Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World is set to expand its roster with over 500 collectible monsters, blending the franchise's established monster-collecting mechanics with an expanded narrative. The upcoming title revisits Bianca and Nera, protagonists from Dragon Quest V, who embark on a quest in a new realm called the Witherwood.
Their journey is motivated by a mysterious illness afflicting their fathers, with the only cure found in the Witherwood, a land facing its own crisis. Players will utilize a magical watering tool to restore sacred trees and gather a party of monsters to help bring balance to the realm and save their parents. The game aims to capture the light-hearted and charming adventure typical of the Dragon Quest Monsters sub-series, allowing players to team up with a wide array of the franchise's unique creatures.
The Withered World places a greater emphasis on the lead monster wranglers, Bianca and Nera, compared to previous installments. Unlike in Pokémon, the monster wranglers are more integral to the party. Bianca and Nera each possess unique perks and favored monster types, offering benefits for building specific monster parties that complement their abilities. Bianca, for instance, shows a preference for dragon and beast types.
Exploration in the game spans various zones, including a desert area and a tropical island zone populated by formidable monsters. The protagonist chosen at the start influences the initial party composition, with Nera offering a magic-focused build that restores MP post-battle and resurrects fallen allies, while Bianca's build leans towards a more combat-oriented style, focusing on keeping the party's HP high and debuffing enemies. Over the course of the adventure, protagonists and new monster wranglers will meet and combine their parties.
Battles in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World follow a turn-based structure. Players can issue commands to their monsters, use items for healing, or utilize an auto-battle function. Party composition is also a key element, with the size of monsters affecting how many party slots they occupy. Larger monsters may take up more space but can offer greater power, depending on the chosen wrangler and their abilities.
The game features a vast selection of monsters, with over 500 to train and evolve. Scouting monsters during battles is a primary method of party expansion, with certain conditions needing to be met to recruit them. The game also introduces a synthesis system, allowing players to combine existing monsters to create new ones. This system builds upon the large number of base monsters, some of which are unique variants of familiar Dragon Quest creatures.
However, some players experienced motion sickness during previews, attributed to the stylized, rolling visual style of the world map. The developers have included accessibility options to help mitigate this, allowing adjustments to the camera and visual effects during exploration.
Overall, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World appears to be a charming and expansive addition to the sub-series, emphasizing the unique appeal of the Dragon Quest universe within the competitive monster-collecting RPG genre.