Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker - Gameplay

Gameplay

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is the first game in the Dragon Quest Monsters series to be in 3D, and the first to be developed by TOSE. It uses cel-shaded animation, and the battles are of the same type in other Dragon Quest games: commands are issued in a turn based style, then are executed in full 3D.

The player's avatar is that of a tanned, grey/spikey haired youth with an editable name. He dreams of becoming a world famous monsters 'scout', which is a tamer of wild monsters who uses them in battle. There is a link to real world scouts in that there is a landmark in-game known as Baden's bell which is a reference to the scouts creator Baden Powell.

The battle system itself is very similar to previous Dragon Quest Monsters games. The player controls up to three monsters that make up the party, and can issue them direct orders or set them to one of 5 AI settings. The main character does not directly participate in battles except for when the player uses items.

Joker does not have random battles. The only way to encounter enemies is to run into one on the overworld. The monsters can be seen, avoided, and attacked from their back to get a free attack round. Later on, the player gets the Whistle ability. This can be used at any time, other than in the city and where monsters don't appear, and in a way does count as a random battle as the enemies are randomly chosen.

The game takes place in the region known as Green Bays, consisting of seven islands. A jet-ski is used to travel from one island to another, with specific paths defined for every couple of piers. However, the main character may notice uncharted islands beyond some of the main islands. The chances for this are completely random and are not located on the main map. Pirates may also appear when traveling between islands, with the pirate captain, Crow, counting as a rare monster.