saw it because it was so out of place—it was like a demon from Persona floating there. I gave it a really wide berth. 

I was a wee bit disappointed to see some monsters reappear in the fourth area as I thought it was shaping up to have them all be unique to each area and season therein.

[Ike]

My healer was the Sugarstar Slime, with a Healslime in reserves. I think the Sugarstar Slime was one of the monsters I had to replace though (still in my reserves)

[darksnowman]

I've noticed monsters of the same type appearing in different sizes. Do you know what that's about or where the game details the differences?

Edited December 14, 2023 by darksnowman

[Ike]

5 hours ago, darksnowman said:

I've noticed monsters of the same type appearing in different sizes. Do you know what that's about or where the game details the differences?

Their stats change based on their size, the smaller they are the more speed they get (max +49) but defence drop (max -49).

The size is based on a scale 1 - 100, 51 and higher is classed as a large monster. Stat changes reset to 0 at size 50, large monsters will get +-50 in speed and defence.

[darksnowman]

On 14/12/2023 at 7:39 PM, Ike said:

Their stats change based on their size, the smaller they are the more speed they get (max +49) but defence drop (max -49).

The size is based on a scale 1 - 100, 51 and higher is classed as a large monster. Stat changes reset to 0 at size 50, large monsters will get +-50 in speed and defence.

Interesting. That's good to know because I scouted a bigger one and compared its stats to another I have and they were identical. Will have to see if there's a screen that gives a more in-depth look.

I'm into the Circle of Fortitude, Middle Echelon now which is feeling a bit tougher. Not sure if it's a natural increase (looks like the biggest area so far) or because I've swapped the party around resulting in levels and ranks being all over the place. Along the way, three more NPCs have wanted to synthesise but I don't think I've even seen the monsters they recommend pairing up so I'm trying to keep them in mind for later. In an attempt to upgrade my party and get it on the road to looking badass, I made a Cauldragon but it's dead weight for the time being as it needs to catch up in levels. Also lugging around a D rank (!) Night Sneaker that's well behind. Only monster left in the party from the beginning's the Platypunk it started me off with. My starter in the demo was a Mud Mannequin but it's yet to make it out of the paddock in the full game.

Got a Spiny Slime (off a 15% scout chance!) and another later offered to join so it'll be synthesis fodder. I'm seeing Slime Knights and want one of them too.

Was thinking there was no need for healing to be free, then being able to pop back into the Rosehill Towerdis for an immediate full heal made it that much quicker to get back at trying to get a foothold in this new location.

It's so handy that you can Zoom between areas and not just within them. Such a pity about Zangiel. We could have ushered in an era of dominance! Can't believe I'm supposed to care about Toilen. The less I see of him the better.

[Ike]

Maybe it’s more apparent at higher levels, or they need to be levelled by the player? There’s a stats calculator that includes the size value. https://dev.metalkid.info/DQM3/Calculators/MaxStats
 

I’ve only just found a wild Cactiball in a middle area that an NPC in the lower area wanted to synthesise, seems a bit weird they did that.

Your synthesise’d monsters should catch up quicker though, they should have higher stats as the child inherits some of its parent’s stats.

Finally found and killed my first wild Metal Slime today though.

[Hero-of-Time]

This arrived on Friday.

I've been waiting until I had beaten Bravely Default 2 before starting it. Now that's done, it's time to join in on the (hopefully) fun.

[Hero-of-Time]

Started the game and ended up with this guy as my starting monster. 

I was a little confused on how the monster catching worked. I was trying to whittle down their health but my team were just killing things. I then realised I could give each of them individual commands. Bit weird how that's not the first option and because of this I keep accidentally wiping out potential captures.

I'm currently in the first area just grinding exp and catching monsters. Team is currently a Slime, Cruelcumber, Vegandragora and Bunicorn all at level 7.

Yeah, the performance of the game is pretty ropey. Crazy that it's struggling with this when you have DQXI running pretty much fine. Clearly not a lot of care or attention got placed on how the game runs.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Hero-of-Time

[Hero-of-Time]

The game has yet to hook me. The catching mechanics are a little annoying and I hate the fact I can't change seasons with the press of a button. This option may come later but at the moment it's very annoying having to wait until the season changes on its own just so I can see and attempt to catch any new monsters.

I'm still very early on (second area) and rocking my original team.

 

[darksnowman]

On 16/12/2023 at 4:41 PM, Ike said:

Maybe it’s more apparent at higher levels, or they need to be levelled by the player? There’s a stats calculator that includes the size value. https://dev.metalkid.info/DQM3/Calculators/MaxStats

Thanks for the link. I'll keep it in my back pocket for later because, for the moment, min-maxing these monsters isn't something I need to concern myself with. Maybe if I want to get a good number of wins in the online. Got a PB of 2/30 earlier.

On 16/12/2023 at 4:41 PM, Ike said:

I’ve only just found a wild Cactiball in a middle area that an NPC in the lower area wanted to synthesise, seems a bit weird they did that.

Yes! A Cactiball! I need one too for the same purpose.

On 17/12/2023 at 7:35 AM, Hero-of-Time said:

This arrived on Friday.

Uh oh. *braces for you to have blazed past me within an afternoon*

On 17/12/2023 at 9:01 AM, Hero-of-Time said:

Started the game and ended up with this guy as my starting monster. 

 

This is the one I got in the demo. Called it Odo.

I feel like I made the same choices in the full game and got something else. 

13 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

The game has yet to hook me. The catching mechanics are a little annoying and I hate the fact I can't change seasons with the press of a button. This option may come later but at the moment it's very annoying having to wait until the season changes on its own just so I can see and attempt to catch any new monsters.

I'm still very early on (second area) and rocking my original team.

Oh. Perhaps you should have tried the demo. It gets you into the third area and left me wanting more. I wasn't best pleased at having to replay the opening in the full game even when you transfer your save data. Any new scenes didn't seem worth it, imo.

I don't have a "staff of seasons" either but I just go with it when the seasons change. The visual change, the monster rotation and newly available places keeps it fresh. As you say, you're still rocking your original four so just scout what you can while looking around. Especially now I've seen monsters repeating I'm much less worried about missing anything from earlier areas. Not that I did—bar big boys like the Cyclops. Wish you got exp for scouting or at least beating other monsters in a battle that ends with something scouted. It's satisfying to revisit previous areas and scout monsters 100% at the first attempt.

It's bugged me more when the changing of the seasons cuts you off from a nook, but since you can Zoom back anytime it's nothing to stress about. Thing that's keeping me awake at night is in a circle area, I couldn't seem to fill out the map entirely.

It's taken the most time yet, but I've got through the Circle of Fortitude, Middle Echelon and Fort Nox and it seems I'm still not done with this place. Was so glad to reach new fast travel points here. All of a sudden I was feeling that old-skool thrill of pushing out gradually into uncharted territory.

[Hero-of-Time]

Pretty tempted to trade this in while the price is still decent. I tried a few more times today to get into it and sadly it's just not happening.

[darksnowman]

14 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Pretty tempted to trade this in while the price is still decent. I tried a few more times today to get into it and sadly it's just not happening.

If the tournament MCs aren't doing it for you then I wouldn't advise against it. I still regret persevering with DKC: Returns rather than getting shot of it in CeX when the rate was high.

[Hero-of-Time]

3 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

If the tournament MCs aren't doing it for you then I wouldn't advise against it. I still regret persevering with DKC: Returns rather than getting shot of it in CeX when the rate was high.

Everything just feels too clunky and drawn out. Like, do I really have to keep zooming back and forth to change my team and create new monsters. The fact that newly created monsters start at level 1 is a kick in the teeth as well. So not only do you need to grind 2 monsters to level 10 first, you then have to start from scratch with the new one.

[darksnowman]

1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Everything just feels too clunky and drawn out. Like, do I really have to keep zooming back and forth to change my team and create new monsters. The fact that newly created monsters start at level 1 is a kick in the teeth as well. So not only do you need to grind 2 monsters to level 10 first, you then have to start from scratch with the new one.

Soon you'll be scouting monsters over level 10 and the guy will set up shop in Rosehill Tower (which you can always walk to if you prefer not to Zoom...). As for them starting at level 1, that's put me off synthesising for the time being until I get far enough for a good grinding spot. I reckon the game is set up in such a way that you can get through at least everything I've seen with directly scouted monsters.

[darksnowman]

Encountered, failed to scout, beat my first metal slime. Despite it jumping everyone a level, I went on to lose to the dragon boss here anyway. Reset to last save, spent talent points, made sure they all have an accessory and thought I might as well Zoom over to the Mauloseum to turn in these mini medals... which has yielded a level 10 metal slime. Yes, please.

[Glen-i]

1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Everything just feels too clunky and drawn out. Like, do I really have to keep zooming back and forth to change my team and create new monsters. The fact that newly created monsters start at level 1 is a kick in the teeth as well. So not only do you need to grind 2 monsters to level 10 first, you then have to start from scratch with the new one.

OK, so if this is anything like Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, then synthesised monsters will 99% of the time have better base stats then whatever you used to get that monster.

Kinda like how Shin Megami Tensei does it, or if that analogy means nothing, think of it like using a Master Seal in Fire Emblem.

It's not Pokémon, you can't get attached to your party, because they'll soon be outclassed, no matter how high a level they are.

Edited December 21, 2023 by Glen-i

[Hero-of-Time]

46 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

OK, so if this is anything like Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, then synthesised monsters will 99% of the time have better base stats then whatever you used to get that monster.

Kinda like how Shin Megami Tensei does it, or if that analogy means nothing, think of it like using a Master Seal in Fire Emblem.

It's not Pokémon, you can't get attached to your party, because they'll soon be outclassed, no matter how high a level they are.

Yeah, I know all of this but it doesn't make it any less annoying/fiddly.

If I can soldier on and reach a point where I'm able to recruit and level up more easily then I imagine I'll enjoy it more. Its just getting to that point....

[martinist]

I palyed the demo about a month or so ago and it was kinda fun. Game is still sitting shrink wrapped under my TV untill i'm done with Spiderman 2 though.

[Ike]

On 19/12/2023 at 6:01 PM, darksnowman said:

Got a PB of 2/30 earlier.

My highest is 12. One team was just a single monster so got bit of a freebie there.

I hit a wall against a boss in the upper echelon so I went off to grind/synthesise some more. Managed to defeat a Liquid Metal and a Metal King which shot my levels up from 30's to 50's. The boss was doing 80 - 90% to my whole team in one turn. After that level boosts, it was quite a lot easier (my monsters being around level 50).

Spoiler

I find synthesis quite addictive once you get going, I do wish the synthesis area was a little closer to get to though. Not sure how you meant to know some of the synthesis requirements as you needs monster with certain grandparents to get a certain result.

[darksnowman]

1 hour ago, Ike said:

My highest is 12. One team was just a single monster so got bit of a freebie there.

I hit a wall against a boss in the upper echelon so I went off to grind/synthesise some more. Managed to defeat a Liquid Metal and a Metal King which shot my levels up from 30's to 50's. The boss was doing 80 - 90% to my whole team in one turn. After that level boosts, it was quite a lot easier (my monsters being around level 50).

  Monster spoilers, maybe? (Hide contents)

I find synthesis quite addictive once you get going, I do wish the synthesis area was a little closer to get to though. Not sure how you meant to know some of the synthesis requirements as you needs monster with certain grandparents to get a certain result.

That shot you up ~20 levels? I love it.

I've detoured into Circle of Indulgence, Middle Echelon and just went back to have another stab at the dragon boss, Ash, in Temper, Middle Echelon. Managed to squeak through it with three reserves still standing. It was thanks to a shivery shrubbery from Indulgence with Kazam otherwise we would've been done for. I was just trying to keep the newly synthesised metal slime knight alive to the end to make sure he wouldn't miss out on the exp on the off chance we got the win.

My party is very much still baby monsters compared to how yours is coming along. I just dropped out a cannonbrawler for the flamethrower you get through the story. Otherwise, of my current eight, four are slime variations—sugarstar, spiny, beshemoth and metal slime knight. Lowest ranked I'm carrying is a rank F snowmangler which I'll look at jettisoning next.  Hope there's a higher rank snowman monster to get.