Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince PC review: Psaro and friends have never looked better

Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince is a fun, new take on the classic franchise’s formula. However, it was held back by its exclusivity on the Nintendo Switch! Now, I love my Switch, don’t get me wrong, but its processing and graphical output can only go so far. Moreover, some simply don’t prefer to play games on that console, and would rather play on PC. This latest version of the game brings it to both PC and mobile platforms, which can only expand the player base.

Unfortunately, the title doesn’t appear to be on PlayStation or Xbox, but perhaps that can change in the future. Moreover, as we stated in our Switch review, while it’s not a perfect game, it’s definitely fun, albeit held back in a few ways. Does this version correct the course? Let’s find out!

Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince brings the fun Switch action to PC

Skeletons, Slimes, Dragons - all kinds of friends to make in Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince (Image via Square Enix)

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Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince is the third mainline entry in this classic Square Enix series, and it’s now on PC! In it, players take control of the final boss of Dragon Quest IV - Psaro. He’s on a mission to defeat his father, but cannot do it alone. In fact, Psaro is going to need the help of some powerful monsters, and he needs to tame them himself.

Without spoiling the story, there will be several large maps that Psaro travels across, capturing, fusing, and battling monsters to make them as strong as possible. There are some truly titanic possibilities, from familiar generic enemies to major Dragon Quest bosses available to add to your team.

One of the great things about the PC edition of Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince is that all the updates and extra content meant for the Nintendo Switch are included in this version. So, all the extra DLC items are yours right out of the gate - although you will need to unlock them by progressing through the story.

That being said, PVP has been removed completely and it may upset some players. I reached out to Square Enix, and they claimed it's due to the inability to "provide sufficient support to users for the various situations that may arise" in online matches. In addition, according to Square Enix, it's incredibly difficult to set up crossplay with the Switch. So, you can still do the PVE Quickfire Contest, but not PVP.

Performance has vastly improved in Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince PC port

Arena Battles, or battles in the world, they all look great and play smooth (Image via Square Enix)

One of the few problems I had with Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince was its chunky lag issues. The Nintendo Switch version would lag pretty hard or have low FPS in certain areas. That has not been the case at all in the PC port, as no matter what I’ve done, the game has been smooth.

While I appreciate that, Square Enix has made even more improvements to the title. The maximum framerate can be uncapped, or you can set it to a standard number: 30, 60, 90, 120, and 144. Furthermore, it supports 4K monitors, and I’ve heard that it also supports Ultrawide. My main gaming monitors are 3840x2160, and the game looks flawless on these. There’s no input lag or delay of any kind on the PC.

The graphics and sound are amazingly crisp and clean in the PC port

This is the only time the game really looks dated - the loading screens (Image via Square Enix)

While I thought the graphics on the Switch version were perfectly fine for the platform, I have to say that it has a night and day difference from the PC version. The graphics in Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince’s PC port are so beautiful and clean! Every area looks great, with some very tiny exceptions.

Some of the rain effects look a little washed out, but that’s not a big deal. The mini-map also doesn’t look quite as clear as the rest of the graphics. The other minor qualm is that the loading screens, while brief, also look like they’re just the Switch versions, without any kind of upscaling. Ultimately, these are very minor complaints.

Moving on, the music sounds brilliant on the PC version as well. The sound effects are clear, and the orchestration is enjoyable to listen to. I’ve always been a fan of the Dragon Quest soundtracks, and this one’s no exception.

In Conclusion

With the help of Rose, you can travel the realms and capture a wide array of monsters (Image via Square Enix)

While Dragon Quest Monsters The Dark Prince’s PC port still has the same predictable gameplay loop as the previous titles, it’s still a blast to play. You tame monsters, fuse them, and send them into battle to make them stronger. While the main goal is to defeat your father, you also need to climb the ranks of the battle arena. Moreover, there are tons of monsters available, so you can put together a wide assortment of teams.

It’s a brilliant game and a nice change from the typical monster-catching titles like Pokemon. If you perhaps skipped out on DQM3 on the Switch, now’s the time to grab it. The cost is more than reasonable for all the hours of great gameplay and cute monsters this game features.