The previous three games, Ace Attorney, Justice for All and Trials and Tribulations, all featured Phoenix Wright as the series’ main protagonist; Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney introduces an all-new protagonist and Phoenix Wright appears as a defendant accused of murder in the opening case of the new game.

Graphically, the game hasn’t changed much from its GBA origins. About the only improvements in the way the game looks is a mildly richer color palette and some smoother-looking textures; other than that, the signature art style of the series is largely unchanged. While the game looks fine by DS standards, however, it doesn’t look quite as nice as the Harvey Birdman attorney sim Capcom recently released on Sony’s PSP platform.

While the opening sequence that places rookie attorney Apollo Justice on the defense for Phoenix Wright is a shocker, the biggest changes to the series come in how one interacts with the game. Like the notorious fifth case on the first Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney was built specifically for the Nintendo DS platform, rather than being ported up from GBA. As such, all the exciting investigative tools so enjoyed in that fifth case are now present and accounted for in all four cases that comprise the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney game.

That means the game takes full advantage of the DS’ microphone and touchscreen; you can once again rotate items via touchscreen to uncover concealed clues, or use the microphone to shout “Objection!” during the course of a trial. AJ:AA also features several new features.

One is the perceive system, which helps Apollo pinpoint nervous body language that helps him identify when a witness is being deceptive. A crime recreation mode is also introduced for the first time, and is utilized to help pinpoint new evidence. With all these new DeWalt tools in his arsenal, one might think it would be a snap for Apollo Justice (and gamers) to solve the four cases in front of them. However, it’s not quite so easy and gamers will need all these tools to get to the truth of the matter, since the Capcom scribes behind this game are quite good at plot twists, rabbit trails and big reveals, to keep things interesting.

As before, each case grows increasingly challenging, making solving the final case a significant achievement. More of an interactive novel than a true videogame, Apollo Justice may feature a brand new main character, but everything DS fans enjoyed about earlier Phoenix Wright games has returned – in spades.

The release of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney catches the US market up with the Japanese market. The future looks bright for the series, however. It is well-known that Capcom announced the fifth game in the series about a year ago, in May 2007; that game is expected to release next fall. Also, in February 2008, a spinoff title featuring life on the prosecution’s side of the courtroom, featuring Miles Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe, was announced as under development by Capcom, so with at least two more games on the way, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is definitely a new beginning not a final swan song, for games of this genre.

Much like having an exclusive lock on football titles has made EA Sports’ Madden series lazy and uninspired, so too has having a third-party exclusive on MLB titles made 2K Sports’ baseball titles seem lazy and uninspired. Not having any legitimate competition tends to do that.

The nihilism kicks off almost from the word go; the graphics seem barely touched from last year’s edition, which wasn’t that great to begin with. Even before the 2K8 edition, even before the PS3/360/Wii era had begun, the series was troubled by freezes, glitches and graphical dead space; that hasn’t changed and eventually one has to wonder if 2K Sports and developer Kush Games even care about fixing the game visually.

While Ben Brinkman of Kush has been quoted from several sources saying that 2K8 is the “middle act” of a three-year plan to make over the franchise, that does little to comfort gamers who are shelling out hard-earned bucks for this year’s version. The franchise needs a top-to-bottom graphic makeover using an all-new game engine to really deliver the goods, and that’s not a position 2K Games is in; under their exclusivity agreement with MLB, 2K Sports is obligated to deliver a new iteration every year, which shortens development time, making a complete makeover difficult.

Yet the progress this year seems merely incremental, not revolutionary, especially from a graphic perspective. The new Swing Stick interface is actually harder to time and master than last year’s version, and the all-new pitching system is very realistic, based on analog stick interaction, but also is quite difficult, especially for less experienced hardball gamers, and ultimately many folks will end up choosing an older, alternate control scheme – which, at least, 2K Sports had the courtesy to include several of within the game. Mastering the pitching control scheme is ultimately rewarding, but extremely hard, kind of like buying car insurance online.

On the 360, the graphics lack the fluid animations of other sports titles on the market and feel like they are chugging along; I’ve seen the PS3 version in action and it’s no better, so it’s not a platform issue, it’s a developer issue.

While the new pitching control is a highlight (if you can ever get the hang of it), it’s not the only aspect of the game that’s strong and praiseworthy. Responding to long-term criticism, support of minor league teams has been vastly expanded. The game features no less than 90 real-life minor league teams, as well as 20 authentic minor-league stadiums, with more periodically released over the course of the season via Xbox Live for the 360. Those minor league teams even have some of the real-life players on them, although this is limited to those players who have at least spent some time in the majors.

I also appreciated some of the refinements made – to my complete surprise, since I usually suck at fielding – to the fielding controls. Even baserunning has improved, thanks to smarter baserunning AI. These refinements are not major new features, but have long been needed and offer some much needed relief from a problem that has plagued the series for a long time.

In the end, though, the “room for improvement” areas are critical and more numerous than the nice improvements and new features. Sadly, since Microsoft long ago stopped developing their own first-party baseball game, there is no alternative for 360 owners looking for an MLB game this season. It’s not a terrible game, but it could and should have been a whole lot better. Here’s hoping 2K9, allegedly the year in which 2K Sports and Kush will complete their makeover of the franchise, will finally deliver the goods on all levels. At the moment, however, I’d suggest saving your shekels this year and keep on playing 2K7.

Family Guy: Blue Harvest is the big, hour-long Star Wars retelling the show opened the season with last fall. There are several guest voices that range widely and even include such obscure celebrities as radio host Rush Limbaugh, who basically plays a version of himself as a pro-Alliance, pro-Darth Vader establishment-loving radio talk show host. Other cameos are more mainstream, like Judd Nelson, Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo, among others.

The show adds some gags they were unable to fit into the one-hour episode that aired on Fox, mostly stuff that was cut due purely out of time constraints. All the familiar Family Guy cast members appear, with mostly obvious takes on their Star Wars alter egos. For example, Stewie is Darth Vader, Quagmire and Cleveland are C3PO and R2D2, and Lois is Leia and so on.

What’s amazing about the episode is that it packs just about the entire two-hours-plus plot of Star Wars: A New Hope into about 40 minutes of satire without cutting much. The obligatory screen-crawl gag-text to open the episode had grown old by now, but McFarlane punches some freshness into it by getting about as nasty as network censors would allow, including talking an awful lot about Angelina Jolie’s kissing habits in general, and in the movie Gia especially.

But anyone who’s seen the episode already knows what it contains, basically; what’s added is what makes the DVD presentation special, and that includes a hilarious commentary track led by McFarlane, a making of documentary, a “conversation” with George Lucas himself, and a load of other, minor features. Special collector’s edition disc are also available that pack in some Family Guy/Star Wars-related collectible goodies, like t-shirts, 3D glasses, trading cards and the like.

While hardly an original concept, it is how the episode was pulled off and melded with the Family Guy characters that makes this one unique. If you’re not into Family Guy, this might not be the episode to convert you – unless you’re a Star Wars fan, perhaps. Loaded like most Family Guy episodes with lots of pop culture references, from a Deal Or No Deal tribute to nonsequiter punchlines about seemingly random topics, like small business phone systems or the lke, Blue Harvest – like most Family Guy video releases – has it’s trademark humor intact, as well as plenty of extras and features to make the purchase well worth it.

Well, I was wrong on a couple of counts. First, I didn’t watch it on Sunday afternoon; my wife and I watched it together over a couple of weekday nights to fill time left void by the writer’s strike – even though it’s resolved, the airwaves are hardly filled with new content quite yet.

The second thing I was wrong about was assuming it would be too stupid, boring and repetitive to be worth the time invested. Were the pranks of Nicole and Paris silly, stupid and worn out? Well, for the most part, yeah. We’ve seen the “brainless bimbo” routine they pull on this series too many times now.

But what captured me were the small touches of charm, mode possible mostly by the non-celebrity cast members. Having the girls become camp counselors at a summer camp provided plenty of variety without tons of travel, and a core supporting cast who weren’t always completely shocked and Paris and Nicole’s narcissistic obsession with themselves. That provided a by-now-jaded viewer like me with some characters to relate to on the show.

The show throws Paris and Nicole some curves, from a weight loss camp to a couples camp to an actors camp and more. Through it all, the prankish hijinks Paris and Nicole devise are the most annoying part of the show; but when one of the male camp counselors starts falling for an allegedly newly-unattached Paris, the show provides some real moments.

The guy isn’t fooling himself; he admits to a fellow male camp counselor-buddy that he doesn’t expect the flirtation to last beyond the summer camp experience. There is a poignant moment, however, when his friend asks him, “I know you’re ready for that. But are you ready if it really does become something more?” The guy replied, “That’s a good question,” and it was.

Foolishly, the guy relies on Nicole for advice in capturing Paris’ eye, and being the devil she is, she misleads him consistently down paths that will humiliate him. While that works the first time to a degree, when she’s still doing it by the eighth episode, it just gets frustrating on a couple levels. First, why does the guy keep turning to Nicole, who’s never led him right once; and second, is it even remotely possible for Nicole to have an on-screen moment as real as the two male camp counselors had?

Sure, the show is pure put-on and one of the least-real of all reality shows; but this season as much as any shows why the show is so limited in appeal that it was booted off Fox to E! Namely, that Paris and Nicole’s adopted personas on the show are too flat and limited in their emotional range to either demonstrate any real acting ability, or to hold the interest of viewers who never see their on-screen characters grow or grow up.

Well, turns out Mr. Black isn’t just a goofball after all; he’s become a director as well and, by the look of things with Wedding Daze, not a bad one. The movie is a bit of a Dharma and Greg concept about two strangers who decide to get married before even knowing each other’s names, but Black’s direction steers clear of the ABC comedy’s obvious tread marks and attempts to take the concept down fresher, less well-trodden paths.

The result is a successful comedy of errors that excels in areas where Good Luck Chuck went blue instead of finding its funny bone. Starring American Pie alum, the appealing Jason Biggs, opposite newcomer Audra Blaser, Biggs plays a depressed guy. Why? Well, he proposed to his girlfriend in public, in a Cupid costume no less, and so surprises her that she has a heart attack and dies on the spot.

A year later, Biggs’ character (Anderson) is still depressed; he’s haunted by the memory of his fiancée-to-be, forgetting her flaws and making it impossible for him to move on. A friend if his tries to get him back on the dating field again, which he doesn’t want to do, but agrees to reluctantly to get the guy off his back. On a whim, he proposes to a waitress at the diner he’s at with his buddy, expecting her to laugh him off so he can get back to mourning. But she shocks him – and herself – by saying yes; mostly because she was considering a proposal from a boyfriend she wasn’t all that into and it provides a convenient escape.

Despite being a bit derivative, the film is good-natured PG-13 fare that stays watchable throughout. Of course, there’s the occasional out-of-nowhere punchline about CAT5e’s, snowblowers or what have you, but that seems to be Black’s style; he not only directed, but wrote the script as well.

Wedding Daze originated as a made-for-TV film, and has been known by other titles such as The Pleasure of Your Company and The Next Girl I See, but whatever its title, it came as a welcome respite in the recent storm of gross-out, sex-obsessed comedies that have been hitting shelves of late.

Instead, we are treated to a quiet human drama of the movie-of-the-week variety, a Hallmark Channel-style drama about a small ensemble of characters whose lives intersect on Christmas Eve in ways that are unexpected, minor and yet critical. The cast is headlined by Stephen Baldwin, the “born again” Baldwin brother of reality show fame, who manages to turn in a credible performance. He plays a man down on his luck, drinking his regrets and bitterness away in Riedel wine glasses and tempted with the thought of taking his anger out of the world that seems to conspire against him, imagining a shower of violence.

Other characters struggle with their own issues, like having a car break down on a night in which they absolutely need to get home, or the tale of the disheartened youth pastor, saddled with taking the teens around Christmas caroling despite believing such efforts are unwelcome and make no difference. The tale, a bit of a play on the Pay It Forward concept, shows that one simple act of being nice to a stranger can change everyone’s fate.

The positive message never gets too preachy or too religious, meaning that it’s a faith movie that even non-faith-based folks might be able to stomach, provided they don’t mind movies with a cautiously optimistic, hopeful message. While the film is entertaining, though, be warned that it is a bare-bones DVD at best. You get a basic audio commentary, a minor “making of” documentary and that’s about it. It’s not the least feature-rich DVD I’ve watched lately, but it’s certainly not that impressive.

At least the cast lifts the dreck-filled, male fantasy script to a somewhat watchable level. Of course, get out your pens and write this down: if you’re going to make a sleezy sex comedy, at least cast the talented and attractive Jessica Alba in a starring role. Alba, who started her career with the respected Fox series Dark Angel and has since burned up the silver screen in mass-appeal movies like Fantastic Four and critically acclaimed movies like Sin City, must have decided to slum it a bit this time around.

Caught in a role that seems written more for some uber-tramp party girl like Lindsey Lohan, Alba does her best to class the role up, even though much of the movie is written at a hormonal, high school sophomore level of humor. You know, where women only exist to act the way a horny teenage boy wants them to, and everyone thinks fart jokes and fat jokes are the entertainment of royalty, rather than crass, cruel and largely unfunny.

The concept is this: anyone who dates Dane Cook’s character, Charlie Logan, long enough to sleep with him, marries the next guy she meets after they break up. This ludicrous concept is not only treated far too seriously in the film, but the script has the audacity to paint Charlie as the good guy for engaging in a series of one-night stands, using women desperate to get married as sex objects. The fact that this impossible concept is carried out as a reality in the film, with possibly as many as a couple dozen women sleeping with him and ending up married shortly thereafter, is where the “male fantasy fulfillment” comes in. Never does a single woman fault him for taking advantage of them; they all tell him, “You did a good thing, Charlie.”

Yeah, right.

Charlie’s only challenge comes in the form of Alba’s character, Cam Wexler, who he meets far too early in the film to excuse all his indulgences with other women, for her to be the love of his life. All improbabilities aside, including the complete absence of real-life consequences for such behavior like paternity suits, STDs or even a few hard feelings, the movie takes on a bit of charm when Charlie and Cam are on screen together; they pull of a charm that seems genuine, and during their scenes the coarseness of the movie in general is out of sight and out of mind.

Unfortunately, it always comes back to that juvenile, sex-starved level of humor, and only manages to produce laughs because the stars in this film – unlike American Pie: Beta House – actually have talent. The DVD has a generous supply of extras, but a couple of them are cringe-inducing, focusing on the raunch content rather than the thinly drawn, but well-acted love story at the core. In the end, Good Luck Chuck is more like the original American Pie trilogy, rather than the direct-to-DVD dreck that followed.

It’s as simple as that, really. While there were a couple moments that made my wife and I smile, having been through premarital counseling only a year before seeing this movie. But while amusing, the real disconnect set in when Robin Williams, as he always does, took the character way over the top and, rather than playing a somewhat boundary-pushing and eccentric pastor, he spends most of the film playing… Robin Williams.

Once a high-energy, zany comic, Williams has become increasingly politicized, opinionated and boorish in his comedy over the three decades or so since he first appeared as Mork from Ork on a Happy Days episode, launching his career to superstardom. When he left Mork and Mindy to do films, his first director on The World According to Garp had to put in a yeoman’s effort just to reign Williams in to get an accurate line delivery out of him instead of all the nonsensical ad-lib in which he specializes.

That was a long time ago, and Williams has only become harder to reign in over the years, especially when cast in a comedy rather than a dramatic role. While License to Wed has Williams delivering some laughs, it’s no Good Morning Vietnam, aside from the fact that Williams is again playing an antiestablishment type who bucks against expectations.

Of course, that kind of blunts the surprise factor of many of the films’ jokes. When Rev. Frank gets suddenly and surprisingly frank with Krasinski’s character about sex, it’s supposed to be a huge laugh as a line coming from a man of the cloth; yet given Williams’ reputation for blue comedy, the laugh was muted because such shocks are no surprise at all coming from Williams. It’s a lot like watching your local insurance agent in a play in which he plays a pastor who suddenly asks someone about their individual health insurance policy; it’s no surprise at all because of who is playing the role.

As for the DVD package, there’s not as much bonus material as one might wish; the audio commentary involves only the director, Ken Kwapis, which misses the boat; in a Robin Williams movie, you at least want to hear Robin Williams banter with the director. But no, it’s just Kwapis reminiscing, which just isn’t anywhere near enough. One minor “ask the choir boy” special feature is a novelty at best.

The selection of special features simply leaves a lot to be desired in this package. If you’ve seen it in theatres and loved the movie, grab this, unless you’re expecting more than is being offered here. The dedicated DVD-phile will find this package to be lacking in the bells and whistles department.

The couple in question, played by Maria Bello and Gerard Butler, seem like the perfect upper-middle class, affluent Chicago couple, with a seemingly idyllic life that probably includes vacationing at a Hilton Head rental. As in any good Hitchcockian thriller, however, all is not as it seems. Their abductor seems to know both of them quite well and seems to have a personal vendetta he is pursuing, but even those preconceived notions will be challenged by the end of the twist-filled plot that offers plenty of entertaining, keep-em-guessing head-fakes before the big reveal.

One of the aspects of this thriller that pleased both my wife and me is that despite the R rating, there’s very little by way of course language and although there is plenty of implied and threatened violence, there’s not much in the way of actual violence. That makes for good suspense, since the threat of violence is always more tension-inducing than the actual act itself. As Hitchcock once said, you can show the audience a bomb ticking under a table that the hero is unaware of, and give them a thrill as the seconds tick down… but you can’t actually explode the bomb and kill the hero, or the audience will hate you.

Such thriller mathematics is understood and at play in Shattered, which turns out to be a surprisingly strong performance by Maria Bello. Bello, who probably will remind you of several sitcom actresses even though she’s never been in one, has been on a hot streak since appearing in A History of Violence back in 2005. Since then, she’s been toughening up her image in a real Diane Lane / Linda Fiorentino kind of way; not as young as she once was, Bello is staying relevant in a youth-obsessed Hollywood culture by taking rougher roles that highlight her pure acting ability rather than her feminine charms. She’s come a long way since her Coyote Ugly days.

Shattered is a movie that ought to cement Bello alongside Lane and Fiorentino in that regard, delivering impressive acting chops in this role that stands side-by-side with her work in A History of Violence. The film was quiet at the box office but is one of those that could flourish on DVD as word of mouth spreads about the quality of the film.

The special features are slim but substantive, providing only a couple featurettes and a slim selection of alternate and deleted scenes. There is a director and writer’s commentary track for the film, but it would have been far more intriguing if the main three actors, Brosnan, Bello and Butler, had also been involved. Still, not a bad package for a film that didn’t make a big splash on the big screen.

The Invisible tells a bit of an implausible tale of a young writer, Nick Powell, who is brutally attacked and left for dead. Next thing he knows, Nick’s a ghost but only the gal primarily responsible for his murder can see him. Then Nick finds out his body’s still alive and if he can get someone to find it in time, he still has a chance to live. That, unfortunately, means having to deal with the street-hardened young woman who put him in the whole predicament in the first place.

The implausibility of a potential murderer helping to save her victim is glossed over by a rather contrived romantic connection the two develop as he haunts her. Which is explained by the idea that they used to be friends in elementary school. Or something like that. It gets a bit too convoluted for most viewers if you let the details of the plot matter much to you.

What this all boils down to is that screenwriter Mick Davis isn’t quite in the same league as M. Night Shyamalan as a storyteller. That said, a cast made up predominantly of unknowns does as well as they can with the material at hand and manage to keep the film watchable. Veteran director David S. Goyer performs well but, like Davis, does not fare well in comparison to Shyamalan. Still, give the man a Rolex Submariner for a decent effort that ultimately falls short of its goal.

The Blu-Ray package is sharp, offering the full 1080p experience for those who are equipped to take full advantage; however, the Blu-Ray package isn’t exactly taken advantage of by the studio, as it features only the exact same special features as the regular DVD, just in 1080p rather than standard definition. It would be nice, just once, to see some studio take advantage of all the extra storage space on a Blu-Ray disc to load up on a bunch of extra features the standard DVD lacks or needs a second DVD in order to include it.

All in all, it’s a decent package, but unless you’re planning on getting a 1080p system, or already have one, the standard-edition DVD is a bit less expensive. Fans of supernatural thrillers will probably enjoy this film, although it’s unlikely to convert those who only like this sort of film once in a while into a fan of the genre. Most folks with want to rent before they buy.

Second or third on the list for most fans of this subgenre is Atlus/NIS America’s Disgaea, one of the companies’ early PS2 offerings. Those who felt Final Fantasy Tactics offered mad depth were blown away by the depth and complexity of Disgaea; some have even compared it’s battle system strategies to algebraic formulas, although I believe that’s taking the hype a bit far, and tends to scare off newcomers to the title.

Now, there’s a chance to reintroduce a whole new generation to the delights of Disgaea while still pleasing fans of the original with Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness for PSP. Not only is the entire original game intact for the port-down to PSP, but a complete alternate-reality adventure becomes available after you complete the game, lasting nearly as long as the 100-hour-plus original title.

In the original game, you play through as Demon Prince Laharl, who is awakened from a long nap several years after his father has died and left the throne of the kingdom of the Netherworld vacant. He is accompanied by the scheming Etna and, ultimately, the angelic assassin, Flonne, in his quest to retake his father’s throne.

The alternate reality mode allows you to experience the game if “what if,” mode, a fully developed alternate storyline in which, instead of waking Laharl up, Etna kills Laharl in his sleep and makes her own bid for the throne, redecorating the castle with all-new executive office furniture. (OK, not really.) In addition to adding value to the already long and addictive game for newcomers, this new story mode is what will make veterans of the PS2 classic willing to replay the game again on PSP. It’s definitely worth the journey.

One of the appeals of Disgaea is its incredible depth. There are many ways to progress through the game, many items to buy, many jobs to take on. There is the Dark Assembly, which can be used for everything from rising in rank to petitioning for more powerful items and additional funds. There is the item world, where you can do battle to win upgrades to your items, which level up. And there are the main mission battles, which are plentiful and can often be fought and refought multiple times to level up your party. In fact, the game is so deep, it may be necessary to have the second story mode just to explore it all completely.

The battle system will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s played other Tactics-style RPGs, and has plenty of depth to it as well, since characters gain new abilities as they progress in level. And since the game is filled with great anime-style art, fun voice-acting and an undeniable sense of energy, there’s simply every reason for both Disgaea veterans and newcomers to pick this title up; the second Disgaea title was released on PS2 back in 2006, and word on the street has it that a third Disgaea title is already in development for PlayStation 3, although it is said that the series will retain its throwback visuals even on the new, more powerful platform.

No matter what it is a person enjoys about Tactics-style RPGs, there’s plenty to love in Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP. Heck, there’s even a multiplayer mode to further extend the replay appeal, available via Ad-Hoc mode via WiFi. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness definitely extends Sony’s recent run of quality titles for PSP, ever since the PSP Slim relaunch.

One franchise almost completely forgotten about is Dragon Quest Monsters. More of an RPG, like Pokemon, but lacking the fun CD-swapping character generation engine of Monster Rancher, Dragon Quest Monsters has always been big in Japan, but never quite caught on in the US; in fact, the last time one of the titles appeared on North American shores was six years ago on Game Boy Color.

DQM: Joker, the most recent outing, is therefore a welcome reintroduction to the series, at least among US gamers who may feel inclined to throw wedding flowers in its general direction. Or not. Either way, the game is a shot in the arm of freshness to the niche genre that’s been sadly lacking in recent Pokemon and Monster Rancher releases.

The game is decked out in its return to North American shores. It now takes place in a fully-realized 3D world, hosts over 200 unique monster designs, and, of course, a fun monster-breeding system. The real weakness is the battle system, which is a bit simplistic to hold most gamers’ attentions considering the amount of leveling and dungeon crawling the game requires.

Set on a chain of seven islands – none of them huge, but with a fair amount of exploration to be done on each – the game casts you as an aspiring monster breeder jailed for trying to get into a battle tournament without a license. Fortunately, your dad pulls the strings that got you in there, and he pulls them again to get you out, so that you can spy around the tournament on his behalf. Win, and you get your first monster, a JetSki and the game really picks up pace.

Those expecting a full-blown, epic follow up to Dragon Quest VIII: Legend of the Cursed King, this isn’t the game you’re waiting for. Level-5 is not the developer behind this title, and although a decent job was done on it, it’s not quite epic in scale. Rather than a world-saving storyline, the main push – as with most monster breeding titles – is collecting all 200 monsters.

Still, it’s quick-paced and fun and certainly deserving to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Monster Rancher and Pokemon. Considering the amount of recycled content in those two titles, Dragon Quest Monsters may, in fact, deliver a breath of fresh air for fans of this niche genre.