Square Enix released a new trailer for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, along with the game’s demo on September 15. The title will be released for the Nintendo Switch. In the trailer video, Maya Mahabala from Dragon Quest IV makes an appearance, and certain revisions to her outfit are attracting all the attention.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince is the latest addition to the Dragon Quest Monsters series and follows the story of demon prince Psaro, who is born neither fully human nor demon, and is cursed by his father, the Demon King, becoming unable to harm demons as a result. Psaro sets out to become a Monster Wrangler, and on his journey recruits and fights alongside various opponents.

Psaro had appeared back in Dragon Quest IV as well, and the trailer for The Dark Prince also introduces other characters from this title, such as Alena, Torneko and Maya, whose clothing has become a topic in particular.

Maya, older sister of Meena Mahabala, is a dancer and mage in Dragon Quest IV. Compared to her sister, Maya is barely clothed, the only garments gracing her body being a bra, loincloth and jewelry. This has remained more or less unchanged in all following titles that featured the character.

However, in the recent trailer, Maya’s clothing, though still more revealing than Meena’s, appears to be covered up a notch, particularly her chest area. Her cleavage is covered up by a top going all the way up to her neck, and she wears additional “boob armor” over it. Maya still dons a loincloth, but now appears to be wearing shorts underneath it. A stylish body chain covers her navel.

Incidentally, Dragon Quest Treasures, a spin-off title of the Dragon Quest series from 2022, had Maya appear as a statue, as one of the in-game Treasures. Here, her design is also slightly less sexualized, as she wears shorts under her loincloth and her navel is covered. It seems that The Dark Prince completed the process by securing her bosom as well.

Maya as she appears in Dragon Quest Heroes II

On the other hand, in Dragon Quest Heroes II (2016) for example, Maya appeared with her original, largely revealing look; but both Dragon Quest Heroes II and The Dark Prince are rated 12+. It’s likely that the revisions this time around have to do with various factors besides rating, such as the changing ideals and principles of companies and platform standards.

The latest trailer and demo for Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince are currently available, and data will be transferrable to the full version. The game is scheduled for release on December 1 for the Nintendo Switch.

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-09-15 13:47 JST)