From its deep level of monster customization to the expansive world players can explore,Monster Crownis a game tailor-made for fans of the monster-catching genreand classicPokemontitles. It’s a modern indie darling that attempts to evoke a bygone era of video game design and aesthetic.
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But while there’s much to love about the game, it does have its negatives as well. Some of its faults stem from direct comparison to the much larger franchise from the house of Nintendo,but it does make notable missteps all on its own. Here are some of the things players will love (and some they’ll dislike) inMonster Crown.
10Loved: Robust Breeding System
Similar to thePokemonseries,Monster Crownboastsa breeding system that is unlocked fairly early in the game and features a shockingly robust level of customization.Any monster in the game can be bred with any other, resulting in some fantastic pairings that produce some ofMonster Crown’s strongest beasts.
Each breeding creates a new monster that pulls traits and attacks from its parents, and will often sport impressive stats as well. Breeding a fast monster with one that has a high attack can produce a powerhouse that’ll be perfect fortaking down challenging opponents.
9Didn’t Love: Fast, Unstrategic Battles
Battles inMonster Crownaren’t quite as strategic as they are in othergames inspired by the Pokemon seriesand don’t offer the same kind of satisfaction. Battles in thePokemonseries feel meaningful and deliberate,while inMonster Crownthey’re often over in the blink of an eye.
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Part of this issue is technical, as battle animations often don’t trigger properly, butthe deeper issue is that there’s not enough type variety to truly build out a strategic team. Battles will end abruptly, leaving players scratching their heads over what actually transpired.
8Loved: Wide Variety Of Monsters
Monster Crownboasts an impressive roster of monsters,each with their own alternate formsthat be can be acquired either by breeding or bydiscovering them out in the wild. There’s a certain joy to uncovering a new monster form as they can be radically different from the base creature’s appearance and abilities.
Finding an alternate form monster out in the wild is also a treat, as they’ll just show up as “???,” and the game will prompt the player to christen the creature with a name of their choosing.Some of these monsters can be exceedingly rare and have access to powerful attacks.
7Didn’t Love: Frustrating Environments
WhileMonster Crownhas a large world rife with side paths to wander down,many of these hidden passages don’t really lead anywhere. There might be a random item or two, possibly another tamer looking to battle or trade, but there’s often as not nothing but a dead-end.
What’s worse is thatnavigating through the world can be a chore, with wild monsters chasing the main character down or invisible obstacles blocking what clearly looks like a viable pathway. The controls also feel floaty and feature a notable amount of lag between player input and the subsequent reaction.
6Loved: World That Encourages Exploration
The main story inMonster Crowndoesn’t press players to rush ahead to the next objective, giving them time to thoroughly explore the world around each town. And there’s plenty to find around the world, including side quests,rare items, and strong monsters to tame.
The game hides some of its more interesting locations in plain sight, using elements of the environment to craft mazes for players to navigate.The world rarely gates players' exploration, as well, allowing them to explore freely across zones and even into places the narrative hasn’t yet gone.
5Didn’t Love: Numerous Game-Breaking Bugs
Video games today can usually be expected to launch with a certain amount of technical errors and glitches that may or may not affect game progress.Monster Crownlaunched with more than just a few of these,including several that genuinely break the game.
While many of these bugs are mostly just visual, the worst offenders are those that cause players to lose progress. The game has several instances where it will just crash completely, andthere’s at least one bugged boss encounter that negates a player’s attacks entirely, forcing the player to reset the game in order to escape.
4Loved: Unexpectedly Deep Story
Pokemon fans over the years have come toexpect a certain story patternfrom each release: fight gym leaders, stop an evil organization, and take down the Pokemon League.Monster Crownoffersa narrative that’s a little more mature and asks more from the game’s main character.
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While there are analogs to Pokemon’s Gym Leaders, they receive so little focus that it’s easy for players to miss them entirely. Instead,the evil organization bent on world domination takes center stage, and they’re far more ruthless than their Nintendo counterparts.
3Didn’t Love: Unhelpful Tutorials/Resources
For a game as dense asMonster Crowncan be, it’s a shame the in-game information tools are almost nonexistent.There’s no way to revisit any of the tutorialsafter they’re seen the first time, forcing players to look to the internet to figure out how to perform certain actions.
The resources that are offered are fairly basic, with the whole first page of the notebook taken up by type advantages in both written and picture form.The quest log is also very rudimentary, offering limited information on both quests the player has finished and quests they’re still pursuing.
2Loved: An Experience Share That Can Be Toggled
The classic experience share appears inMonster Crownandit’s a useful tool for players of any skill level.That it can be toggled on and off is a blessing, and allows players to cater earned experience to the situation.
Early on it’s best to turn the experience share off in order to build up a small, strong stable of monsters to get past some of the initial obstacles, butkeeping it on can help lower-level monsters catch upand get in the fight.
1Didn’t Love: Severe Loss Consequences
Battles are a regular part of any game in the monster-catching genre, andMonster Crownis no exception. However, it addsan additional twist into the mix that makes every battle feel like a gamble. Losing is never fun in a game, but it’s even less fun when there are steep consequences involved.
When players lose a battle inMonster Crown,regardless of the opponent,their entire stockpile of healing items is lost. It’s a strange penalty that makes repeat battles even more challenging. What’s more,losing to a Chief Tamer costs players one of their hard-earned monsters, potentially wiping out hours of training and breeding.
