Dragon Quest Monsters Is A Blast on the Steam Deck - First Impressions

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It's safe to say I am a sucker for Dragon Quest games, so when Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince dropped on Steam, it was an easy purchase for me. I enjoy it a lot so far, especially since the entire gameplay loop is closer to Pokemon rather than the traditional JRPG experience the mainline games have. It's a nice change of pace, and it feels like it would be a great fit for the Steam Deck. So, I decided to take a look for myself, and I am very pleased with performance so far!

Dragon Quest Monsters isn't exactly the most demanding game, but I am still very pleased with the performance! Playing at the highest quality settings at 1280x800, we can get a solid 50 FPS with a 11W - 14W battery drain so far (with largely populated areas going to 18W). The game still feels really smooth, and we get the highest visuals possible. The Medium Quality settings do seem to hold 60 more, but it's not a huge improvement to the overall drain. Low quality makes an even smaller visual improvement, and degrades the visuals much more. High Quality at 50 FPS has been the best compromise so far, and while there are some parts that can hit 60, more populated areas like towns can go below.

There are some minor stutters here and there, but it doesn't affect actual gameplay, so I am not phased by it. It feels great and has been sticking stable so far, even when the seasons change that can affect the entire landscape.

There may be some heavier areas down the line, but with how well it is running so far, I would say it's a safe bet that Dragon Quest Monsters is going to be a great portable experience. While it was released on the Nintendo Switch last year, it is still great that the game is running well on the Steam Deck, which includes better looking visuals and higher framerate. This is easily the best way to enjoy this game, and I know I will be spending many more hours capturing monsters, leveling them up, and making my team way too overpowered.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is $39.99 and is rated Playable due to small in-game text.

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