Square Enix launched Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland SP last week in Japan. Since then, more detailed screenshots and impressions have popped up regarding how it plays compared to Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D on the Nintendo 3DS. (Thanks, Denfaminicogamer!)
What makes Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland SP fresh compared to Terry’s Wonderland 3D is that the game comes with dozens of new monsters. It brings the total to over 650 monsters (3D had 609), including some from Dragon Quest XI. There are also new skills and a new El Dorado area. The game costs 2,400 yen and is a one-time purchase with no microtransactions at all.
The game is made to be able to be played with one hand, and thus the UI has been changed as a result. The top half of the phone screen shows the 3D world, while a middle portion is used for a nifty map feature that can be checked anytime. The bottom portion houses the virtual joystick, as well as menu options and other features like Auto Run.
The game features the Dragon Quest series’ traditional turn-based battle system, but with monsters as the party members that you instruct. You can choose general strategies or order them to do specific actions. You can even set how often they use particular skills, to help with team setup.
All this May sound familiar to those who are already familiar with the previous versions of Terry’s Wonderland, but the smartphone interface allows for easy management of your monsters and their actions. Your monsters’ actions are viewed via the arrows on the bottom portion of the screen, and you just need to tap monster icons to choose the target.
Furthermore, it’s now easier to tell which monsters you’ve befriended before, thanks to check mark boxes at the bottom left of their portraits.
The classic Monster Breeding element of the game is present and accounted for, and it keeps the nuances that it had in previous versions.
As for new elements to the game, Terry’s Wonderland SP has a new feature where you can battle the parties of other players. By winning against others, you can get one of their monsters and earn rewards if you accumulate wins, as well as acquire higher renown and rank. Overall, you want to ultimately head towards creating a party fit to take on other people’s teams.
The smartphone version also has two features called Auto Battle and Easy Adventure. Auto Battle immediately ends a battle just as it starts by simulating the outcome, making it easy to collect experience and gold. Easy Adventure can only be used once per hour, but it immediately sends you through cleared dungeons for EXP, gold, and even monsters. It’s a surprising feature that’s been added to fit the platform.
Overall, Terry’s Wonderland SP is a game that is a surprising fit for the mobile platform, perhaps because it already had a foundation built for it via the 3DS version. While the other mobile Dragon Quest ports didn’t play smoothly, this one is overall higher quality and has the addictive Breeding system as well. The fact that the game is a one-time purchase instead of being free-to-play is also a plus.
That said, it seems that some Android phones are having a few issues, so it’s best to check the supported phone models first.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland SP is available for iOS and Android in Japan.
