Reviews// Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

Worse still, attempting to attack these enemies at the beginning of the game is likely to get you stomped into monster sauce, so you’ve really got no choice but to avoid them, which can get tedious when they continue to pop up every few minutes. Especially because their appearances are always heralded by the exact same theme music, which while quite catchy is also very repetitive and will definitely grow old by the time you run into a dozen of the towering goliaths.

As has always been the case (and high points) with the Dragon Quest Monsters series, these giant monsters can eventually be won over by your charms and become members of your potentially vast monster army. Where DQMJ2 differs from its predecessors, however, is with the new monster size system set into place. While the majority of monsters take up a single slot of your three monster team, giant monsters are more powerful, and therefore take up two to three slots.

This is probably a better and more balanced way of doing things, but half of the fun of the DQM series was in putting together ridiculously overpowered teams composed entirely of boss monsters so you could effortlessly devastate the world. Granted, by the time you could actually get your hands on the top-class monsters you’d probably already finished the game, but the idea itself was awesome. Now it pretty much can’t happen.

That really kind of sucks. I mean, I’m all for balancing a game. It’s generally a good idea. But taking some of the fun out of a series like this seems counterproductive. It’s not a deal-breaker, but after beating the main story of previous DQM games the best way to extend your playtime was by working towards a team of ultimate monsters. You still can do that, it just feels a lot more limited now, considering that two boss monsters are generally enough to fill all six of your available slots. This could all be taken as a good thing, as it does make some monsters more unique as well as making boss fights far more dramatic, but my inner child instinctively rebels against such restrictions.

Probably the only real, serious issue I have with the game is the monster AI. You have very basic control over their behaviour and when left to their own devices your little guys are likely to waste their MP, ignore enemy strategies such as magic-reflecting walls, and generally let battles last longer than they’d need to. Yes, there is the option to directly command them yourself to make things easier, but if you have to do that then what’s the point of the AI anyway?

Worse still, in the tournaments (yes, there was always going to be a tournament in there somewhere) you’re not allowed to give commands, meaning for those critical matches you have to rely on the AI to pull through for you. It’s generally easier to just overpower your monsters to the point where you can smash through the tournament with ease rather than testing your luck by trying to actually beat it somewhat fairly. Admittedly, it would be unnecessary for them to include a really deep and expansive AI control system, but some simple options like being able to switch off certain unhelpful spells and abilities would go a long way here.

Conclusion

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is a great entry to the series. While its core gameplay might not be as refined or deep as Pokémon, it offers a more substantial story and an emphasis on exploration and monster hunting. There’s so much to do in DQMJ2 that it’s very easy to pour a hundred hours into even one playthrough in your quest to assemble a perfect team of monster warriors. But if you’re just looking for a game you can blast through and enjoy then this probably won’t be right up your alley.

SPOnG Score: 86%