I know it might not mean a lot to some folks here, but enemy design is very important to me in games. Not just mechanically, though that's important too, but in terms of general aesthetics I always appreciate when a game goes the extra mile to give life to the mooks and randos. It's one of the reasons I really have a fondness for Nintendo games, because generally their monster designs are pretty top notch---Mario and Kirby especially, to the point I love when minor enemies are given playable appearances, but Zelda, Kid Icarus, and Donkey Kong are also high up there. And yes, I'm counting Returns for the most part! This may be why I've never been able to get into Metroid, their enemies designs don't do much for me outside like Ridley and Kraid, but I digress. Likewise as much as I appreciate the functionality of Crash and Spyro's enemies, I always felt their games were a bit low-tier due to pretty bland enemies all around.
But Dragon Quest. Man, Dragon Quest has amazing enemy designs. Now I wouldn't say they beat Pokemon necessarily, but that's due to the fact the latter are the main draw of the series while the DQ monsters don't necessarily need to be amazing since they're meant to be taken out, but the amount of style and personality each of the monsters possesses really exceeds the base level of satisfaction. Sure, there are a bunch of recolors, but the lovable pun names of the localization make it really fun to see what name they thought of for each alternative. And wow, the monsters POP in Dragon Quest XI while still maintaining their classic designs and in some cases poses. Say what you will about Toriyama's humans, but his creatures are pretty top-notch and iconic. I'm sure some of the monsters are designed by other folks much like how Sugimori didn't design all the Pokemon, but the Toriyama-style is just appealing.
So, yeah, let's talk Dragon Quest monster designs!
First, let's get the obvious out of the way...
Platypunk. Appreciation of this creature is the sign of a true Dragon Quest connoisseur---if Slime is the Bugs/Mickey of Dragon Quest, then Platypunk is the Daffy/Donald.
Toriyama is also pretty good at making cool armor (I mean, the Freeza Force shoulder pads are iconic!) and thus we have the Restless Armour. For some reason it got me giddy when I encountered this monster in DQXI, and it immediately shifts into its classic pose facing sideways to the camera. That's just such a nostalgic touch for me, even though I'm not a huge DQ fan I've seen this monster enough to recognize its pose.
One of the cutest monsters in DQXI, and making its western debut, the Sham Hatwitch (say it a few times) is just adorable.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is this badass creature, the Kriller Killer. This is actually a mook recolor of a boss, but I didn't want to spoil the boss' design by giving away the name---anyway, when I first saw the (boss version) of this creature I was like, wow, fucking awesome. A mix of a scorpion, a cobra, and an anomalocaris, this dude is tough as he needs to look.
And, well, I'll end this by posting a green dragon because, damn, if you're gonna make a series called Dragon Quest you better have some cool dragons and Toriyama delivers.
But Dragon Quest. Man, Dragon Quest has amazing enemy designs. Now I wouldn't say they beat Pokemon necessarily, but that's due to the fact the latter are the main draw of the series while the DQ monsters don't necessarily need to be amazing since they're meant to be taken out, but the amount of style and personality each of the monsters possesses really exceeds the base level of satisfaction. Sure, there are a bunch of recolors, but the lovable pun names of the localization make it really fun to see what name they thought of for each alternative. And wow, the monsters POP in Dragon Quest XI while still maintaining their classic designs and in some cases poses. Say what you will about Toriyama's humans, but his creatures are pretty top-notch and iconic. I'm sure some of the monsters are designed by other folks much like how Sugimori didn't design all the Pokemon, but the Toriyama-style is just appealing.
So, yeah, let's talk Dragon Quest monster designs!
First, let's get the obvious out of the way...
Platypunk. Appreciation of this creature is the sign of a true Dragon Quest connoisseur---if Slime is the Bugs/Mickey of Dragon Quest, then Platypunk is the Daffy/Donald.
Toriyama is also pretty good at making cool armor (I mean, the Freeza Force shoulder pads are iconic!) and thus we have the Restless Armour. For some reason it got me giddy when I encountered this monster in DQXI, and it immediately shifts into its classic pose facing sideways to the camera. That's just such a nostalgic touch for me, even though I'm not a huge DQ fan I've seen this monster enough to recognize its pose.
One of the cutest monsters in DQXI, and making its western debut, the Sham Hatwitch (say it a few times) is just adorable.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is this badass creature, the Kriller Killer. This is actually a mook recolor of a boss, but I didn't want to spoil the boss' design by giving away the name---anyway, when I first saw the (boss version) of this creature I was like, wow, fucking awesome. A mix of a scorpion, a cobra, and an anomalocaris, this dude is tough as he needs to look.
And, well, I'll end this by posting a green dragon because, damn, if you're gonna make a series called Dragon Quest you better have some cool dragons and Toriyama delivers.
