Monster Sanctuary

It's a "just ok" game. In my opinion it has a lot of potential, I even actually did 100% on it, but I don't recommend even playing it. The game is ruined by the fact that it auto-scales with your level. Almost every enemy in the game has the same level as you. Even other "trainers". Making the game a lot focused on min-maxing monster parties and a lot of the fun being drained from it because you can't just play with monsters you like, you are forced to optimize your party. I don't think this can be compared to your usual pokemon game. It's like playing a pokemon game but with Coliseum rules (in which every monster is a standard level, let's say 50 or 100, and whichever just has stronger attacks/exploits weaknesses/better EVs win). The game made me question why it has levels at all. Just to gate skill points, I guess. I played on normal, and the last keeper battles were all hard. I only managed to beat the game goin in hard in some well known monster combos that just work. Trying to use monsters I actually liked was an exercise in frustration, because all enemies at the end are min-maxed, really hard, and the same level you are. There is even a level cap at 42, because since there are no more skill points to get after that, the game just stops leveling you up. If you like pokemon because it is a chill game that you can beat with whichever pokemon you like, you will not like this game. I really don't think that the "the game is open world and you can explore in any order" is a good reason to make it auto-scaled. You can have a game in which grinding is rewarded just as much as min-maxing, or playing into weaknesses. Low-level clearing games (sometimes even level 1 clears) are a norm in JRPGs because Well Designed games allow for this, while still rewarding whoever just wants to chill and grind the party they like the most and still be able to beat the games.

・「レベリングで強くなるのが好き」「好きなモンスターを強くしたい」そういう楽しみ方を求めている人にはお勧めできない。 ・色んな組み合わせを試して正解を見つける工程が好きな人には良い作品かもしれない。 『気軽に触れられる手頃なモンスター育成RPGとしては最後まで楽しめない』 序盤は自由にお気に入りのモンスターを見つけ、好きな組み合わせでを使って進められる。 中盤もある程度のビルドや組み合わせを求められるが、まだ自由度がある。 ここまではとてもいい手触りの作品だと感じた。 ただ後半に入るとそれが通用しなくなり、それまで出てきた多くのモンスターの中から正解の組み合わせを求められ始めるようになる。 ・レベリングで解決できず、思い入れのあるモンスターはそこで封印される。そこが辛い。 ・そして、とにかくモンスターの数が多い。その中から正解をみつけろと言われると、積み上がった書類の山の整理をさせられるような途方もなさを感じた。それもまた辛い。 ・さらに、トライ＆エラーの繰り返しがやり難いのも難点だ。モンスター選び→育成→実践の流れがとてもテンポが悪く、リトライするのに時間がかなりかかる。 私はその時を境に、面白さより面倒さが勝つようになってしまった。 途中でゲームのテンポ感や面白さの方向が急に切り替わり、そこまでの楽しみ方を否定される気分になってしまう。 そして、その楽しみ方が自然と身に着く作りになっておらず、見えにくいフィルターで人を選ぶ不親切なゲームに思えてしまった。 難易度を下げれば先に進めるが、そうなると完全に作業ゲーと化してしまう。 ストーリー性もあまり興味の湧くものとは言えなかったので、そこまでして進めたいかというと否。 おそらく対戦を前提に練られたバランスなのだと思うが、ソロ用RPGとしてはあまりいい効果は出ていないように見えた。 いずれクリアはしたいとは思うが、現在は途中で興味を失ってしまって放置している状況です。 このゲームの求める楽しみ方をしたい気になったら、また触れてみたいとは思う。

Tl;dr The idea of a metroidvania monster collecting game is brilliant. It allows for using Monsters outside of combat, which really adds a special layer to the collecting. The combat is strategic and satisfying. However, the world you explore is pretty boring, as is the act of exploring it. With no base to upgrade, interesting characters to befriend, or decent story to hook you, it gets old fast. Pros: - Using monsters outside of combat is an absolute treat in this genre. - Combat is satisfyingly strategic, you won't just be spamming a high damage move in this one - Skill trees are fun to upgrade. - The stat, buff, and ability effect diversity is really fun to get into. - Some solid animations Cons: - The world you're exploring is pretty visually boring, with most of the zones having very repetitious platforms and lacking in environmental diversity. - The platforming is too basic and mindless. - The monster designs themselves are pretty bland, ranging from basic cartoon animals to just literal fantasy monsters. - The Equipment system is a bit of an unnecessary layer of baggage. Seems fun at first, but keeping equipment up to date on so many guys can be a little cumbersome. Neutral: - The music and sound design are as standard as they come. - The dialogue and story are bare bones. It won't give you that extra motivation to explore and you won't remember any of these characters, but it's also so to-the-point that it won't intrude if you don't care for this aspect of games. I couldn't put my finger on why such a cool concept for a game, with well executed monster combat, just wasn't clicking for me, but it definitely comes from how visually dull the game is and how bland the platforming is. With dialogue that exists just to give you info, no good story hook, and a base you never upgrade, the game just doesn't make exploration fun. This is a big miss, since that's the main thing you do and what makes it unique. However, I am glad to see this game being positively received, this concept for a monster raising game should be explored more. A sequel with refined exploration and more fun monster designs would be a day 1 purchase for me. I just can't give this game a thumbs up for being a cool idea, when I get bored after an hour each time I try to play. The combat is really great, but the metroidvania aspect, that makes it so unique, feels like an afterthought. Overall Rating: Niche (Monster Collection RPG)

This game is for sickos. This game is for absolute freaks. Every single monster type has its own unique skill tree, which means every single time you catch a new one you're encouraged to briefly theorycraft a build for it and estimate how well that build would work in one of your current teams, or possibly decide if its strong enough to build a whole new team around using some of the other monster's you've already caught. It's a nightmare. Also I like that every monster has their own illustration in the compendium that's a really nice touch.

Español - Spanish: Después de casi 10 horas en Monster Sanctuary ya entendí algo importante: este juego no quiere que ganes… quiere que aprendas a dejar de hacer cagadas. Arranqué confiado, en modo “sí, sí, capturo bichitos y listo”. Error. Acá cada combate es como rendir un examen sorpresa: si no pensás sinergias, buffs, debuffs y quién entra primero… te pasan por arriba con una sonrisa. Y lo peor es que no podés enojarte, porque sabés que fue culpa tuya. Lo lindo (y peligroso) es cuando empezás a entenderlo. De golpe armás un equipo que funciona, todo encadena perfecto y decís “listo, rompí el juego”. Spoiler: no. Siempre hay algo más que ajustar, otra build mejor, otro monstruo que encaja perfecto… y ahí ya estás atrapado, mirando skills como si fueras un técnico de fútbol un domingo a la noche. Explorar también suma: el mapa se abre, volvés a zonas viejas con nuevas habilidades y encontrás secretos que antes ni sabías que estaban. Es medio metroidvania, medio RPG táctico… y completamente adictivo. En resumen: entré por los monstruitos, me quedé por el cerebro. No es difícil porque sí, es difícil porque quiere que juegues bien… y cuando lo hacés, se siente hermoso. 9/10. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- English - Ingléss: [Googke Translator] After almost 10 hours in Monster Sanctuary, I’ve realized something important: this game doesn’t want you to win… it wants you to learn to stop screwing up. I started out confident, like “yeah, yeah, I’ll just catch some monsters and that’s it.” Big mistake. Every fight here feels like a surprise exam: if you’re not thinking about synergies, buffs, debuffs, and turn order… you’ll get steamrolled with a smile. And the worst part? You can’t even get mad, because you know it was your fault. The fun (and dangerous) part is when it finally clicks. Suddenly you build a team that works, everything chains perfectly, and you go “that’s it, I broke the game.” Spoiler: you didn’t. There’s always something else to tweak, a better build, another monster that fits perfectly… and that’s when you’re hooked, staring at skill trees like a soccer coach on a Sunday night. Exploration adds a lot too: the map opens up, you revisit old areas with new abilities, and find secrets you didn’t even know were there. It’s part metroidvania, part tactical RPG… and completely addictive. In short: I came for the monsters, I stayed for the brain. It’s not hard just to be hard—it’s hard because it wants you to play well… and when you do, it feels amazing. 9/10.

[list] [*]good graphic design, if you're into pixel art [*]adjustable difficulty, no auto-fight [*]many backtracking; teleport waypoints are too far apart. [*]all achievements are completable in a single run [/list] I got frustrated with the backtracking and grindy leveling on my first try. After taking a long break, I finally picked this game up again and finished it. The idea of the game is simple: hatch your monsters, level them up, upgrade their gear and save the world. The story is a bit weak though still acceptable(even if some characters can be really annoying). There's a wide variety of monsters and equipment to choose from, almost every item in the game is sustainably obtainable, the game really encourages you to try different things and build your own team. The leveling progress in the early stage of the game is a bit boring and repetitive, but once you reached a certain level and find out how to avoid unnecessary fights, the game becomes quite lovely. Some small details that left a good impression on me: The achievement icons are cute. There are also designated places to donate no longer needed monsters, as well as a place to store no needed monsters for the time being. It's really helpful to keeping my backpack organized.

In a nutshell: tedious, excruciatingly long, dullest possible dialogues, all about the incessant monster fights. This game does not care about: - telling a compelling story (language learning apps have better dialogues) - an immersive atmosphere (the graphics is perhaps supposed to be nostalgic, the music / audio can be completely turned off and it changes nothing) - exciting exploration - interesting logic puzzles Don't get me wrong, all of these elements are there, but they make you feel the developers had a personal vendetta against anyone who dares to care about anything other than the monster fights. What this game cares about: optimization. Constant, never-ending, mind-numbing adjustment of stats via hundreds of new monsters (with utterly boring and completely irrelevant backstories), weapons, gear, skill trees, food items and gadgets to tailor your monster team to win fights against other monster teams. And you have to know what skills, strengths and weaknesses each of the hundreds of monsters have to be successful against the specific set of monsters you're currently fighting against. Even if you don't care about optimizing everything as if this is a Formula 1 race, the game forces you to engage with this. Sure, at the lower levels you can grind, and grind, and grind, and finally brute force your wins by simply leveling up above your opponents. But once your monsters hit level 42, they can't level up any more and then you have to repeat the boss fight you absolutely have to win to progress in this jungle of boredom again, and again, and again, and actually pay attention to it and figure out which monsters to attack first with which other monsters to finally get on with your life. Such fun! And that's on Casual! But perhaps you are curious to explore the vast world and the many, many differently colored areas of the gigantic map. Why not? Here you go, more monster fights, and occasionally chests you sometimes need to solve some either completely obvious or not-worth-my-time puzzle to get an apple to feed to one of your monsters so it gets 3% extra crit chance or whatever. But what about the areas you can't access yet, because you need to find a new monster from the opposite end of the map, grind, grind, grind to level up to beat it well enough (not just simply win) to get a monster egg, hatch it, find another super specific trinket to evolve your new monster so that you can finally use it to open the special door you saw way back when you started the game? Then you get another chest, with another apple! (or linen, or some weapon, or whatever) And the dialogues! They are so utterly boring you'll find the ingredient list on your cereal box more entertaining! This game completely lacks the wit and ingenuity of old-school point-and-click adventure games. Even if the story isn't half bad the game puts zero effort in telling it and the lobotomized dialogues urge you to skip them. Which turns out to be a mistake because at some point in the game you don't know where to go next on the ginormous map to progress. So, if constant stats optimization to win otherwise utterly meaningless fights makes you happy, then knock yourself out. If not, this game is absolutely not worth it.

给差评是因为没有中评，而我实在不想给好评，因为在游戏过程中我的窝火一定大于我的快乐。首先不得不承认在类宝可梦的元素上做的相当优秀，瑕不掩瑜。但是过度的类银河恶魔城的跑图和解密设计对于这种类型的游戏一定是扣分项。是非常有意思的游戏，画风音乐等方面我也很喜欢，但是作为贯穿游戏始终的地图设计实在是让人窝火。看到这里就行了，后面是骂人的话。[spoiler]我真是操死你的血妈了傻逼东西，搞个几把傻逼图，这也要解密那也要解密，你会设计你妈逼的地图，跑图还有各种跳跳乐真他妈折磨，你老鸡巴念念不忘你那个跳跳乐还有推箱子干几把呢。老子把你扔到你妈的子宫里去跑图去。 [/spoiler]

Never in my life have a played a game as balanced as this, maybe Slay the Spire. Genuinely every single monster in this game is viable with the right combination and setup. It's a refreshing deviation from Pokemon, where you understand some mons are straight up better than others and some are almost unusable, let alone pre evolutions which don't even become a real mon until halfway through the game. This game takes everything great about Pokemon and strips its worst aspects away, leaving a smooth battle system and playthrough (xp is also doled out so ingeniously and fairly I couldn't believe it either, having played countless Pokemon games that mess it up every time). Amazing game.