Dragon Quest Monsters 3 - another victim of SquareEnix's idiot marketing

Yeah, the demo dropped today for their Switch exclusive that was NOT announced on the English Direct.

https://www.siliconera.com/dragon-quest-monsters-the-dark-prince-switch-demo-available-for-download/

Once again SE shows why there great games don't even sell. And it shows the continued poor marketing and stupid decisions with this side series of DQ.

From not releasing the DS and mobile remakes of the first two, to not bring over Joker 2's upgraded version to the west while bring the first version, to not bringing Joker 3, SE has been completely stupid at promoting this series.

Nevermind that this game is actually a prequel of DQIV and you play as the villain of it. Didn't even properly market that.

Square thinks NFT and live service games are the way to go, it's very clear why their games don't sell.

Why would you put marketing in your traditional games when you're already focussed on 'the next big thing'

Hopefully their games not selling tells them they need to start trying to sell their games rather than double down on NFTs.

Considering how massive Pokemon is (biggest entertainment media franchise in the world), and how its monster-tamer gameplay was clearly influenced by Dragon Quest V, it's crazy that Square Enix have failed to successfully market Dragon Quest Monsters as a Pokemon competitor. Pokemon has a near-monopoly over the monster-tamer market and could do with a serious competitor. Square Enix dropped the ball by failing to market DQ Monsters as a competitor to Pokemon.

It won't.

Honestly this game looks like an absolute ass. I wouldn't spend anything on its advertising either.

Same. Don't think people care about this game tbh. Give us Dragon Quest XII, then I'll get excited.

Except Japan absolutely does.

It was not just Wonder that spiked Switch sales there after the Summer Direct.

And no, the previews have been positive, gameplay is king.

Except it isn't.

The gameplay and world exploration seem to be very well done.

Looks better than Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Well I hope I hear news about Dragon Quest XII this month.

I'm not really into Pokemon-style monster-tamer games myself. But for people who are into Pokemon-style games, there's no reason why DQ Monsters shouldn't appeal to them. If Square Enix knew how to market it correctly, they could capture a share of the multi-billion-dollar Pokemon market.

I’m waiting for Dragon Quest III HD 2D Remake and Dragon Quest XII.

Looks pretty terrible.

Easy to see the casuals and fake gamers from this thread. Wow, this place has gone to the dogs...

The first two DQ Monsters games and even some of the Joker titles are better games than Pokemon.

This one looks far better than Scarlet and Violet. Far better gameplay, even outside of battle. Far better exploration where monsters have their ecosystem. Pokemon needs to learn from DQ Monsters really.

And you can here, like he rest of the series, recruit final bosses of mainline games in the end (and Psaro is a final boss of DQIV himself).

And once again, SE fails again in not releasing an English version of the latest trailer.

When it comes to battles. Pokemon is better than this. However, this game oozes with charm.

Here is a hoping,

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Not really. And there is far more options to customize your monsters

There is more to battles in this series than the rock paper scissors of Pokémon.

Having played both. There are far more mechanics and opportunities for counterplay in Pokemon. Far more diversity in playstyle too.

Pokemon needs to get rid of its IV/EV crap though.

Pokemon is nothing but counterplay.

And no, DQM has far more diversity in its playstyle, especially the DS remakes not released in the West.

DQ is the best thing they have and they're squandering it.

SE probably thinks the game wouldn't appeal to Western audiences... Despite a similar game, Pokemon, being hugely popular across the world.

Spells and abilities in Pokemon

1. Damage
   1. Physical
   2. Magical
   3. Indirect (Future Sight)
   4. Damage over Time
   5. Percentual
   6. Conditional
   7. Charged
2. Control
3. Healing
   1. Instant
   2. Delayed
   3. Status Ailment Removal
4. Defensive
5. Buffs
6. Debuffs
7. Status Effects
8. Environmental
9. Weather
10. Resource Manipulation
11. Other forms of support (Baton Pass)

Spells and Abilities in Dragon Quest Monsters

1. Damage
   1. Physical
   2. Magical
   3. Poison
2. Healing
   1. Instant
   2. Resurrection
   3. Status Removal
3. Buffs
4. Debuffs
5. Status Effects

The fact that pokemon has undeniably more mechanics and variety in its combat means that you see far more diversity among teams too.

You have teams built around Baton Pass, Tailwind, Trick Room, Weather, Terrain, Spikes. Teams can be built around exceptional offense, defense, and more. There are more roles in Competitive Pokemon than there are slots to have in a team.

No news on DQ XIII and III remake/remaster. SE disappointment at Tokyo Game Show :(

Even if Square request I dont think nintendo even considering it as the DQ Monster sub series bombed many times in west that Square didnt bother releasing titles in that subseries to west during 3DS days.

Yet DQ wins in monster customization, the amount of monsters in the game. endgame, and party tactics. Large monsters also are a big deal in gameplay.

DQM destroys Pokémon when it comes to world interaction and seeing monsters out in the wild.

No it doesn't.

monster customization

No it doesnt, in Pokemon each mon has around 3-4 viable builds.

amount of monsters in the game

While you can catch 400 pokemon in SV, you can use far more, by importing from other games,

endgame

DQM has like 20 viable monsters in the endgame. Pokemon has around 100.

party tactics

Buffing and Debuffing, then attacking and healing does not even come close to all the stuff you can do in Pokemon. Again, one has plenty of opportunities for counterplay (which is where tactics comes in), the other one is pretty standard jRPG fare. One involves a heavy dose of predicting what your opponent will do, catching them off-guard, and avoid being predictable yourself. There is a reason one of these has a competitive as well as an esports scene, whereas the other has none.

When it comes to world interactions, and seeing stuff in the world, Dragon Quest wins there. But in terms of combat, Pokemon actually has competent combat mechanics.

I think you mean DQXII... That game is taking forever. DQXI came out back in 2017. It's been six years and still no DQXII.

A real bummer since I hear that storywise it is the best Dragon Quest game.

Kinda like how FF11 and 14 have some of the best Final Fantasy narratives.

I highly doubt DQ X will ever happen :(

DQM has dozens of viable builds for monsters as you can customize their skills.

And yet DQM games have even more monsters than all that.

DQM has far more viable end game monsters, and you can build them up yourself. Also the end game is flat out influential. The map system of DQM2 influenced games like Path of Exile.

I doubt any DQ game could surpass the storytelling of DQV. That game still has one of the best video game stories of all time. Ironically, DQV was also an early monster tamer game (predating Pokemon), a subgenre that isn't known for storytelling.

@Jag85 I only go by what I heard. Sadly DQ10 is unavailable in Europe.

So you mean like Pokemon?

About 500 monsters in this game. When you factor in importing and whatnot, you can get over a 1000 pokemon. So not really an argument in your favor.

No DQM had around 20 viable monsters in the endgame. Even if you could bump up the stats, the meta still shifted to only a few different mons and loadouts being used. You simply have far fewer options than you do compared to pokemon.

Again, the endgame stuff in DQM is good. But the combat is extremely basic.

Seems you have not played the Joker games or the remakes. DQM 2 remake has over 800, and its newest phone edition adds DQX and XI monsters and bosses.

No import necessary.

@texasgoldrush: This game right here is expected to cap at around 500. Which is why I used that number-

This is not a prequel to DQIV but an alternate interpetation.

Scarlet/Violet have 400, and they are far less customizable than DQ Monsters are.

Maybe it's a business decision since DQ games don't do well in the west besides the main franchise, and that's only recently.

And they come to this business decision due to their poor marketing.

This franchise is THE most important JRPG series ever, and idiot SquareEnix cannot market it.

Hell, DQ XII may have to be the game that saves the company.

I'm saying because they don't do well outside Japan hence the little (poor, in your words) markting. I want the franchise to do well as much as anyone I'm just saying maybe that's how SE see things.

And I don't think it's the most important JRPG series anymore since the original FF7 exploded in the west, but I'm not gonna argue that.

They don't do well outside of Japan because they don't market. They don't try. Or they don't even bring a game like DQX, which is better than FFXIV, to the West, even now it is fully translated by fans.

And no, DQ is so respected in Japan that other developers and games take cues from, like Like A Dragon. It forms the foundation of the entire genre, period. And with Final Fantasy stumbling, it may very well be DQ that has to save the company, even the genre.

@texasgoldrush: I'm not sure if the western market have the same taste as the Japanese market, just look at the top sell games/console. But yes I aslo wish they could try more.

If you're referring to "traditional turn based JRPG" then DQ is the most important franchise and the industry standard I agree. But what even qualifies as a JRPG now anyway? Action RPG? Tactical RPG? Soulsbourne? MMOs? Hybrids?

The Dragon Quest template. It doesn't have to be turned based, it could be action as long as it has the template.