TL;DR:
Its a fun game, but go in with tempered expectations


Its just barely a positive review for me. So far Its a good port of a fun but middling switch game. It will get a lot of love, and deserves it, but i almost feel the need to make this a negative review. Its an unfortunate example of a series that deserves better but has flaws and Square Enix wont put in the money to develop a bigger DQM game.

It's less of an upgrade and more of a side-grade to the 3ds titles, but as those didnt release to the west, and on the least popular, if beloved, handheld. There's a good chance most reading this will never play those (there are still ways, even for those who can't read Japanese, but others can explain that). There's only about 526 monsters to DQTW3D's 609, DQMJ3's 700, and the Cobi/Tara remakes 800. Size works differently from the Joker games for better or worse, and ranks aren't well explained. Synthesis is fun as always, but dont rush it, your syntehsized monsters get stat bonuses from the parents, so higher levels before fusing often = better. Music is good, but again not as good as previous games, several tracks from previous games just don't re-appear. Another big loss is that the PC version is missing some online multiplayer, even with other pc players. Its a feature I wouldn't have used much but in the year 2024 cross play saves games with small, splintered populations. Graphically, its a switch game, and not as good looking as DQ11, but its passable.

That being said, the game's biggest flaw on switch was performance, and thats not really a problem on PC. Starter monsters are more than capable of going to the endgame if you choose (when fusing remaking one of the parents with the benefits of both is an option). Not to mention its a monster taming game on steam, and we are always in short supply of those in general, let alone on PC. If you are not familiar with the series (and in the west it it was only on GBC and NDS so no surprise), Don't go in expecting Pokemon, think more along the lines of a typical rpg. It just like Dragon Quest, but playing as the monsters (duh), like persona, or like the Digimon cyber sleuth games. The PC version comes with the DLC and some are incredibly helpful, like a den where you can battle and scout monsters you've previously scouted.

Its a game I want to love, and I do, but go in with tempered expectations.


Edits for things i missed:

Performance:
The steamdeck doesnt even struggle to run this game. this may in part be because several of the switch limitations make their way over. when walking if you keep your eyes on the floor you will notice several zones of distinct detail, when walking you can see at least 5 lines seperating these zone. Monster FPS is better than on the switch but you can still find low framerate monsters if you look for them, especially in one of the zones.

Story:
should be mentioned for anyone new to the game that the story is fine, its really more dressing for the rest of the game, but if you care about understanding it fully or understanding why your character does some things, you'll need to know the story of DQ 4.

Features:
Some reviews have complained about the game being an auto battler. While they're not entirely wrong, the 'set tactics and let your monsters choose' has been present since the original GBC games. Every DQM game, including this one, has a way for you to manually order monsters as well.

There are also two options that make grinding more convenient, you can control the speed of battles, and you can let the game auto select fight for you. these were both in the 3ds games as well.

Nitpicks:
when accessing content that is reliant on the internet (free chest of items every hour, the pseudo multiplayer, etc.), you will need to agree EVERY time. not sure if this is a bug or bad design choice (its not on the switch).

Bugs:
The one bug i have see so far is cloud saves. i had this and managed to fix it but others haven't. The reason i consider this a bug is that the problems so far seem to be unique to this game, and i've had no issue with the other roughly 150 games that are on my deck and PC.

TL;DR: Its a fun game, but go in with tempered expectations Its just barely a positive review for me. So far Its a good port of a fun but middling switch game. It will get a lot of love, and deserves it, but i almost feel the need to make this a negative review. Its an unfortunate example of a series that deserves better but has flaws and Square Enix wont put in the money to develop a bigger DQM game. It's less of an upgrade and more of a side-grade to the 3ds titles, but as those didnt release to the west, and on the least popular, if beloved, handheld. There's a good chance most reading this will never play those (there are still ways, even for those who can't read Japanese, but others can explain that). There's only about 526 monsters to DQTW3D's 609, DQMJ3's 700, and the Cobi/Tara remakes 800. Size works differently from the Joker games for better or worse, and ranks aren't well explained. Synthesis is fun as always, but dont rush it, your syntehsized monsters get stat bonuses from the parents, so higher levels before fusing often = better. Music is good, but again not as good as previous games, several tracks from previous games just don't re-appear. Another big loss is that the PC version is missing some online multiplayer, even with other pc players. Its a feature I wouldn't have used much but in the year 2024 cross play saves games with small, splintered populations. Graphically, its a switch game, and not as good looking as DQ11, but its passable. That being said, the game's biggest flaw on switch was performance, and thats not really a problem on PC. Starter monsters are more than capable of going to the endgame if you choose (when fusing remaking one of the parents with the benefits of both is an option). Not to mention its a monster taming game on steam, and we are always in short supply of those in general, let alone on PC. If you are not familiar with the series (and in the west it it was only on GBC and NDS so no surprise), Don't go in expecting Pokemon, think more along the lines of a typical rpg. It just like Dragon Quest, but playing as the monsters (duh), like persona, or like the Digimon cyber sleuth games. The PC version comes with the DLC and some are incredibly helpful, like a den where you can battle and scout monsters you've previously scouted. Its a game I want to love, and I do, but go in with tempered expectations. Edits for things i missed: Performance: The steamdeck doesnt even struggle to run this game. this may in part be because several of the switch limitations make their way over. when walking if you keep your eyes on the floor you will notice several zones of distinct detail, when walking you can see at least 5 lines seperating these zone. Monster FPS is better than on the switch but you can still find low framerate monsters if you look for them, especially in one of the zones. Story: should be mentioned for anyone new to the game that the story is fine, its really more dressing for the rest of the game, but if you care about understanding it fully or understanding why your character does some things, you'll need to know the story of DQ 4. Features: Some reviews have complained about the game being an auto battler. While they're not entirely wrong, the 'set tactics and let your monsters choose' has been present since the original GBC games. Every DQM game, including this one, has a way for you to manually order monsters as well. There are also two options that make grinding more convenient, you can control the speed of battles, and you can let the game auto select fight for you. these were both in the 3ds games as well. Nitpicks: when accessing content that is reliant on the internet (free chest of items every hour, the pseudo multiplayer, etc.), you will need to agree EVERY time. not sure if this is a bug or bad design choice (its not on the switch). Bugs: The one bug i have see so far is cloud saves. i had this and managed to fix it but others haven't. The reason i consider this a bug is that the problems so far seem to be unique to this game, and i've had no issue with the other roughly 150 games that are on my deck and PC.