DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World

DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World is a monster-collecting RPG from Square Enix and TOSE. It centres on Bianca and Nera from Dragon Quest V, who become monster tamers in Witherwood. Players make creatures from the Dragon Quest series their companions, train them and build their own teams from them.

Two creatures can be combined through synthesis into stronger or new monsters, whose traits and talents can be deliberately built into your own group.

The worldwide release is set for Dec 3, 2026. Alongside the standard edition, Square Enix offers Deluxe content and four additional launch DLCs.

The Withered World is released natively for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. The Switch and Switch 2 versions are separate; Square Enix does not plan an upgrade pack from Switch to Switch 2.

The game combines exploration, monster recruitment, training, synthesis and turn-based team battles. Each monster has its own attributes, traits and learnable talents. Synthesis creates stronger or new species, allowing groups to be tailored to specific roles and strategies.

Outside the single-player campaign, there are online battles and cooperative challenges.

Four pieces of additional content launch with the game: Mega Mole Hole, Monster Marathons, Metallic Ring and the Scout Run VIP Card. They mainly expand monster breeding, training and Scout Run, and are also available together as a four-pack.

For the PC version, Steam lists at least Windows 11 64-bit, a Ryzen 3 2300X or Core i3-8100, 8 GB RAM, and a Radeon RX 470/RX 5500 XT, Intel Arc A380 or GeForce GTX 1660. Recommended are, among others, 16 GB RAM and a Radeon RX 5500 XT, Intel Arc A580 or GeForce RTX 2060 Super. Around 40 GB of storage is specified for installation.

Quick Scouting lets you throw meat at wild monsters directly in the game world and recruit them without a regular battle, with a bit of luck. In the Scout Run, limited Scouty Snacks can be used to recruit rarer monsters in a targeted way.

Joint Battles are large-scale battles against especially powerful monsters. Bianca and Nera each lead an active and a reserve group; large opponents react to certain actions with a Rage Gauge and become more vulnerable after their rage phase. Online, up to four players can take part in such battles together.

Several different game modes are announced for the online area. In the Master Rank Match, monster teams compete against players of similar strength. Seven ranks range from beginner to the highest Legend class. Private matches allow your own rules and round counts. In the Online Otherworldly Master, players compete against the uploaded teams of other monster tamers.

In Online Joint Battles, monster tamers team up for battles against especially strong opponents. Square Enix also mentions a communication shop with changing offers and confirms crossplay between different platforms. These features are announced ahead of release, not tested by Gameforest. The solo campaign remains separate from the online offering.

Besides the online modes, there is an offline-playable battle arena in the town of Boughborough. There, regular arena duels and group battles in seven classes each, from G to A, are available. In regular arena competitions, three battles must be won in a row. Between matches, HP and MP are fully restored. For group battles, players set the tactics of their own active and reserve monsters as well as the allied teams.

Later in the story, Wrangler's Gauntlet opens up, a standalone challenge with roguelike structure. At the start of each run, Scruffy provides a changing selection of monsters. From these you build a team that must survive 50 battles in a row. After a win, monsters of the most recently defeated opponent can also be used for synthesis. Points earned are used to strengthen the team in the special shop for the following encounters. This way the mode tests team planning under changing conditions rather than just the strength of the already bred main team.

Size and personality affect how monster teams are built. L-monsters take up two slots instead of one S-monster, but can have more traits and act multiple times. Personalities change growth and stat caps and can be adjusted with items.

When synthesising from level 10, repeated combining raises a plus value that improves stats and possible monster ranks. Additionally, a Master Aura can be activated once per battle: Bianca supports healing and attack, among others, Nera (Flora) MP and defence. These are announced system rules from Square Enix.