Dragon Quest Monsters Shares 25th Anniversary Artwork

Square Enix has celebrated the 25th anniversary of the beloved Dragon Quest Monsters spinoff series with new artwork featuring various endearing creatures from the franchise.

Dragon Quest Monsters debuted in 1998 for the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color before spawning numerous entries. The games are usually compared to Pokémon by newcomers, as they consist of players capturing monsters and using them for battles.

These spinoffs are pretty niche in the West, but the new one, Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince, will be the first entry in roughly four years, giving prospective Western players a fresh opportunity.

You can view the new anniversary artwork for the Dragon Quest Monsters series below:

Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince will launch for Nintendo Switch on December 1, 2023. A free demo is now available via the Switch eShop.

In case you missed it, check out our impressions of the newly launched demo.

Be sure to check out our extensive coverage of this upcoming title.

In Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, the demi-human protagonist, Psaro, was cursed by the ruler of the monster realm of Nadiria, also known as his father, making the youth incapable of harming any being with monster blood coursing through their veins.

To defy his fate, Psaro becomes a monster wrangler, amassing a sizeable monster following during his quest for vengeance. Additionally, he’ll make new allies, including the elf Rose and the enigmatic Toilen Trubble.

Combat will consist of eight party members, with four being active and another four being in reserves. Further, you can manually control your monsters’ actions every turn or set predetermined tactics to let the AI decide, like ‘Show No Mercy’ or ‘Focus on Healing.’

In battle, monsters can enter a frenzied state born from desperation in dire scenarios, enabling greater damage output and additional chances to perform an action. Players can also look forward to monster fusion and several season-based environments to traverse, each with their own creatures.