This article has a talk page!This page details pre-release information and/or media for Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker.
Early mechanics#
Scouting mechanics#
Two early concepts for systems for scouting monsters were described in the Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book.
Fishing#
A fishing-based scouting system would have allowed the player to use a fishing rod to fish for monsters in many different types of areas including rivers, grass, high cliffs, town wells, and more. The types of monsters catchable would vary based on the type of area, such as slimes being catchable in grass while sky dragons would be catchable in high cliffs. A lot of artwork was drawn for it including an early design for the protagonist that shows them carrying a fishing rod.1
- ★Fish anywhere and any time, with the "Anywhere Rod"!★
- The player has a marvellous fishing rod that can catch monsters.
- Monsters that are caught by fishing will become your ally.
- ★Fish anything!
- Grass → Slime
- High Cliffs → Sky Dragon
- etc
- ★Fish anywhere!
- Town well, port, rivers, sand dunes, fields, forests, frozen lakes, snow, etc.
(Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book pg 199, Translated into English by Nejimakipiyo.)
Card sealing#
Another monster scouting concept considered during development involved the protagonist sealing monsters into cards. A prototype image of this concept was shown in the art book.
- 19 [Seal monsters in cards]
Prototype screen of an idea during development.
(Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book pg 125, Translated into English by Nejimakipiyo.)
Early character designs#
Protagonist#
An early design of the protagonist featuring them carrying a fishing pole was shown in Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book.2 This design went along with the early scouting mechanic where the protagonist would fish for monsters to scout them.
An unused model of this design appears in the released game's files.
Solitaire#
An early promotional screenshot of a cutscene in the game shows an early design of Solitaire.
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This design can also be seen in a CG that is present in the final game.
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Early UI#
Text box#
An earlier version of the text boxes was shown in an early promotional screenshot.
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Battle screen#
Two early mock ups of battle screens were shown in Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book.3
References#
Citations#
Scout Attack is the main system that represents DQMJ. But before Scout Attack came to be, the idea was to catch monster companions with a fishing rod (p.125). It seemed very likely that this system would be implemented, and a lot of artwork was drawn for it. Just imagine that kind of monster scout in DQMJ... wouldn't that have been so fun?
What was even more interesting was that you could use your fishing rod anywhere to catch monsters! It would be fun to explore a huge field thinking "What can I catch over there?" (Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book pg 199, Translated into English by Nejimakipiyo.)↩︎
- *17 [Hypothetical Protagonist] A protagonist illustration from the beginning of DQMJ development. (Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book pg 125, Translated into English by Nejimakipiyo.)↩︎
- *16 [Mock-up Battle Screen in 3D] A screen like the one on the right was considered in the beginning of DQMJ development. (Dragon Quest Monsters 20th Anniversary Monster Master Memories Art Book pg 124, Translated into English by Nejimakipiyo.)↩︎