Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker

 DS
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 35 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 35
  3. Negative: 4 out of 35
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  1. lustrofuria
    Dec 19, 2011
    8
    This game have a very good combat system, cool monsters, good system of fuse monsters and heir or evolve abilities from previous monsters. The only bad aspect of game is in the scenarios. Is poor. But is a very good game. It's very cool see the monsters in your natural size in the scenarios.
  2. DavidTheBaka
    Feb 10, 2008
    10
    DQM:J was a great game! The graphics are nice, and if you think that they are a Dragon Ball Z rip-off, it may surprise you to learn that the same guy who drew DBZ also drew this game. The sound is alright, considering there have only been a handful of games (all of them final fantasy) that I consider to have good sound (IE, Final Fantasy VI Advance has some pretty awesome music. You rock DQM:J was a great game! The graphics are nice, and if you think that they are a Dragon Ball Z rip-off, it may surprise you to learn that the same guy who drew DBZ also drew this game. The sound is alright, considering there have only been a handful of games (all of them final fantasy) that I consider to have good sound (IE, Final Fantasy VI Advance has some pretty awesome music. You rock Nobuo Uematsu!) The story is short but sweet, and enjoyable. The battle system is one of the best non-Final Fantasy battle systems I have experienced. The fact that you can attack AND use items in the same turn is very nice, compared to some OTHER games. The out of battle movement system is very awkward, and there is a lot of moving around (Seed of Skill hunting...). There is a huge amount of level grinding required, and the only game that REQUIRES you to level grind more than this game is Final Fantasy X (And I have the US version. I pity the guys who have the International version. Dark Aeons.) The wi-fi feature is nice, but beware: you will probably end up fighting all level 99 monsters. The most annoying part of level grinding is that in order to get 2.5 minutes in the metel menagarie, which contains the highest exp monsters available is that you have to do the Madame Rummy Challenge each time; kill (from 15-24, it increases each time you attempt the challenge) slimes in 5 minutes. Really frustrating, that is. Synthesizing is about the worst thing you can do to a game. Honestly, it's okay to change synthesizing to breeding, and make it teen rating, it's only a three year difference in audience... Anyway, some monsters are + rating, some are - rating, and some are ± rating (o.O). You can synthesize a + with a -, a + with a ±, and a - with a ±. When you synthesize, you lose the two original monsters. the amount of skill points both monsters have in one skill category are averaged and the new monster has the averaged amount. if a monster has the skill slimer with 90 points in it, and the other monster doesn't have the skill slimer, then new monster will/might have slimer with 45 points in it. after the monsters synthesize, the new monster can have up to three skill sets. it can choose from any that the parents have, any from that monster species usually has, and any upgraded skills. upgraded skill rock. Attack Boost III is awesome. Monsters also have some "odd" (that's the polite way of saying it) ranking system which ranges from F,E,D,C,B,A,S, and X. There are 15 X monsters.… Expand
  3. ChrisS.
    Jun 1, 2008
    10
    This is a game that keeps you excited to pick it up and is impossible to put down. You control the characters, their traits and their success. This is the first Dragon Quest game that I have ever played, I just completed it, and my next game will def be a DQ one.
  4. JasonH.
    Jan 10, 2008
    6
    I am a HUGE fan of the other dragon warrior monster games... this one... not so much. The other games had randomly generated worlds, a MUCH better "synthesizing" feature (it was actually breeding) and about 150 more monsters (with only 2 color overs that I can think of). Now, I'll talk about each of these points. The lack of randomly generated worlds leaves you with a measly 7 I am a HUGE fan of the other dragon warrior monster games... this one... not so much. The other games had randomly generated worlds, a MUCH better "synthesizing" feature (it was actually breeding) and about 150 more monsters (with only 2 color overs that I can think of). Now, I'll talk about each of these points. The lack of randomly generated worlds leaves you with a measly 7 islands to explore. The only rare monsters are metal monsters, and are always found with other monsters on the field (since you actually SEE the monster wandering around before you attack it) Thus, the variety of monsters that you can actually scout seems very limited. Now, synthesizing was introduced to this game, perhaps because breeding was not PG enough... At any rate, it provides a much poorer system of attaining monsters. The previous DWM games had two monsters pair up, one of them had a pedigree, and from that, you obtained a new monster. In this game, there is no pedigree, the monsters fuse together, and the player is provided with three choices. Now, this would not be so crappy if there were no ranking system. Every monster is given a rank from F to A, and thus, in every monster catagory, there are generic F, E, D, C, B, and A monsters. If you breed a rank B dragon with a rank F slime, you'll either get a rank B generic dragon, a rank F generic slime, or some random third option that I think is a demon. Also, a lot of the past breeding combos have been scrapped in favor of things that honestly just don't make any sense. The fact that there are only 200 monster, 42 generic monsters, and what seems like 100 color overs makes the game's monster variety very limited. The last point would be that of a lack of monsters. There are SO MANY COLOR OVERS, gamer beware! The worst part I think, is that the truly authentic monsters are now nigh impossible to get. Metalies pretty much can only be scouted with a 1% chance every time, and now synthesizing may depend on the monster's grandparents. Furthermore, awesome monsters like rainhawk, watabuo, and orochi have mysteriously dissapeared in favor of lame subsitutes like spitnik and a chainine. In fact, three monster catagories no longer exist: water, birds, and legendaries. Thus, the would be water and bird monsters are all crammed into a "nature" catagorie, whilst the legendaries are degraded down into demons, zombies and w/e else. I'm one of those guys that likes to see the world expand in sequals. This is why I was so dissapointed in DQM. Less monsters, less exploring, and absolutely nothing to do after completion of entire game (DWM2 had contests, and keys to get). Sure there's better graphics, and yes there may be internet features (though this feature seems to be on hold) but the point is, it lost a lot of it's charm, and what made the previous games so fun.… Expand
  5. ChrisR.
    Nov 8, 2007
    8
    Along the years, many games have tried to mimic the simple game play of the Pokemon series. While Most downright sucked DQM has always stood strong against the juggernaut. As you start the game you find out you need to battle in a tournament & are given a choice of 3 monsters to carry out tasks on islands while getting a crew of stronger monsters to join you. This is as close to Pokemon Along the years, many games have tried to mimic the simple game play of the Pokemon series. While Most downright sucked DQM has always stood strong against the juggernaut. As you start the game you find out you need to battle in a tournament & are given a choice of 3 monsters to carry out tasks on islands while getting a crew of stronger monsters to join you. This is as close to Pokemon as it gets folks. You start breeding/synthesizing monsters, because unlike the giant these monsters do not evolve. The game graphically is one of the best on the DS, Only second to Dementium: The Ward. The problem here is sound quality... It kinda sucks. The sound effects are kinda blah and the music is catchy but a tad generic. The story is great but short. most of your time will be spent gathering new monsters to destroy the competition and synthing new monsters to get the most out of your time.Another con is the game is on the expensive side. It should have only cost 30-35 dollars but SEI thought they could get 40 out of it which is I guess the norm for SE games. But when your game is short dont try to steal my money k SEI? All & all it is a new Monsters game, and if you are reading this you most likely know what you are in for and will love it. Just dont go in to it expecting it to be as long as Pokemon & we'll be ok. 8/10.… Expand
  6. JoeyL.
    Nov 8, 2007
    10
    Most RPGs have a high cost of entry. By this, I mean that you are forced to wade through an amount of expository content that I (and other ADD folks like myself) find annoying to the point of losing our interest completely (I'm looking at YOU, Kingdom Hearts 2). The introductory material in DQM:J was minimal, and within minutes you're out in the world doing catching monsters. Most RPGs have a high cost of entry. By this, I mean that you are forced to wade through an amount of expository content that I (and other ADD folks like myself) find annoying to the point of losing our interest completely (I'm looking at YOU, Kingdom Hearts 2). The introductory material in DQM:J was minimal, and within minutes you're out in the world doing catching monsters. It's been a joy to play thus far, and I look forward to what lies ahead.… Expand
  7. JohnM.
    Dec 18, 2007
    9
    While i do argee that the controls and your first playthrough aren't very friendly, its easily overshadowed by the rather unique features of the game such as scounting and synthesising. However, like most games, this needs alot more of storyline as well.
  8. MattM.
    Dec 6, 2007
    10
    This is the best RPG on the DS to date, everything from the original with stunnign graphics.
  9. [Anonymous]
    Jan 6, 2008
    8
    It's deffinetely much better than Pokemon. This game is original, gives a lot of new features to the monster trainer genre. And Pokemon? Nearly nothing new, just the same catch-them-all-win-the-duels-and-the-league. And Monsters has full 3D graphics, more interesting story, better solution of receiving stronger monsters.
  10. TawnaE.
    Nov 21, 2007
    6
    Because I
  11. oblivion2011
    Nov 30, 2012
    7
    I am an avid fan of the original DWM series. The newest monster game does it best to bring back all the cute (or ugly) monsters we love. But I find the entire world to be too contained and linear for it to be a great monster game. I wish i could have explored countless worlds like I have with DWM2.
  12. DinoBeam
    Mar 26, 2022
    5
    This has a cool concept and monster-combining mechanic, but your walking speed and battles are super super slow, with long fades to black, and you cannot change the speed at all! The art design of the characters is also very cheap.
  13. Johnny_evil2101
    Jul 13, 2018
    8
    DQM Joker is a game where you catch and fuse monsters to make up your team.
    The story is relatively interesting but the true fun lives in the gameplay.
    You make a party of 3 monsters which you can scout (catch) or make yourself by synthesising 2 other monsters you controlled. There are about 200 obtainable monsters divided in 8 ranks, (F-A; S and X) not counting those that were obtained    DQM Joker is a game where you catch and fuse monsters to make up your team.
    The story is relatively interesting but the true fun lives in the gameplay.
    You make a party of 3 monsters which you can scout (catch) or make yourself by synthesising 2 other monsters you controlled.
    There are about 200 obtainable monsters divided in 8 ranks, (F-A; S and X) not counting those that were obtained by wifi reward, of which many can be caught in the wild provided you have a bit of luck or a powerfull party.
    This is partly a problem in DQM, you catch monsters by impressing them with the strength of your monsters, which makes a Percentage, making it a bit luck based from time to time.
    The combat is turn based like pokémon but unlike pokémon your monster can learn almost 50 moves using the a skill tree system like in the regular DQ series. These skill trees and parts of the skill points invested in them can be given on from a parent to a child monster aswell as their stats, making it a lot of fun to synthesize over and over to get stronger monsters with better skills to tackle the challenges the game puts in front of you.

    The story is quite lineair. The game consists of 7 islands and a few random encounter islands, but you can always go back to islands where you have completed the story for additional content like powerfull monsters you couldn't take on before. There's also a night/day cycle which changes the roaming monsters and their behaviour.

    All in all a solid, heavily underrated game that you should definetly pick up if you like games in the style of pokémon.    … Expand
  14. Tabbou
    Jul 19, 2022
    8
    Really good : the story, battles, stuff, skills, tame monsters, fuse them and create stronger ones, all are set for a good RPG.
    Too bad that some monsters can only be obtained via wi-fi and online stuff (all of them are down right now) Still, you can play on emulator and enjoy ^^

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best DS Game of 2007
26
#26 Most Discussed DS Game of 2007
14
#14 Most Shared DS Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Nintendo Gamer
    72
    A welcome twist on the Pokemon formula, but only an English translation will really uncover the game's possible depths. For now, it's fun and a joy to look at. [Mar 2007, p.75]
  2. Hardcore Gamer
    95
    It's awesome. Joker features the same style of RPG-lite storyline and team-based combat from the earlier "Monsters" games, only everything here has been prettied up. [Dec 2007, p.62]
  3. Play Magazine
    70
    If you don't dig Pokemon, do DQM. Or, if you've already beaten Pokemon, take a stab at DQM. In the end, though, it's just more of the same. [Nov 2007, p.77]
See all critic reviews »