http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_Monsters:_Joker

I've always been a fan of this series, ever since it was known as Dragon Warrior Monsters on the Game Boy Color. What's great about this installment is that there's no random battles, a claim that Pokemon has yet to make. As soon as I get this game, I'm going to assemble my trademark team of destuction and smash online. Anyone else gonna hook up with this game?

Edited by The Helldragon on November 6, 2007 at 9:47:04.

I'm actually very strongly considering getting this, but there are other games that I want more than this, so I will probably get this eventually.

I'll look for it, but i'm not sure. Back during the second game I remember how ridiculous my team was, I think my favorite was always Cloud King...

What can I say, man? I dig it a lot.

I like DragonQuest so it tickles my interest. There are some other games I'd probably like to buy first, but so far I've only managed to purchase two games total this year.

Oh my.

I think I've already maxed out my leeway on Christmas software (read: TOO MANY GAMES THIS HOLIDAY) so I've had to choose wisely. I left this one out.

But, pending what people think of it, I might pick it up eventually.

So I got Joker today and I've been playing it. My reactions:

-No random battles = godsend. Of course, some enemies on the map still blindly charge at you and follow you, but if you loop around them, you can often throw them off and escape.

-Scouting is better than the former monster catching method of bribery: no need to purchase meat. When you scout, your monsters try to show off by smacking the monster you're scouting. This raises a percentage bar (the number by which is raised is influenced by level) which represents the chance the monster'll join you. It works pretty decently-it's easy to figure out your odds of success.

-You can have three guys in your party and three on the sidelines you can switch out with outside of battle. This would be a great option if they allowed you to switch dead monsters with fresh ones on the sidelines.

-With no random battles, I can appreciate how much better the battle system looks and its ease of use. It's running off the DQ8 engine, and looks pretty good for a DS game.

-You throw in points into skill sets to learn skills, rather than just one list of skills. This way, you can choose to learn skills over stat bonuses, for example. I like this, so I hope it goes deeper than it is now.

-You can also equip weapons to monsters, adding a neat little layer of strategy. I don't think you can put on armor, though.


Now here's the major thing: I don't think you can directly hook up with a person to battle. You can download teams, and by entering a "Chance Encounter" mode, you can battle computer-controlled versions of random teams of other players, but there's no direct battle option except local multiplayer, which is disappointing. I bet someone'll find a way to get players to download a certain team, though, so we'll have to wait on that.

I'm gonna try out "Chance Encounter" now and see how close I can get to that feature.

Well, I definitely love the Dragon Quest series, so it seems likely that I'll get it eventually. Then again, the Monsters Subseries never grabbed me the way the main series did, so it probably depends on my mood the next time I'm game hunting.

The biggest diffence between this game and pokemon is that pokemon has Mudkips, which makes pokemon the better game.




Regardless,I may check it out, even if I hate the art style. >_>