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. 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
  2. TawnaE.
    Nov 21, 2007
    6
    Because I
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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]
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