So, I’m reviewing it. I’ve been a fan of the series since MR3, and it’s interesting to note the changes they’ve made in the basic gameplay. Monsters are now trained on a schedule you set, instead of picking an activity each day. This is to help facilitate another changed aspect - training three monsters at once. The adventure mode has switched from wandering at preset times to exploring various dungeons whenever you feel like it. You still find loot, but you also find random monsters and quest items. Killing the monsters raises the levels of your critters, which lets them learn new moves and randomly gain new abilities.
There are other changes, but those are the real big alterations. I know it’s a niche title, so I was curious to see if anyone else in the community is playing it. If so, what do you think?
I definitely dig it. The multi-training thing is nice, and I like the way you take a more active role in creating your ranch, not just training the monsters.
The adventure segments are a big improvement too, IMO. I do kind of wish for more of the old design where they were more of an infrequent event. Now I sort of feel obligated to head into the caves every spare weekend, whereas before they were a much bigger deal.
It definitely tickles that same Monster Rancher itch, no doubt. Very fun monster raising core, with below-average production quality elements sprinkled about.
My only real complaint is the long load times for battles, which is especially frustrating in the caves.
I definitely can see myself playing this one for a while, assuming I don’t run into problems further in (I’m only about 2 years in).
Do you know of any way to find out more what things like the Junk Toy, Nunchaku, Rose Perfume, etc. do?
http://www.monster-rancher-metropolis.com/ is a site full of great info. Also, turns out I’m not reviewing it, a friend is. Miscommunication with my editor. Maybe she’ll post her impressions, once she gets it.
Played a ton of MR1, got all my friends addicted, and had a lot of fun with it. MR2 came out, and while I liked how they changed a lot of things, I absolutely despised how they made what creatures you could train depend on your rank- I liked just popping in a random CD and seeng what you got- in MR2, 90% of the time it’d tell me that I wasn’t allowed to train that creature. Do the games still do that? Hell, is the ‘read a CD for a monster’ gimmick still in there? MR2 left such a sour taste in my mouth, I never bothered to pick up MR3 when I finally got around to getting a PS2.
