Dragon Quest Treasures follows Erik and his sister Mia who live on a Viking longship, dreaming of someday exploring the world for grand treasures. One night they encounter a pair of otherworldly creatures, Porcus and Purrsula, and are led to a mysterious ruin, where they come across a pair of Dragon Daggers. Upon obtaining the magical daggers, the plucky duo is whisked away to the floating continent of Draconia. This legendary land is home to monsters and countless pieces of precious loot, including seven legendary Dragonstones that are highly sought after among serious treasure hunters.

Loot can be hidden in the most fiendishly inaccessible locations, so players must recruit a variety of well-meaning monsters and make use of their unique treasure-hunting abilities. These charming creatures will help players to race over open fields, scale cliffs with a single bound, and glide over gaping chasms.

As players start their journey as Erik and Mia, they’ll learn how to fight alongside a team of monster pals and utilize their unique abilities to find hidden treasures and reach otherwise inaccessible areas. The two will also need to protect their treasure from monsters and rival gangs until they can get it back to base to be appraised. Collecting treasure will increase the player’s vault value, allowing them to expand their home base and further build up their brigade of friendly monsters.

Erik and Mia’s hunt for loot takes them across the floating islands of Draconia, where monsters roam free. Some of these are hostile and need no excuse to attack Erik and Mia. Fortunately, the siblings have a team of trusty monster allies, and together they can fight off would-be attackers!

Erik and Mia can pick up to three monsters from their gang to accompany them on their adventures.

Fend off foes with your monster pals! Attacking and dodging is as simple as pressing a button. But how exactly does it all work? Allow us to explain…

How do battles work in DRAGON QUEST TREASURES?

The action in the game is fast paced but deceptively simple!

Just approach an enemy to engage them in combat, and your AI-controlled monsters will fight to the best of their abilities. There are no complicated controls, leaving you free to enjoy the battle.

If a hostile monster spots you when you're searching for treasure, it will attack without a moment's notice!

Let the battle commence! Your monsters will decide the best course of action to win the fight.

Emerge victorious and you'll be rewarded with experience points, gold and even items! Erik and Mia can get in on the action using their Dragon Daggers and catapults or watch from the sidelines as their monsters duke it out.

If you can creep up on your enemy unnoticed, you can perform a sneak attack and inflict massive damage.

Alternatively, you can let your monsters fight while you concentrate on digging up buried treasure!

Giving monsters orders

There are two different orders you can issue to your monsters when you're out exploring.

Tell them to "Gather round!" and they'll rush to your side or shout "Go, go, go!” and they'll seek out nearby enemies to fight.

Using Dragon Daggers and Catapults

Erik and Mia can help their comrades in battle using their Dragon Daggers and catapults. Both can be used to attack enemies and support allies.

Use the Dragon Daggers to attack monsters or break open pots and crates.

If Erik or Mia suffer damage, they can use the magic of their daggers to heal themselves.

Use the catapult to snipe out-of-reach enemies. Pellets can be found in chests or purchased from Axel's workshop.

Certain pellets have healing effects, while others will buff your allies. You can even use the catapult while you're moving!

Many enemies are weak against elements such as fire, or a specific type of physical damage. All such vulnerabilities can be exploited with the right pellet!

You can also use your catapult to recruit monsters! Strike an enemy with a buddy bullet to increase the likelihood of it wanting to join your gang. Be sure to keep a few on hand because you never what powerful monster you'll meet next!

Causing major damage with a Monster Medley

If Erik, Mia and their monster minions manage to chain their attacks together in the right order, they'll unleash a Monster Medley. Here’s how it works:

Each monster has three or four different abilities at its disposal. They each also have a different line-up of abilities, and the amount can be different too, even between monsters of the same species.

Your monsters are more than capable of choosing the right ability for the situation, be it attacking a foe or supporting an ally.

If they time their attacks right, Erik, Mia and their allies can combine them into a powerful Monster Medley!

Chain together many attacks and abilities to dish out astronomical damage!

Unleash the Dragon!

Every hit Erik and Mia land on the enemy charges their Dagger Gauge. Once the gauge is full, they or their monsters will be able to Unleash the Dragon and perform a very special technique - a unique super attack.

Not only are these set-piece skills a wonder to behold, they also inflict enormous damage!

The Dagger Gauge appears below Erik and Mia's portraits and can be charged for up to three uses. Unleashing the Dragon once or activating Erik and Mia's Wild Side ability uses one charge of the Dagger Gauge.

Fill up the gauge and then instruct your slime to Unleash the Dragon!

Slimes have a super attack called Meteoric Rise, which causes huge damage to all nearby enemies.

As mentioned, Erik and Mia can Unleash the Dragon themselves with an ability called Wild Side. This special technique calls on the siblings' survival instincts, temporarily boosting all their stats and increasing their movement speed!

Wild Side allows for damaging combos and can be performed while already in motion!

Here are some more examples of what can happen when monsters Unleash the Dragon:

• Restless Armours: Gigagash!
• Orcs: Call the Cavalry
• Loss Leader: Dark Machinations
• Killing Machines: Full Beam

Medals

Over the course of their adventures, Erik and Mia will obtain monster-themed medals that can be equipped to boost stats such as attack power and deftness. Some will be contained in chests, while others may be dropped by monsters - keep your eyes peeled!

Raise your gang's rank to equip more medal.

Each medal provides a different effect, and can come in one of four ranks: bronze, silver, gold or rainbow.

Dragon Quest Treasures will be available for Nintendo Switch on December 9, 2022.