While the Dragon Quest XII status update was the focus of the 40th anniversary update, Game Programmer Yuji Horii also revealed an entirely new game called Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World. That is in development for the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. It will also tie in to a past game like other titles. This is because child versions of Dragon Quest V characters Bianca and Nera appeared alongside that logo.
The reveal didn’t explain how and why Bianca and Nera will be the heroines and lead characters of the new Dragon Quest Monsters game. It only showed younger versions of themselves. This is the youngest version of Nera we’ve seen. However, Dragon Quest V did involve some time skips. As such, we’ve seen younger versions of Bianca before. It seems like this could take place after the “start” of the fifth game, but not before that adventure begins in earnest.
You can see the announcement of this new entry at the 7:35 minute mark of the anniversary update video below.
It is very common for these spin-offs to feature characters from mainline games. Dragon Quest Treasures starred Erik and Mia from Dragon Quest XI. Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince’s stars Psaro from the fourth game.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World will be a spin-off featuring Bianca and Nera and is in development for the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. There’s no release date for it yet.