Monster Sanctuary

Overall, Monster Sanctuary is a delight. Exploring the interconnected world with your team and discovering cool new monsters is always fun, but it's the process of developing your favourite companions that makes the game so hard to put down.

An expansive and content-packed game, Monster Sanctuary would be easy to criticise as a grind if we didn't find that said grinding was never really necessary to enjoy it. It's a difficult one to review because a lot of what this reviewer personally found a little boring is exactly what's going to appeal to its core audience of number-crunching statisticians. While Monster Sanctuary's is a little plain at the outset, the right people will find it one of their favourite games of the year. It's a total timesink, but that's a term that implies said time is being wasted, when it really isn't. Every fight is pushing your team forward, and the potential for maximising the efficiency and power of your squad is seemingly infinite. It can feel more like organising a spreadsheet than playing a game at times, but it's impossible to deny that it's an accomplished game with a lot to offer - and that's without even taking it online to battle other players. If you like min-maxing, feel free to add a point or two to the score below.

A quality combination of pixel-art, turn-based JRPG, and Metroidvania. A recipe for monster-collection success.

Monster Sanctuary is a must play for anyone who considers themselves a fan of at least one of the genres it puts itself out to be. Even if you aren’t a fan of either genre, it’s still highly recommended you check the game out.

By uniting great systems of side-scrolling, turn-based combat and generous touches of a good RPG in the best pixel art style, Monster Sanctuary is a beautiful example that a mixture of several known things can result in something full of identity, charisma and enchantment. And with an expansion of respect, it shows that it is far from exhausting itself.

Monster Sanctuary falls into the category of games that take inspiration from the world of Pokémon. In this case, however, inspiration has succeeded where others have failed. The game offers honestly crafted mechanics and skills of various monsters that you can really win with. You just have to be patient, learn the game mechanics and figure out what to expect from which monster.

Monster Sanctuary masterfully mixes several classic components - monster collecting, Metroidvania platforming, and RPG elements - into one impressive package.

I enjoyed my time playing this, but I can’t say that I’m an avid fan of the genre. Monster Sanctuary does so much more than most of its peers, yet I still wasn’t sold on the concept. If you are a lover of these games, then playing this will be right up your street. But if you’re on the fence, now is the correct time to try it as part of your Gamepass subscription. Do I recommend that you give it a go? Absolutely. Hunting monsters is nothing new, but what this does so well is to build on many well loved mechanics, and enhance them to make for a much more polished and in-depth experience. Can you be the best Monster Keeper in the land? Can you beat everyone else and hatch the best beasts around? Choose your starting monster and begin your journey of discovery.

When you then add in the cute pixel art style, and the astoundingly good chiptune soundtrack, Monster Sanctuary not only blurs the lines between genres, but also between modern and old-school games. The story is a little light, but the gameplay is almost perfect, and this is an excellent monster-taming adventure and Metroidvania game all rolled into one.

Metroidvania with Pokemons working great. But fights should be better balanced.