5/31/2023 0 Comments Monark game reviewThe highlights are definitely the character portraits, music, and an interesting premise. In its current state, it feels a few different gameplay ideas were thrown together at the expense of the overall experience. Monark would’ve been better as an adventure game or visual novel since the story is interesting and some of the exploration and adventure game elements work well. Once more NPCs are in a closed space, the performance on Switch was even worse. The PS5 version going by the demo is smooth, much higher resolution, and much quicker with loading. In its current state with the day one patch, Monark feels sluggish on Switch even while moving the camera both docked and handheld. I still wanted to play it on Switch because I try to play all RPGs on Nintendo’s hybrid system to be able to play in portable mode as well as on TV. ![]() Having played the PS5 demo, Monark feels a lot better there. Sadly, the full release feels basically the same as the demo with various technical issues. Monark’s opening combat encounter on Switch (full game) vs PS5 (demo)Įver since I tried the demo on Switch, I was hoping Monark would feel better to play in its full release. Just like the Caligula games, I’d definitely get the Monark soundtrack if it gets a release digitally. The music in Monark is very good, with some standout tracks in later portions and in key battles. Monark having dual audio was pretty surprising given that most JRPGs from smaller publishers release with only Japanese voice acting, but it is a welcome surprise considering publishers like Koei Tecmo still avoid English dubs in most releases. Monark’s localization is mostly good with some great voice acting. There is absolutely a base here that can be built upon for future entries, but Monark just ends up feeling like a low budget RPG when it has a lot of care put into certain aspects. Things like this just made me wish the developers could’ve put all this effort into improving the structure as an adventure game or a pure visual novel, rather than try and make so many systems work together and fail. The lower budget for this scope is very evident with how many things are reused and recolored in Monark. Visually, Monark has portraits and character designs I liked a lot. Even walking around narrow corridors doesn’t feel great and things get worse later on in the game. The combat and RPG aspects work mostly well, but the technical issues on Nintendo Switch which I well get to in a bit make most of this feel sluggish. The adventure segments had very difficult and vague solutions in specific cases. Having a JRPG that brings together gameplay elements I enjoy sounds great on paper, but the reality is that Monark fumbles quite a bit. You have strategic battles, adventure and exploration segments where you need to find objects or passwords to proceed, and an interesting story with some excellent music. Monark’s core gameplay involves a few different things that sometimes don’t work as well together. The localization and voice acting definitely elevate it. There are some mature elements tackled here, but a few things are handled poorly. ![]() In its delivery, the story is good, but feels like it relies on too many stereotypes for some characters. This mechanic is interesting during battles as well. Monark also has a mechanic that makes you avoid going into madness yourself. As a Pactbearer, you join forces with others to put an end to the mist with the help of your Ego and fiends. You wake up here and soon realize that you can’t leave pushing you to become a Pactbearer. Monark is set in an academy that has been surrounded by mist that drives people insane. Having now played it on Nintendo Switch, Monark has left me disappointed, but hopeful for a future entry from the same team. ![]() When Monark was announced for Japan, it looked stylish and the premise seemed interesting. Both Caligula Effect releases felt like interesting stories and good music trapped in mediocre RPGs. Thanks to The Legend of Legacy and The Alliance Alive, I made it a point to try out games FuRyu has published in Japan, but some newer releases have been quite disappointing. Over the years, FuRyu has been putting out quite a few RPGs across different platforms in Japan that have seen localizations in the West through NIS America recently.
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