Nintendo Switch Review Code Provided by Moi Rai Games
Earlier this month, Moi Rai Games released their latest adventure strategy game Monster Sanctuary on multiple platforms with the help of publisher Team17. Blending together aspects from multiple favorite titles, they have delivered a title that will take players on a journey through a large variety of locations while putting together a team to help fight against monsters and evildoers alike. This entertaining journey is full of secrets and opportunities as well, so players are definitely in for a treat with this one.
Story
As a Keeper with a rich bloodline that connects to one of the four original familiars, you begin your journey accompanied by the familiar of your family heritage. This journey is focused on taking down champion monsters with their defeat bringing your further progress into your Keeper ranking. However, during this destined adventure, an old alchemist group that was believed to have been dismembered shows up with an evil plan that begins with your partner’s family familiar being stolen! It is up to you to find out what they are up to, get the familiar back to their rightful heir, and put an end to the evildoer’s plans!
Gameplay
Right from the start, you will get a taste of the metroidvania/Pokemon/Final Fantasy mixed gameplay styles. After picking the familiar bloodline that you want to start with, you are sent off through the first area start building your team. To build a team, you simply have to fight against the various monsters that live out in the world and, once beaten, there’s a chance you will obtain an egg of that creature. This egg can be hatched immediately and that new monster will be part of your team.
To beat a monster, regardless if this is a wild monster, a champion, or even a duel against another monster keeper, you will be in turn-based combat. While some attack types have a weakness or resistance against other types, the amount of damage your attack will do is shown over the enemy’s health bar before you begin the attack. These are just a minimal damage marker though because critical hits will do more damage than what is originally shown.
Note that the standard combats against monsters and champions will be 3v3 battles. They can end up being less than three monsters on each side, but never more than that. The only time the entire lot of six monsters you have at the ready for combat will be used is during duels. Whether friendly or against a foe, you will face other keepers in 6v6 battles.
As you make your way through the 2D maze-like world, you will come across a plethora of different challenges and obstacles, including hidden areas or pathways. Every familiar and monster you hatch can be used to help get you through these areas with the aid of their in-world use. Each monster has a different use, but the full stock of different creature types is available to you once you hatch them. Sure, you can only keep six monsters on your team ready for fighting, but the rest are on standby and awaiting to be of use or put into battle.
When it comes to leveling up your monsters, the six that you have in your party for combat will always get experience from each fight. This means whether they are used in the fight or not, they are going to get experience. Those on standby will not get experience, however. As these monsters level up, they will gain skill points that can then be used in their unique skill trees that give each monster their stat and attack increases. While there is a scarce amount of the skill reset item in the game for you to start a skill tree over for a creature, it is best to try and think your choices through to build the best monsters to fight on your side.
Visuals and Sounds
Even for a pixel-based graphic, the game does a great job showing off each new environment and making the creatures stand out. It had a mixture of basic and beautiful aesthetics throughout the game that was easy to appreciate.
Using a well-tuned mix of music to fit each setting really brought this game’s experience out. The sound effects were pretty straightforward and fitting to everything going on.
Replayability
With how large the game map is, the number of different monsters to choose from when building your team, and plenty of secrets to uncover, I can see players going through this game more than once. It’s fun to see what creatures do better than others or what skills would work better if you just altered the skill tree a bit. Sure, the story itself may be pretty much the same, but putting together the best team, building them up, and taking down bosses is always entertaining.
What Could Be Better
I wish the game provided more guidance when it comes to where I was supposed to be going. The map is pretty big and only shows areas as you pass through them, meaning that nothing is given to you until you find it yourself. Because of this, it felt like I was just running around the map, hoping to come across a champion or one of the alchemist moments in order to progress through the game. It gives a sensation of being lost even though I know that as long as I am going in parts of the map I haven’t been before, I am heading in the right direction.
Conclusion
Monster Sanctuary is quite entertaining! I enjoyed playing through this game and can see myself returning to it in the near future, if for nothing else than to play with the monsters skill trees a bit and fight the champions over again. Definitely a game I would recommend to anybody looking for an RPG-style adventure game with Metroidvania-style gameplay!
