Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Tose
Publisher(s)	Square Enix (Japan) Nintendo
Designer(s)	Yuji Hori
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Koichi Sugiyama
Series	Dragon Quest Monsters
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date(s)	JP April 28, 2010 JP March 31, 2011 (Professional version) NA September 19, 2011 EU October 7, 2011[1] [2]
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: A ESRB: E PEGI: 7

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ ジョーカー2, Doragon Kuesuto Monsutāzu Jōkā Tsu^?)' is a Nintendo DS console role-playing game published by Square Enix. It is the sequel to Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker and is the fifth game in the Dragon Quest Monsters series. It was released in Japan on April 28, 2010 and a US release on September 19, 2011, as revealed at the 2011 E3.^[3] An expanded version of the game, titled Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional, was released on March 31, 2011. It features new monsters and abilities, with the same story.

Gameplay

Joker 2's gameplay follows closely to its predecessor. Players explore areas and tame wild monsters into their party. Monsters fight in turn-based combat and grow stronger. 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. 311 monsters from the Dragon Quest games appear in Joker 2, with a few new species, many from the original "Dragon Warrior Monsters" games^[3] This is the second game in the series to feature Wi-Fi support, after the first Joker game, and the first to support direct battling between players.

Square Enix released Joker 2 Professional, an expanded version of the game, on March 31, 2011. Professional features over 100 new monsters, as well as new regions and abilities, but the same story. Players are able to import their old monsters from the original game.^[4]

Online

Joker 2 has Wi-Fi support and Square Enix has announced that up to eight players can connect to each other.^[5] The players can then battle their monster teams against each other in real time.^[6] The game will also keep track of the best players through leaderboards.

Reception

The game sold 1.2 million copies by July 2010.^[7] It was the top-selling game for Square Enix for the April to September period of 2010,^[8] the highest-selling game in Japan for the month of May,^[9] and the sixth-highest selling game in Japan for all of 2010.^[10] The game received a 37 out of 40 from Famitsu, with one reviewer giving it a 10 and the other three awarding it a 9.^[11]

References

1. ^ "Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Trailer Approaches". http://ds.nintendolife.com/news/2011/07/dragon_quest_monsters_joker_2_trailer_approaches. Retrieved July 22, 2011. 
2. ^ "Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Comic Con Trailer". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHjiZPVwnIc. Retrieved 2011-07-21. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Gifford, Kevin (2010). "Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Announced". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177885. Retrieved February 10, 2010. 
4. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2010-12-19). "Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional Jump Trailer". Andriasang. http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/12/19/dqmj2_pro_jump_pv/. Retrieved 2011-03-16. 
5. ^ "Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 screenshots scouted". Siliconera. 2010. http://www.siliconera.com/2010/02/10/dragon-quest-monsters-joker-2-screenshots-scouted/. Retrieved February 10, 2010. 
6. ^ Spencer (2010-01-27). "Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Announced". Siliconera. http://www.siliconera.com/2010/01/27/dragon-quest-monsters-joker-2-announced/. Retrieved 2011-03-16. 
7. ^ http://www.famitsu.com/game/rank/top30/1237406_1134.html
8. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2010-11-04). "Square Enix's Biggest Games Were Dragon Quest and Kane & Lynch". IGN. http://ds.ign.com/articles/113/1132569p1.html. Retrieved 2011-03-16. 
9. ^ http://www.justpushstart.com/2010/06/08/famitsu-monthly-may-charts-dragon-quest-comes-out-on-top/
10. ^ http://www.rpgamer.com/news/Q1-2011/012511b.html
11. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2010-04-27). "This Week's Slightly Early Flying Get". Andriasang. http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/04/27/flying_get/. Retrieved 2011-03-16. 

External links

• Official North American website
• Official website (Japanese)