Japanese Steam reviews of DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Dark Prince: 54.5% positive

Overall approval rates

The collected Japanese reviews show a 54.5 percent positive rating. The 95 percent confidence interval ranges from 49.2 percent to 59.6 percent. Steam lists a 54.5 percent positive rating for its entire Japanese review history. The collected English reviews show a 76.0 percent positive rating. The 95 percent confidence interval ranges from 69.6 percent to 81.4 percent. Steam records an 80.2 percent positive rating across all 591 English reviews. The Japanese sample sits 21.5 percentage points below the English sample. Both groups agree that core mechanics dominate the conversation.

What recommending reviewers praise

gameplay, combat, core mechanics appears in 68.8 percent of Japanese reviews that recommend the game. amount of content, length, replayability appears in 38.1 percent of recommending Japanese reviews. story, scenario, writing appears in 37.0 percent of recommending Japanese reviews. characters, character design appears in 13.2 percent of recommending Japanese reviews. graphics, art direction appears in 12.2 percent of recommending Japanese reviews. price, value for money, DLC pricing appears in 13.2 percent of recommending Japanese reviews. English-language recommending reviews mention gameplay, combat, core mechanics in 70.4 percent of cases. The amount of content, length, replayability appears in 34.9 percent of recommending English reviews. story, scenario, writing appears in 23.7 percent of recommending English reviews. characters, character design appears in 12.5 percent of recommending English reviews. graphics, art direction appears in 16.4 percent of recommending English reviews.

Japanese reviewers praise the synthesis system for removing gender restrictions. They note that monster collection remains engaging. Players writing reviews in English highlight the improved visuals and familiar monster raising loops. English reviewers also appreciate the streamlined breeding process.

おすすめにしてあるのは大好きなモンスターズシリーズだからです。

I recommend it because it is my favorite Monsters series.

総評 育成と音楽は普通に神。他はどうしようもないゴミ。

Overall verdict, breeding and music are normally god-tier. Everything else is unfixable trash.

What non-recommending reviewers criticise

gameplay, combat, core mechanics appears in 61.4 percent of Japanese reviews that do not recommend the game. story, scenario, writing appears in 36.1 percent of non-recommending Japanese reviews. performance, optimization, bugs, crashes appears in 26.6 percent of non-recommending Japanese reviews. difficulty, balance appears in 15.2 percent of non-recommending Japanese reviews. graphics, art direction appears in 11.4 percent of non-recommending Japanese reviews. characters, character design appears in 10.1 percent of non-recommending Japanese reviews. price, value for money, DLC pricing appears in 4.4 percent of non-recommending Japanese reviews. English-language non-recommending reviews mention gameplay, combat, core mechanics in 60.4 percent of cases. story, scenario, writing appears in 39.6 percent of non-recommending English reviews. performance, optimization, bugs, crashes appears in 33.3 percent of non-recommending English reviews. characters, character design appears in 8.3 percent of non-recommending English reviews. graphics, art direction appears in 20.8 percent of non-recommending English reviews. price, value for money, DLC pricing appears in 8.3 percent of non-recommending English reviews. PC port quality, Steam Deck appears in 10.4 percent of non-recommending English reviews.

Japanese critics point out pacing issues and weak character arcs. They also note that dungeon design interrupts the main progression. English critics describe the narrative as an afterthought. They mention empty environments and repetitive combat encounters. performance, optimization, bugs, crashes reviewers report network errors and unpolished controls.

Switch版プレイ済 DQMシリーズは一通りプレイしていますがシリーズ通して最悪のクソです。

I played the Switch version. I have played through the Monsters series, and it is the worst in the franchise.

Differences between language groups

The share of recommending reviews differs by 21.5 percentage points between the two languages. Japanese-language reviewers discuss story, scenario, writing more frequently in positive reviews. English-language reviewers discuss story, scenario, writing less frequently in positive reviews. English reviewers mention performance, optimization, bugs, crashes more often in negative reviews. Japanese reviewers mention difficulty, balance in 15.2 percent of negative reviews. English reviewers mention difficulty, balance in 6.2 percent of negative reviews. The two groups of reviewers differ in their topic distribution and recommendation rates. The difference is statistically significant with a p-value of less than 0.001.