Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World

Spinoff games
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World
	;
Series	Dragon Quest Monsters
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5 Steam, Windows, Xbox series X
Release date(s)	INT December 3rd, 2026;
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game
Mode(s)	Multi-player
Rating(s)	TBA

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World (ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ４枯れ木の国のビアンカ・フローラ Doragon Kuesuto Monsutāzu 4 Kaki no Koku Bianka Furora, lit: "Dragon Quest Monsters 4: Bianca and Nera in the Land of Withered Trees") is the fourth main entry in the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series of monster-raising games. It was announced on May 27th, 2026 during a livestream event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Dragon Quest, revealing the stars to be child versions of Bianca Whitaker and Nera Briscoletti. On June 9th of the same year a Nintendo Direct presentation showcased a new trailer that revealed Debora Briscoletti as part of the game's cast as well as its release date of December 3rd, 2026.

Setting[edit]

The game is a side story to Dragon Quest V, in which Bianca and Nera are searching for the fabled Leaves of Life, powerful medicine that can supposedly cure their grievously ill fathers. One night the girls are visited at their bedsides by the mysterious Fluffy, who spirited away the duo to the kingdom of Witherwood where the miraculous leaves are said to grow. Unfortunately the kingdom has been ravaged by a wretched force and the leaves are all but destroyed. Eager to restore the kingdom's vitality and obtain the leaves, the girls are blessed by the simian sprite and become fully fledged Monster Wranglers to set forth on adventure. Debora has also traveled to the distant kingdom separately, being taken by Fizzy.

Owing to the game being based on the series' original monster raising adventure, many of the monsters from Dragon Quest V have been included in the bestiary in much the same way monsters from Dragon Quest IV were included in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince. This also marks the first time that several monsters have appeared outside of their debut game, such as the funky ferret and hippoblockomus. Combined with returning fan favorites and brand new monsters such as the bamboo badboys, platypups, and slime balls, there are a total of over 500 monsters waiting to join the girls.

New features & system alterations[edit]

The game builds upon the foundation set by The Dark Prince before it, with additional fine-tuning and the return of classic features.

Players can freely switch between controlling Bianca and Nera, similar to switching between Erik and Mia in Dragon Quest Treasures.
Bianca and Nera have access to a mysterious ability called the Wrangler's Spirit, which empowers their friends in battle. The girls make use of this technique in different ways, with Bianca healing HP and increasing attack while Nera restores MP and increases defence. This ability is similar to the Rando-series of monster traits but only triggers once per battle and is applied to the entire party.
The party of monsters now follow along behind Bianca and Nera, marking the first time this bonding feature has appeared in a 3D title.
The personality system has returned, influencing the upper limits and growth rates of a monster's attributes. This marks its reappearance in the spin-off series after a 25 year absence since Dragon Quest Monsters 2 in 2001.
The "Plus Value" of past games has returned, increasing the base attributes of a synthesized monster. The Plus Value is passed on to the child monster by it's parents and is increased by a certain value based on how many plus points the parent generation had in total; if the Plus Value is high enough then the synthesized monster will be of a higher rank than either parent.