Quick Play Review
Techmo©
Genres: Simulation, Fantasy, RPG
Genres: Simulation, Fantasy, RPG
Plot Summary
Didn't have the case and could not find a picture of the back online. So, this summary is from Wiki. The game, taking place in the BOMBA region, involves raising, fighting, and breeding monsters. The main character is never seen on screen, but always talks to his apprentice, Cleo, directly. The player chooses his actions and choices through menu options.
Didn't have the case and could not find a picture of the back online. So, this summary is from Wiki. The game, taking place in the BOMBA region, involves raising, fighting, and breeding monsters. The main character is never seen on screen, but always talks to his apprentice, Cleo, directly. The player chooses his actions and choices through menu options.
Graphics
Not sure how I should review the graphics of a re-release of Monster Rancher 2. I don't remember it very well, so I'm not sure if this game has improved graphics or not. From what I've seen it doesn't. It's pretty pixelated. I guess it's alright for a DS game. I haven't played very many (2), and have no idea how good they are. From what I've seen online, they should be on par with SNES graphics or slightly better.
Music & Sound Effects
Monster make cute little noises. Music is not the greatest, but it's not bad enough to have to mute the thing. I don't know very many people who jam to the music of a handheld anyway. Most people play them on mute or with low volume. At least in my experiences.
Storyline
The storyline to this game is about as creative as the Harvest Moon ones. There is a storyline, but it's real simple and not actually needed. They just put it in there for people, so they have another reason besides raising monsters to keep playing. I personally felt that they would have been better off without it. It's terrible from what I've seen.
Battle System
The battles in this game are extremely slow and boring. You don't really do much, but sit there and wait for your Guts to go up. Once it reaches the correct number, you can attack once. Then you're back to waiting. The problem is the wait is so slow and the monsters end up missing the majority of the time, causing the battles to be drawn out a lot longer than they should be. If it wasn't for the time limit, I wouldn't have been able to play the game as long as I did.
Creating Monsters
You get to choose between two different methods. One is drawing a shape. Which is actually quite fun. I'm not sure if there are special shapes to draw to get special monsters, but from what I've seen any shape will give you a random monster. The other type is to speak into the DS. Again, I'm not sure if there's certain words and/or pitches that unlock special monsters. So far it's just a random monster no matter what you say.
Final Opinion
I'll openly admit that I didn't finish the game. I played for an entire day, but could not continue. In game time it was about three years. I just couldn't take it any more. It's way to slow for me. I love Harvest Moon and I remember enjoying some of the other Monster Rancher games, but this one was just too slow. Raising the monster is okay, but the battles are so terrible that I don't think I could play this game again. I know a lot of fans will hate me for this, but I don't recommend it to anyone. It's all because of the battle system. If they fixed it, made it faster, changed it, or something.... Then this would be playable.
Not sure how I should review the graphics of a re-release of Monster Rancher 2. I don't remember it very well, so I'm not sure if this game has improved graphics or not. From what I've seen it doesn't. It's pretty pixelated. I guess it's alright for a DS game. I haven't played very many (2), and have no idea how good they are. From what I've seen online, they should be on par with SNES graphics or slightly better.
Music & Sound Effects
Monster make cute little noises. Music is not the greatest, but it's not bad enough to have to mute the thing. I don't know very many people who jam to the music of a handheld anyway. Most people play them on mute or with low volume. At least in my experiences.
Storyline
The storyline to this game is about as creative as the Harvest Moon ones. There is a storyline, but it's real simple and not actually needed. They just put it in there for people, so they have another reason besides raising monsters to keep playing. I personally felt that they would have been better off without it. It's terrible from what I've seen.
Battle System
The battles in this game are extremely slow and boring. You don't really do much, but sit there and wait for your Guts to go up. Once it reaches the correct number, you can attack once. Then you're back to waiting. The problem is the wait is so slow and the monsters end up missing the majority of the time, causing the battles to be drawn out a lot longer than they should be. If it wasn't for the time limit, I wouldn't have been able to play the game as long as I did.
Creating Monsters
You get to choose between two different methods. One is drawing a shape. Which is actually quite fun. I'm not sure if there are special shapes to draw to get special monsters, but from what I've seen any shape will give you a random monster. The other type is to speak into the DS. Again, I'm not sure if there's certain words and/or pitches that unlock special monsters. So far it's just a random monster no matter what you say.
Final Opinion
I'll openly admit that I didn't finish the game. I played for an entire day, but could not continue. In game time it was about three years. I just couldn't take it any more. It's way to slow for me. I love Harvest Moon and I remember enjoying some of the other Monster Rancher games, but this one was just too slow. Raising the monster is okay, but the battles are so terrible that I don't think I could play this game again. I know a lot of fans will hate me for this, but I don't recommend it to anyone. It's all because of the battle system. If they fixed it, made it faster, changed it, or something.... Then this would be playable.