A comprehensive guide to Dragon Quest Treasures with practical strategies for treasure hunting and monster recruitment
Introduction: A Charming Yet Flawed Spinoff
Dragon Quest Treasures carves out a niche as a lighthearted spinoff that spotlights the series’ iconic monsters, though its ambitions don’t stretch far beyond this charming premise.
While brimming with the signature charm of the Dragon Quest universe, Dragon Quest Treasures is ultimately hampered by shallow combat mechanics and a gameplay cycle that grows repetitive.
The Dragon Quest franchise, once a cult favorite in the West, has steadily gained mainstream recognition over recent years.
Following the monumental success of Dragon Quest XI, a wave of innovative spinoffs has emerged, diverging from traditional JRPG formulas. Titles like the vastly underappreciated Dragon Quest Builders series demonstrated this potential.
Dragon Quest Treasures continues this tradition of experimental spinoffs, finding its footing primarily through endearing presentation and straightforward, satisfying objectives.
- Developer: Square Enix
- Release date: December 9, 2022
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch
This adventure acts as an origin tale for Erik and Mia, the sibling duo from Dragon Quest XI. Starting as crew members on a Viking longship, the blue-haired siblings dream of legendary riches and seize their chance after obtaining mystical daggers. Transported to the realm of Draconia, they embark on a quest across its distinctive islands with one clear goal: amassing treasure.
The game allows you to choose between Erik or Mia as your protagonist. However, this choice is purely cosmetic and based on player preference, as it yields no significant differences in gameplay, story, or abilities.
Core Gameplay Loop: Treasure Hunting Decoded
Treasures features an extended introductory tutorial lasting several hours, designed to familiarize players with its numerous interlocking systems. While the game involves managing loot, crafting, squad logistics, and vault organization, the core loop simplifies once understood: assemble a monster party, explore Draconia, engage in combat, hunt for treasure, and claim territory for your gang.
The 20 best games of 2025
Ninja Gaiden 4 review: A brutally satisfying comeback
Digimon Story Time Stranger review: Brilliant RPG held back by the maps
Dialogue with characters encountered during Draconian adventures tends to be verbose and largely unvoiced. While occasional humorous lines appear, most players will find themselves rapidly skipping through text boxes to maintain pacing.
The true compelling hook of Treasures isn’t found in complex JRPG systems, but in the diverse array of monsters available for recruitment into your party.
For many players, including myself, the uniquely charming monster designs were a highlight of Dragon Quest XI. Treasures offers a celebration of these designs, letting you battle alongside them and utilize their special abilities for world navigation.
Soaring through wind currents on a Dracky’s back or catapulting skyward atop a bouncing Slime delivers genuine, uncomplicated fun.
Strengths: Dragon Quest’s Enduring Charm
Monster Companionship & World Interaction: The joy of building a monster team from classic Dragon Quest bestiary entries cannot be overstated. Each monster type isn’t just a combatant but a traversal tool. Strategic team composition, considering both combat affinities and field abilities (like gliding, jumping, or digging), adds a satisfying layer of pre-expedition planning that the core gameplay loop sometimes lacks.
Nostalgic Payoffs for Series Fans: Square Enix expertly seeds the treasure pool with callbacks to items, locales, and characters from previous Dragon Quest titles. Unearthing a legendary sword from DQIII or a nostalgic trinket from DQVIII provides a warm, rewarding moment for veteran players, serving as a direct link to the series’ rich history.
Accessible & Low-Pressure Design: The game deliberately avoids punishing difficulty spikes or complex mechanics, positioning itself as an ideal entry point for younger gamers or those seeking a relaxed, collection-focused experience. Its systems are easy to grasp, making it a perfect ‘wind-down’ game.
Weaknesses: Where the Adventure Stumbles
Shallow Combat System: Regrettably, battling alongside your monster allies proves underwhelming. Combat devolves into basic hack-and-slash actions, where button-mashing is often sufficient to prevail. The lack of tactical depth or meaningful ability combinations makes encounters feel like interruptions rather than engaging challenges.
Repetitive Progression Grind: Advancement in Treasures is intentionally slow, catering to players who derive satisfaction from the core treasure-hunt loop itself. Narrative progression is gated behind increasing your gang rank, which mandates repeating the cycle of expedition, discovery, and vault return ad infinitum. This can feel monotonous without the intrinsic joy of collection.
Visual & Environmental Shortcomings: While exploring various islands, you’ll encounter different biomes. However, these environments often appear visually simplistic, blocky, and lacking detail. It presents a more basic, almost toy-like aesthetic compared to the lush, vibrant world of Dragon Quest XI, which may leave players yearning for the visual polish of the mainline titles.
For some, this loop is meditative and rewarding. I, however, found the incentive to return consistently lacking. The clever treasure callbacks for series veterans were a bright spot in an otherwise repetitive structure.
Practical Player Strategies & Optimization
Efficient Treasure Hunting Tips:
- Use the Monster Radar: Always have a monster with high ‘Treasure Sense’ in your active party. This stat dramatically increases the detection range for buried treasure and rare gathering points on the map.
- Plan Themed Expeditions: Focus on one island or one type of treasure (e.g., minerals, artifacts) per outing. This reduces backtracking and maximizes the efficiency of each foray from your base.
- Upgrade Your Vault Early: Investing treasure medals to expand your vault capacity early on prevents frustrating inventory management pauses mid-expedition.
Common Rookie Mistakes to Avoid:
- Ignoring Monster Fortes: Each monster has a ‘Forte’ (like Slimes being good diggers). Not matching these to the treasures you’re seeking (e.g., using a digging Forte for buried treasure) slows progress significantly.
- Overlooking Fast Travel: Unlock and use the train stations scattered across islands. Walking everywhere is the biggest time-waster.
- Selling Unique Treasures: Some unique, story-related treasures offer no monetary benefit but are crucial for gang rank progression. Never sell a treasure unless you have duplicates.
Advanced Monster Team Building: For late-game efficiency, build specialized teams. Create a ‘Traversal Team’ with monsters that cover all movement types (Glide, Jump, Sprint). Create a ‘Combat Team’ with balanced damage types (Slash, Bash, Frizz, etc.) for tackling higher-level monster dens. A ‘Farming Team’ should maximize Treasure Sense and specific Fortes for targeted resource runs.
Final Verdict: Who Should Play?
Dragon Quest Treasures is a genial, undemanding adventure, even if its design sensibilities seem tailored for a younger audience. Its fundamental gameplay cycle lacks the depth necessary to sustain prolonged engagement for most experienced gamers.
Amidst a crowded release schedule, the decision to embark on this treasure hunt hinges almost entirely on your affinity for the Dragon Quest universe. Die-hard fans will appreciate the fan service and monster-collecting focus, while casual players might find the repetition outweighs the charm.
Consider Dragon Quest Treasures if: You love Dragon Quest monsters, enjoy casual collection games, are seeking a game for a younger player, or want a low-stakes, exploratory experience.
Look elsewhere if: You demand deep combat, narrative-driven progression, complex mechanics, or visual spectacle.
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » Dragon Quest Treasures review – Charming but mundane spinoff A comprehensive guide to Dragon Quest Treasures with practical strategies for treasure hunting and monster recruitment