Montabi

As a fan of tactical combat, roguelikes, and creature collectors, there's a lot to like here, and at a high level, this genre combination is executed quite well. However, the devil is in the details, and I can't recommend this game in its current state strictly because of balance (or lack thereof). I appreciate the developers' philosophy that not every powerful combo needs to be nerfed into the ground, however it's a bit too easy to assemble near-deterministic turn 1 or 2 kills with some Montabi, while others seem close to useless in comparison (and the same is true of individual cards - the power delta is just too wide). I look forward to checking back in after a balance pass or three has gone through.

[h1]TL;DR[/h1] Clearly inspired by Slay the Spire, but Montabi stands alone by its own merits. There are some fantastic ideas; runs are a good length; and the developers are exceptionally open to feedback and truly strive to make the game better. 10/10 highly recommend, and I intend to keep playing for many more hours (hoping for new content as well!). If you like grid-based tactics games, deck-builders, creature-collectors, and/or games like Slay the Spire and Across the Obelisk, definitely jump into the demo. It's quite representative of what the full game is like. [h1]Background[/h1] I saw the demo 8 months ago on Retromation's channel, and I knew Montabi would be something I'd love. As I imagine the people reading this review would already know, it's hard to pull off a rogueli(t|k)e with multiple characters that each draft their own deck. The last game that I played that did it successfully was Across the Obelisk, which I highly recommended at release but not longer do (the publisher completely ruined that game IMO, but I digress). Before I talk a little about the game, first and foremost: the development team are an absolute joy to converse with. They are extremely receptive to feedback, and you can feel the passion ooze from every pore. I really hope this game continues to be successful because I cannot wait for even more content. [h1]Overview[/h1] Each run begins with your selection of one of three "trainers" (only one is unlocked at first). The trainer is effectively your chess King—if their HP reaches 0, you lose. Trainers impact the synergies of your team very greatly, and are very useful characters in their own right. They can be support-like or even your primary damage dealer. How your team works and how their cards are drafted, even when using the same Montabi, really depends on the trainer and the starting charm you chose (a passive bonus—think Slay the Spire relic). You can think of a trainer being broad archetype/function, and the choice of three starting charms narrows that archetype/function a bit more. Regarding Montabi themselves: each effectively represents an archetype umbrella, typically with a couple different variants of that archetype. For example, one of the characters utilises discarding cards to increase power, etc. I don't feel there is a character that is "locked into" on specific build (but as with any game without perfect balance, which is probably not even possible, some builds are likely just stronger than others). I've played with every character (albeit some more than others), and I've been extremely pleasantly surprised when unlocking a character whose archetype seemed somewhat gimmicky and hard to pull off only for it to work really well. Mild spoilers: [spoiler]essentially, one character scales with curse-like cards; adding them to hand and deck and their number contributing to power. I was extremely skeptical at first, but the character ended up being very strong.[/spoiler] In addition, one nice QoL feature is that after unlocking a new Montabi, you are guaranteed to be offered that Montabi in your next run. No one likes unlocking something new and then proceeding not to see it for another 10 runs. One criticism I might have on the Montabi is that I personally feel some of the character [i]identities[/i] are stronger than others. There is quite a large pool of Montabi, and you're limited to an incremental offer among ~10 or so during a run. This means it's not always possible to experiment with one particular Montabi, and certain archetypes don't feel as strongly synergistic with others, so your first pick influences your next picks. That said, I've been surprised at how many of the archetypes do in fact synergise with each other well, and I am still keen to explore a bunch of ideas. It's worth mentioning that there is one particular character I don't really "get", but I do still think it has a lot of potential. Aptly, it's the last character you unlock, by far the most complicated (in my opinion), and I've only played with it once. By the end of the run I felt I was starting to understand a bit better how to make it work well, but I think much more experimentation is in order. Regardless, I am confident that any "weaker" characters, be it power or identity, will be addressed by the developers in good time. I also feel that, even after 50 hours, I do not have enough experience to form proper opinions on most characters, so my current opinions might simply be ignorant and highly subject to change. Anyway, I'm still having an absolute blast, and this definitely scratches an itch that remained unscratched since the glory days of Across the Obelisk. I wish the developers every bit of success, and I'll do my best to spread the word of this great game. I implore you to try the demo—you'll know whether it's for you, and if it is, you'll be very glad you did.

I love the art style, the music, and the concept. I REALLY want to love this game. Unfortunately that’s where the praise stops. Balance is a mess with a gameplay loop so punishing I’m considering refunding. The game is extremely unfriendly for new players and I believe this is because the devs are listening too much to veteran players who have forgotten what the starting experience is like. This means they’re focusing on a small market that already exists instead of trying to find a wider one. The game mechanics seem clearly influenced by Slay The Spire, Into the Breach which are two of my favourite games I’ve beaten multiple times. Montabi doesn’t reach the same heights of either of these two games largely due to arbitrary limitations and upsetting punishment loops. To put it simply, Montabi pushes you in the deep end while those games help you dip your toes in first. Manoeuvrability is very restricted compared to Into the breach - and if your trainer gets knocked out you lose instantly. In practice this can mean you lose fights the moment you place your units through no fault of your own, as there’s not enough indication of what the enemy’s first move will be, or even how their attacks work. I have had multiple runs where I placed units only to find my trainer was going to die on Turn 1 through no fault of my own and with nothing I could do to prevent it. Combat doesn’t match Slay The Spire as they have the same starting AP (3) but in Montabi this is needed to move as well as attack. This means moving denies you the chance to do damage, but many enemies get stronger or summon more enemies over time - so moving is usually a bad trade. You’re better off using a weak montabi as a shield on the frontline but some boss enemies have their own unique mechanics you can only learn by fighting them. These bosses are the ones that were capable of 1-shotting me as soon as I placed my units. Unlike Slay The Spire it’s very difficult to heal between fights, AND you get permanent injury cards added to your deck for being knocked out - but it also costs AP to put a Montabi in reserve to avoid them being knocked out! This is an absurdly punishing loop that just isn’t fun long term - being knocked out is punishing enough on its own and a significant setback to the run even if you win as healing is incredibly rare. This feedback loop made me feel like my team was getting WEAKER as i got further in, not stronger. The combination of low AP, rare healing between battles, and needing to spend AP to move makes the game feel unbalanced and confused. I often found I would place my team and start the battle only to find I was going to lose as soon as the enemy moves were shown as it simply wasn’t possible for both trainer and my heavy hitting montabi to avoid being 1-hit. I had issues with the balance, the way items are unlocked, and the overuse of randomness: When you recruit a new Montabi it starts at level 1 starter - so in practice your first 2 or 3 are the only useful ones while any others will be one/two shot. Enemies have several times your health even when the same montabi are being used - they aren’t using the same rules as the player, and when it recruit them yourself they go from powerhouses to weaklings, which felt unfair. This is easily fixed by having enemies be different from the player’s recruitable Montabi. Boss enemies often summon extra monsters which means you have less action economy and have to choose which damage you’ll take (this worsens the negative feedback loop of not healing after battles) Upgrades like new montabi and items are unlocked at the end of your run - win or lose. This in practice encourages abandoning the first few runs just to get upgrades. Your starter Montabi basically determines if you can win or not and there’s no guarantee they’ll synergise with your trainer type. Both Into the Breach and Slay The Spire CAN reliably be won from the first run if you play well. Unfortunately despite the premise of this game being “getting back your stolen Montabi” the game mechanics encourage treating them not as allies, but as literal shields.

[h2] トレーナーとモンスターで一緒にバトルするローグライク [/h2] まだ1時間程度しか遊べていないので、ゲーム概要を中心とした応援のレビューです🙌 最初にトレーナーと１体のモンスターを選んで始まります。 トレーナーも一緒に戦います。トレーナーがやられてしまうとゲームオーバーです。 キャラクターそれぞれにAPがあり、それぞれにデッキと手札がある形になります。 ほかのキャラの手札を補充したり、APを回復させたり協力しあって戦うことができます。 また、他の変わった特徴でいうとダメージやシールド付与の効果量について 攻撃力・耐久値がキャラクター毎に存在しており、そのベース値に100％や150％といった倍率で計算が行われます。 キャラクターにレベルの概念があり、レベルが5・10になるタイミングで進化して攻撃力や耐久力がアップしたりします。 モンスターを育てる楽しさ、どんな形に進化するのかのワクワクがあってとてもよかったです。 ちょっと変わったローグライクや、モンスターを使ったゲームに興味があればオススメです！

This game is such a clear labour of love. I feel like I'm able to find a way to break the game every run, which feels great. The event nodes almost always offer an exciting choice, unlike most deckbuilders. Easy recommend for any strategy fans. I'd love for movement abilities to default target the tile you're on, rather than a random tile around you. I wish you could get another rare at level 15 (or a mini passive, or a draft from 5 rares). But minor things amongst an excellent package.

Montabi is fantastic and gameplay is far deeper than it initially looks. Brilliant launch and looking forward to more content being added going forward.

Damn, I appreciate the art, polishness and somehow the soundtrack of the game, I really felt that the world of Montabi is well design and has so much to explore. PLEASE MAKE THIS A COLLECTIBLE TOYS! Montabi monster design are also soo damn uniqueee! Can't wait to play a fish in a plastic bag, gotta be smacking some ass I bet! But nevertheless the gameplay is also well thought out! Deff unique in a roguelike deckbuilder!

Best game ever! i m one of the playtester. fun card with taming aspect. visually appealing my type of game. the battle satisfying with nice vfx and sfx. just fully discovered 'cheapway" tactic and oh i love building it up till it one shooted the enemies lol. cool music too! cant wait to progress more deep in to it.