Dragon Quest Monsters 1+2

Although each of the games have distinct differences, they all have similar gameplay to the main Dragon Quest series. Players control the main character, but, unlike in Dragon Quest , the main character does not fight. Caught or bred monsters participate in battles instead of humans, although this changes slightly in Caravan Heart . Battles for the first three games are fought in first-person and are turn-based .

Monsters are able to gain experience points just like humans in the main series would and can learn spells and skills straight from the Dragon Quest games. Battle system Up until Joker , battles were fought against randomly encountered monsters in a first-person view. Joker changed this by allowing players to see enemies on the field as well as making battles three-dimensional . The player controls up to three monsters at once, and their HP and MP are displayed onscreen.

The player can then choose from several options on what to do. As of Joker 2 , there are certain monsters who do take up two or three spaces on party, to fit their size. As of Terry's Wonderland 3D for Nintendo 3DS , there are four spaces in the party instead of three, allowing the player to control more monsters at a time. Typically, the player does not directly control the monsters and instead gives them suggestions.

Charge tells monsters to use their most direct and powerful attacks. Mixed suggests to monsters to use support abilities, such as shields, stat enhancements, or summons and Cautious tells monsters to use defensive abilities, such as healing and reviving spells and abilities that remove harmful stat effects. During battle, the player can select Plan, which allows the player to change any of the commands. Command gives the player direct control of the party and cannot be used in arena battles.

Fight simply makes monsters follow their set commands. The player can also use items during battle, many which are from the Dragon Quest games. The party can also attempt to flee random battles. Personalities A message may appear that says "will attempt" for some of the commands; this is because each monster is given a certain personality depending on the player's actions used in combat.

Those actions are Charge, Mixed and Cautious, which when used can raise/lower one of three hidden stats, Bravery, Prudence and Caring. Basically this means a monster high in one of the three stats will be better at using an attack of that type and more likely to obey, for example a monster with the Personality type Reckless (which is high in Bravery but low in Prudence and Caring) will be more likely to use a Charge attack, whereas a monster with the Personality type Careful (a type high in Caring but low in Bravery and Prudence) will be more likely to use a Cautious attack. Personalities change quicker at lower levels than at higher levels, and monsters with a high wildness stat have harder-to-change personalities. A monster can have one of 27 personalities.