Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

With an almost limitless number of monster and skill variations, you'll find plenty to do even after the credits roll.

What Monsters Joker 2 really does best is to create a bright, vibrant world that does a great job of paying homage to the Dragon Quest franchise while also giving it a different spin. It's a bit slow to start -- monster synthesis takes a bit to unlock -- but it's an overall rewarding experience and one of the best Nintendo DS games to be released this year.

The graphics, the style, especially Toriyama's work, the gameplay and the barely quantifiable amount of stuff to accomplish come together to make Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 one of the last, best Nintendo DS games and the second greatest monster hunting RPG on the system.

Playing with Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is a satisfying experience with some seldom frustrating situations derived from choices in the design of the capture system. Combat are intense, fun and attractive, but the real focus is in the monster synthesizer, which shines.

Fans of DQIX's story may feel short-changed, but any annoyances are minimised by Joker 2's streamlining. [Dec 2011, p.96]

Overall this title offers a lot in single player and multi-player area and does the RPG dynasty justice keeping fans happy and busy until a new Dragon Quest title comes along.

Lacks the scale or drama of your average Dragon Quest, but does offer compulsive monster raising. [Oct 2011, p.60]

Joker 2 has its frustrations, like the level-grinding it sometimes demands and the offense that some monsters take when you try to recruit them. But that monster synthesis system is pure, addictive fun.

A quite interesting traditional RPG with pokémonesque collection elements. Too bad the story is just a cheap excuse for level-grinding. [Nov 2011]

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 is a pretty cool game for all the collecting and training game fans out there. It combines fascinating gameplay with the style and monsters of the Dragon Quest series.

DQMJ2 is one of the best Nintendo DS games to be released this year.

The battle mechanic is intuitive, but hides a tactical edge. [Nov 2011, p.118]

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is great, not just for fans of catch-em-all games, but also for anyone enamored with the Dragon Quest series.

In the end, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 feels very similar to the original game, mostly setting itself apart with new monsters and a small handful of new mechanics.

In the end, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 may not be the most original RPG available on the DS but it provides some good old fashioned action that feels like Pokemon meets RPG for monsters.

At first glance, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is a typical monster hunting RPG, but its efforts to streamline some of the mundane foundational aspects of its brethren help to set it apart. Such conveniences don't come without sacrifice, however; with the shameless implementation of level grinding, a throwaway storyline, and a frequent problem with pacing, you'll have to look beyond its blemishes to if you wish to embrace its triumphs.

An entertaining RPG that doesn't have enough depth to make it essential.

Once you get past the inevitable Pokémon comparisons and let Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 serve up its own brand of monster hunting mayhem, there's an enjoyable combat model and monster synthesis system to be had here.

A decent game that is tarnished only by its lack of emphasis on both its plot and music. The story, in its present state, leaves much to be desired, and the audio is recycled time and time again.

It's a brisk, no-nonsense take on the monster-collecting style of role-playing game. Sure, it's also a bit heartless, but as corporate America has taught us, sometimes that's what it takes to be efficient.

You won't find many other new features if you played the original Joker, but the familiarity doesn't keep the formula from working on a basic level.

If you can endure the grind, however, you'll find that having an earth-shattering trio of beasts at your disposal is well worth the trouble. [Sept 2011, p.84]

Diehard DQ loyalists and tacticians will enjoy what this game has to offer, but those who want an experience – a game with heart and a story to tell – should spend their hard-earned medals elsewhere.

Dragon Quest Monster: Joker 2 is a game aimed at combating and only for this purpose can it be truly enjoyed.

Capturing monsters and making them stronger by using them in fights: It's a concept that has been done to death, but Joker 2 uses it with flair. The gameworld and story aren't as impressive.

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 might look like a soulless clone of the Pokémon franchise but it actually develops its own identity very fast. Although it's missing all the fun and charming features which make the Pokémon worlds such enjoyable in the first place, the addictive and depth monster-making system makes up for the lackluster plot and characters.

A combination of endearing critters and solid role-playing gameplay make Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 a pleasant portable adventure.

A monster collector game that draws on the Dragon Quest series fauna of iconic monsters. Being more complex than Pokémon, this is a game to be played primarily for the joy of breeding and raising little monsters, as the story offers little interest. If you like Dragon Quest and Pokémon, this is the a game for you.

If you feel more like a geneticist than an adventurer yourself, Dragon Quest Monster Joker 2 might keep you interested enough thanks to its enticing monster synthesis gameplay and its bestiary of hundreds of Dragon Quest monsters. But aside this core aspect, the journey lacks the extra spice, the combats sometimes feel out of place and artificially added in order to boost the game's longevity. Depending on your own tastes, you may see the full or the empty half of that glass.

Quotation forthcoming.

Joker 2 is one of those games that's fun in short bursts, but isn't all that memorable. It does borrow some of the great parts of Pokémon while carving out its own identity in the rich Dragon Quest world. But of all the things it had to borrow from Dragon Quest, why, why did it have to be the endless grind?