Dragon Quest Monster Joker 2 wants to be the very best, like no game ever was. Catching monsters is the test, to train them is your cause. You will travel across the land, searching far and wide. Each Pokemon, err... Dragon Quest monster to understand, the power that’s inside.

DQ monsters! Gotta catch’em...

Okay, that’s about all I can stomach of that, but I think you now understand what I’m getting at. DQMJ2 is a monster collecting game, in the vein of the legendary Pokemon series. I have never really dabbled in this style of game outside of Nintendo’s fabled franchise, and after playing DQMJ2, I don’t really see why anyone would want to play anything but the above mentioned. Don’t get me wrong, DQMJ2’s take on this sub-RPG genre is a competent effort that the most die hard of this sub-RPG genre will find a lot of enjoyment in. Unfortunately, it’s just not for me.

 

The premise behind DQMJ2 is your typical RPG for children affair: a kid with a dream. That dream is to become the world’s premier monster scout. But as always, you haven’t made your mark yet, let alone captured a monster to do battle with. So with his dream set, the protagonist hides himself on an airship, the Albatross, in hopes of making it to the next big tournament. As luck would have it, you’re quickly discovered and soon forced do some mindless meet and greet chores to pay off your debt. The captain once was a kid with the same dream and sympathizes with your cause, letting you off the hook. Everything appears to be going well, but for some unknown reason, the Albatross is damaged on the flight to the tournament and crashes on n uncharted island. Everyone on board is separated from the ship and thus your quest begins; save everyone, find a way off the island, and become the next legendary monster trainer.

After the 30-minute intro, the meat and potatoes of DQMJ2 opens up. You’ll get your starter monster, which looks like a cracked egg, and set out to explore the island. The basics of the game has you going from cleverly named areas -- such as Treepidation, Iceolation, and Cragravation to name a few -- fighting the local monsters to gain experience and eventually capturing them for future purposes. In the beginning, you will use each monster you collect to build a stronger support team to tackle any peril that may lay forth. As you build a steady pool of monsters and progress a few areas in, you will eventually meet a few special characters that will open up the story (which is very minimal in this game) and the ability to synthesise monsters.

 

Synthesising monsters is the most unique part of DQM2. When a monster is mature enough (level 10), they can be combined with myriad other collected monsters to form new and more powerful creations. In the beginning, I had a hard time parting with some of my go-to fighters, in favor of new untrusted companions, but eventually I found so many monsters to chose from (many which are from the reject pile of monster design) that mixing them together was easy, especially since most of the time two ugly looking monsters tends to produce a pretty powerful monster. Each newborn monster starts at level one, but has the benefit of retaining one extra skill set for battle. Normally monsters have two different skill sets to power up, but synthesised monsters carry three. While many of the breeds of monsters that can be created are found in the wild, a synthesised version will always have the upper hand in battle.

 

Battling is the true heart and soul of any RPG. Like every game that bears the Dragon Quest moniker, as you travel in search of the lost passengers, and of course a legendary monster, you will grind your RPG heart out. I don’t know what it is about the series, but they sure love to make you fight over and over again. For the monster collecting and breeding purist, this becomes even more grueling when setting out to capture and create a desired monster. As mentioned before, breeding monsters requires them to be level 10, which -- as you may have guessed -- requires more fighting. Once a desired monster is synthesised, -- what’s that? Oh yeah!-- more fighting is required to get them strong enough for the front line of battle. It is worth mentioning that you have six slots designated for your party (some monsters take up more than one) of which three are set to battle and three sit in reserve, ready to be called in at a moment’s notice. At least the monsters that sit in reserve do gain experience from each battle which helps limit, a little, the grind necessary to progress in DQMJ2.

Outside of the main adventure ,DQMJ2’s multiplayer mode can be quite addictive. Usually we would break down the multiplayer mode in its own review, but I feel that to this sub-genre of RPG one comes to expect this just as much as the single player experience. Be it with a friend locally or via friend code, taking your cast of monsters in to battle is more of a test of might than the rock, paper, scissors system found in Pokemon. Those who really get sucked in can take their strongest teams online and enter the World Monster Championships to show off their best monsters chops to win items. Like most competitive multiplayer modes, I generally lack the time and self effort to hold my own in these battles to the death, but I can see how addictive this mode can be and the playability it adds to an otherwise generic monster crawl.

Dragon Quest Monster Joker 2 is a competent game that will make the most die hard monster collecting fan satisfied. It has a great online battling mode, that unfortunately is bogged down by a tired, trope filled adventure. The DS has been home to many of the greatest RPGs to come out over the last five years and while DQMJ2 may not be the most memorable song to play the mighty handheld off into the sunset, it’s till a catchy tune that can easily get stuck in your head.