You can’t catch every monster right away

New to Dragon Quest III HD-2D are friendly monsters scattered all throughout the world. For most of these monsters, you can simply approach them while meeting the proper prerequisites (which a Monster Tamer can completely negate) and they’ll join your party without issue. However, in some areas in the game the Animal Instinct skill will tell you there are monsters hiding, but you’ll see there is nary a creature to be spotted no matter how long you search. What gives?

In cases like these, don’t pull your hair out trying to search for these monsters. Several friendly monsters are actually in disguise, and you’ll need the Ra’s Mirror item to find them. This is a mandatory key item, so you literally cannot miss it once you progress far enough. Once you have it, a disguised monster will reveal itself once you talk to it, and it will subsequently flee to your roster. Keep this in mind as you explore: if you see any out-of-place NPCs with unusual dialogue, there’s a good chance that it’s a monster you’ll want to revisit later.