Square Enix has revealed more about what we can expect from Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince‘s online multiplayer features.

The game, which is due to arrive on Nintendo Switch in December, will bring back the “much-loved” Online Battles mode, according to Square Enix.

This will allow you to battle other players for supremacy in the ranked mode, take on your friends in for-fun matches, or even participate in multiplayer tournaments.

Do you fancy yourself a Dragon Quest Monsters champion? The Dark Prince will let you prove it.

As well as Online Battles, you’ll also be able to compete in Quickfire Contests in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince.

These competitions will collect data from 30 players in order to “conduct battles automatically in the blink of an eye”, according to Square Enix.

You can earn rewards from these competitions once per day, and rewards include items to boost your monsters’ stats, plus identical monsters from teams you’ve defeated.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince‘s Online Shop will allow you to buy items with currency you earn by taking part in online matches, too, so you’ll have plenty of options for powering up your team.

Psaro with his hands raised in a cave in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince launches for Switch next month.

If you’re not up on Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, it’s the latest in the Dragon Quest Monsters side-series of monster-taming RPGs.

The game will follow Psaro, the villain of Dragon Quest IV, as he journeys through the Underworld in order to build an army of monsters.

Although the game is somewhat similar to Pokemon, it has its own personality; it’s suffused with the kind of charm you’d expect from a Dragon Quest game, and it should be a nostalgic trip if you’re familiar with the Dragon Quest series (or, indeed, with Dragon Quest Monsters).

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on December 1st. If you’d like to learn more about the game, you can check out our very own Giuseppe’s interview with producer Kento Yokota right here.