Monster Sanctuary

Hours and hours and hours of entertainment

[h1]An amazing hybrid between the customization, tactics, and combat of a party based RPG and the exploration and map progression of a Metroidvania.[/h1] Having said that... It's not for everyone. Pokemon fans will probably be off-put by the focus on strategy and build-crafting, and the lack of focus on companionship. Metroidvania fans will probably be somewhat disappointed with the ability gating not being the main progression mechanic. [h3]What makes it Awesome:[/h3] [b]Team Customization:[/b] Every monster has it's own skill tree that actually gives different tactical options. Furthermore, every monster can be given your choice of equipment, food buffs, and light/dark forms. I've seen several people's 'favorite team/build' and they're all different. Even the optimizers come up with their own build rather than copying a guide. [b]Strategy:[/b] Viable options are plentiful. Every monster can be used for multiple roles, often at the same time if built right. For offense, you can focus on damage over time debuffs, bleeding the enemy, superbuffing your strongest attacker, area effect elemental attacks, high crit builds, etc. Defense is equally interesting, you can gain shields by burning enemies, use age stacks to play the long game, passively heal every turn, buff/debuff everytime you actively heal, blind the enemies to dodge, stack debuffing monster together to completely ruin the enemies ability to attack, etc. Meaningful buffs, debuffs, stacks, synergies, auras, equipment bonuses, and more... Creating your team is a joy. [b]Exploration:[/b] When you're not testing your latest build on the closest monster, you'll be exploring the edges of the map trying to find the next area, piece of gear, monster, trinket, puzzle, etc. This makes Exploration very rewarding, as every new monster/trinket opens up new tactics, and new gear/materials helps buff your monsters to new heights. Overall, the exploration/puzzles/platforming are a good change of pace and add to the gameplay loop. There are secrets and treasure to find... many of which ended with me trying to rework my current build. [h3]Why it might not be for you[/h3] First things first, if you don't like making builds, then this game is going to kick your butt. You will need to be able to deal with enemy debuffs, stacks, turtle formations, buff cycles, special attributes, buff stealing, etc. If you don't like dealing with all that, then you're going to experience some severe difficulty spikes. Furthermore, if you suck at the combat system, then the game won't drop monster eggs. You [b]need[/b] to understand the combat/build systems to enjoy this game. Second, Metroidvania fanatics will be left unfulfilled by the ability progression and platforming. It's not bad, but it's not the main element for progression. I would have liked if there was some more ability gating and sequence breaks w/ less repeated traversal abilities on the monsters. Overall, atmosphere and story are good but don't add much. Pacing is great, but is dependent on how good you are with the combat. Now I love this game, I was looking up monster skill trees on my lunch breaks because I was mentally still trying to optimize my team. If you like the gameplay I've described, then you'll love this. If not, then pass. I'd probably give it 8.5/10 overall.