This title was an absolute joy to experience. I fell in love with the metroidvania genre when I played Timespinner at the beginning of last year. This year I played Hollow Knight which I also fell in love with. Needless to say, I am a metroidvania fan for life now, and Monster Sanctuary is a wonderful one. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of monster collection as well, so this game was a no brainer for me.
The Best of Both Worlds
The way Moi Rai Games blends metroidvania elements and monster collection elements together is just pure perfection. The classic metroidvania formula is present which will encourage you to explore each area multiple times. Not only will you gain new abilities to reach new areas, but the monsters you hatch will also have abilities that will help you navigate the Monster Sanctuary. Not everything will be available at once either, so you’ll need to revisit areas often.
I adore this aspect of metroidvanias and incorporating the monsters into exploring was just a brilliant idea. Not only did I find myself experimenting with different teams, but I also hunted specific monsters for their explore abilities. This made me determined to see every inch of the Monster Sanctuary and unlock the secrets it hides within. Of course, I haven’t unlocked all of the map yet but I am very close to doing so and I am excited for that.
Moi Rai Games made a smart decision in allowing you to carry every monster with you at all times. This left me with the freedom to build a team that wasn’t held back by also needing to have the right explore abilities present. As we all remember with the early Pokémon games, HMs often dictated our decisions in team building. Otherwise, you were constantly going back to the Pokémon Center and swapping out your Pokémon. Here though, you have access to every monster you hatch whenever you need them and your battle party can be whichever six monsters you desire.
Fresh Take On Monster Collecting
Monster Sanctuary also stood out to to me in the way it handles its battles. Each battle is 3v3, where each party takes its turn. During your turn, you will build up a combo that is based on the number of actions your monsters take in battle. The combo will raise the damage dealt by your monsters, so you’ll want to save the heavy hitters for last. I thought it was a unique way to approach turn-based battles, and it certainly added an extra layer of strategy that I really appreciated.
Each monster has its own set of skill trees which also added more depth to the team building process. You don’t end up with enough skill points to acquire every skill so you’ll have to really think about what role you want your monsters to play during each battle. You can build each monster differently. Don’t worry about spending skill points on the wrong abilities though, because you can reset them with an item as many times as you want. I ended up having one to focus on healing, one to focus on buffs, and one to deal the main damage.
It was refreshing to see the emphasis this game put on buffs and debuffs. They truly carry weight so I began to invest in a lot of them. Combat was relatively challenging as well which was certainly wonderful. I never felt too over-leveled or that the game was too easy. Being a long time Pokémon fan, it was honestly a breath of fresh air to play a challenging monster collection RPG. Combine that challenge with the endless ways to build my team, and I am a happy camper for sure.
Engaging Story
Monster Sanctuary succeeds at everything it does, including its story execution. Being that it is an open-world metroidvania, I had my fears that the story would get lost in all of the exploration and options on where to go. Instead, the story is paced out excellently and I was able to follow every second of it. Naturally, I was quite invested in it and wanted to do everything I could to protect the Monster Sanctuary and the creatures living within it.
Your fellow Monster Keepers make for a great cast and each have differing personalities. I grew attached to Will very quickly, but the other Keepers grew on me with time, too. The story was crafted in a way that made me feel like I was making a difference around the Sanctuary. It wasn’t just a generic story either, it had depth and lore to it that I loved immersing myself in. My hardback Monster Sanctuary Journal helped me do that as well, providing history on the area and of each monster.
Learning why the Monster Sanctuary was created and knowing that Moi Rai Games put so much time into this place’s history gave me so much joy. Monster Sanctuary was definitely a passion project and that passion really showed itself. I am a fan for life now, and look forward to whatever else they have in store for me.
Post Game and Beyond
I found myself so invested in this game, I honestly lost track of time. I had started this title back in late August and just now finished it up. Unlike my usually habits, I also didn’t play anything else while playing this one. It really stole my attention and won my affection. I easily spent over 50 hours in the Monster Sanctuary and would spend another 50 if I could. I still have a few post game tasks to polish off so who knows, maybe I will.
The plan is to defeat all of the champion monsters and see what more lies in wait for me. Once I become a Keeper Master, I know more things lock and I’m dying to know what those things are. In all honestly though, I am just simply enjoying exploring the Sanctuary, jamming to the amazing soundtrack and taking my favorite monsters along with me.
I’m also inclined to collect them all, of course. I know Moi Rai Games has more future updates planned as well so I certainly looking forward to that. Honestly, this game is a game of the year contender for me and that is saying a lot because I’ve managed to play quite a few heavy-hitters this year. Regardless of where it washes out for the year though, Monster Sanctuary has definitely become an all-time favorite of mine.
