PAX West 2026 — SQUARE ENIX made their presence known with widely anticipated titles such as Final Fantasy: Resonance, Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, and Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World. In this article, I share my experience with the latest installment in the Dragon Quest Monsters series, The Withered World, set to release December 3rd, 2026 on all modern platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, Xbox Series, and PC. Standard editions are $59.99 USD and the Collector’s Edition is $219.99 USD.
As seen in the trailers, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World features two protagonists, Bianca and Nera. If Nera sounds familiar, she hails from DRAGON QUEST V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. The game will have two modes, Story Mode and Synthesis Mode, and I played the demo of the former.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World kicks off with a storybook-like opening, and Bianca and Nera are drawn into a mysterious world in order to help their sick fathers. However, the world that contains the cure also is suffering. When the game officially starts, you meet Fluffy, an unusual fairy! You then select Bianca or Nera to play as, then answer a few questions that help determine your recommended first monster. I chose Nera and became a monster wrangler! From there, Fluffy provides a brief, but clear tutorial on how to battle other monsters who roam the Kingdom of Witherwood.
When the monsters notice you, they will give chase, and often they catch up to you! You can instruct your monster to battle or adopt battle styles. If you are interested in recruiting a particular monster to join your party, you can display a Show of Force.
After securing a team of four, I progressed through my demo and met King Withers. Before granting aid for your sick fathers, you are tasked to help bring life back to his land by removing meteocite.
The latter part of the demo showcases how you synthesize two different monsters into a brand new one. This was a lot of fun and provided room for experimentation. Some combinations result in cool, fearsome looking monsters, and some…were quire silly! Another game mechanic provided was the Watering Can. With that, you restore withered roots that later serve as warp points. There are other plants you can water later in the game that likely will provide perks for your journey.
The art style is bright (well, as bright as a barren wasteland can be in the demo) and cheerful, as it usually is for a Dragon Quest Monsters game. The music lines up perfectly with the theming, upbeat and energetic. Fluffy, Bianca, and Nera are adorable and fun characters that have me eager to return to play the game in full. And of course, all character designs are still iconically Akira Toriyama’s.
The demo fly by, and I know I could only experience a tiny bit-size sample of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World. There are so many more settings, monsters, and monster combinations to be experienced. My overall impressions were positive, and I feel like any fan of the Dragon Quest universe will enjoy this installment.
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