Dragon Quest: Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon

Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mysterious Dungeon
Developer(s)	Cavia
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Yuji Horii
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Kōichi Sugiyama
Series	Mystery Dungeon, Dragon Quest
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date(s)	JP April 20, 2006;
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game, roguelike
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	CERO: All ages;
Media	DVD-ROM

Dragon Quest: Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeonドラゴンクェスト　少年ヤンガスと不思議のダンジョンDoragon Kuesto Shōnen Yangasu to Fushigi no Danjon lit. "Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mysterious Dungeon" is a prequel/spin-off to Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, starring the character Yangus as a child.

The 2006 game contains randomly generated dungeons and uses turn-based action combat. It is another Dragon Quest spin-off game in the Mysterious Dungeon series.

Plot[edit]

Young Yangus becomes involved with his father Yampa's gang of thieves when a mysterious jug is brought home. Though told not to touch the jug, Yangus disobeys, and is sucked inside the magic pot into another world.

Gameplay[edit]

The game utilizes randomly generated dungeons and combat taken in turns. Players must fight through different floors of enemies until they reach a boss monster, which they must defeat to advance through the story. Combat takes place on contact with enemies, with no separate battle screen or menu system. A new feature to the series is the "tension command", that allows players to build up attack power to deliver strong blows upon enemies, though the character cannot move in this state. Later on in the game, players can capture monsters with a special jug, and use them to attack opponents. Players may keep three monsters in their possession at any one time, and can be taught to use special abilities by using items and through combat experience. By giving them foods they like and also a weapon, monsters must reach level four before they will assist Yangus. As they fight more, they will combine their strengths with other captured monsters. Players can also utilize a farmhouse late in the game where monsters can be kept and bred to create new and more powerful monsters. The game also uses cinematic and computer generated scenes with a comic-book style.

Characters[edit]

Yangus, the protagonist. He is a 12 year old boy who would become the ex-thief character from Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King.
Red, (Gelda) a thief. In Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King it is stated that she and Yangus had a relationship, which is explored in this game.
Poppy, a young plant kid who helps Yangus in his adventure, taking care of captured monsters. He is local to Pottal Land, the world where the story is developed.
Morrie, the monster master from Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. He introduces Yangus to monster breeding.
Torneko, the merchant from Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. He trains Yangus at the beginning of the game, and then opens a shop in Pottal Land.
Yampa, Yangus' father and leader of a group of thieves. He owns the magic pot that is home to the world of Pottal Land.