This game is totally worth it.

If you enjoy the monster-taming formula from games like Pokemon (and others), but wanted it to be a little more “meaty” in terms of strategy, then look no further!

Why this game is great:

• 3 v 3 battles. This makes it so team dynamics are important. Instead of each individual monster needing to be a powerhouse of some sort, you can have monsters focusing on a variety of roles, damage / tanking / buffing / debuffing / etc. Playing around with team compositions is really fun.
  
  
• Every monster has a talent tree with multiple branches. This allows for significant build variety in each monster itself. Depending on the monster in question, you can build them for different roles or a combination of a couple of roles. The fact that there are team-oriented auras (not just for + damage or something, but also cool / unique effects) helps add to the fun of building a good team comp.
  
  
• Every monster is worth using in some fashion. In Pokemon, there are many pokemon which are specifically “inferior” to other pokemon in every objective way, in terms of having lower stats, etc. In Monster Sanctuary, obviously there will be “some monsters which are better than others”, but for the most part, you can look at a monster’s talent tree and go “ok, I see what this one does”. No junk monsters is a big plus for me.
  
  
• Monster Equipment! Yes, each monster gets 1 weapon slot and 3 accessory slots. This allows for further customization of your monster alongside the talent tree. Add in the fact that some monsters have talents which increase stats which they gain from equipment, and choosing how to equip your monster is very important. Yes, there is a crafting system in the game, and you can craft and upgrade your equipment.
  
  
• What about evolution? Monster Sanctuary doesn’t follow the general Pokemon / Digimon formula of “form 1 – 2 – 3”; instead, most monsters don’t have evolutions. The exception is that a few monsters have “evolutions” which you can trigger through special means to change their form. This doesn’t mean that the other form is “100% better”, it’s just different. Example, you can change a fiery caterpillar into a fiery moth. Their movesets are “similar”, but the caterpillar being more defensive / team oriented, while the moth is more offensive-oriented.
  
  
• The big alternative to evolution: Light / Dark shifting. Later in the game you will gain access to light / dark shifted monsters. The difference is that this is the same monster as its base form in terms of talent trees, however, it gains additional stats. The general idea is that Light Shifted will “tend” toward more defensive / team-oriented stats and powers, while Dark Shifted will “tend” toward more offensive / individual stats and powers. Alongside the base stat increase, your monster will gain a cool passive power. Sometimes these can be more simple in nature (like plus percentage of certain stats), other times these will include cool powers (like extra equipment slots, gain shields based on damage the monster inflicts, etc). This mechanic really adds to the fun of “how do I build my monster?”
  
  
• YES! Talent-reset is available! You can experiment with various kinds of builds with your monster and use an item to reset its talent points. A big plus for me—very flexible.
  
  
• Metroidvania-style exploration is done in a decent way. I love a good MV game, which are usually action-games, but in this, only the exploration is done this way, with the battles being turn-based. Like any MV, you’ll find various key items and such to help you explore, with the monsters being huge in that role as they will have an “exploration move” to help fly around / cut vines / activate special switches, etc. It may not be the most complex system, but it works and is fun.
  
  
• Speaking of turn-based battles, during your turn, you can switch between your monsters, so YOU choose who does what move in what order. This leads to high levels of strategy where you can adapt to what’s needed for the immediate situation.
  
  
• MONSTERS AUTO-HEAL AFTER EVERY BATTLE. No need to micromanage your health or waste potions or something, monsters 100% heal and revive after every battle, so play with less time waste and stress!
  
  
• Obtaining new monsters is simple and doesn’t involve a “pokeball” kind of item. All you do is: fight monsters, and if you do well against them (there is a star raking system of 1 to 5 stars based on how efficiently you defeat them) you have a chance to obtain an egg from the monster(s) you fought. Just hatch the egg at the press of a button and voila! You have a new monster.

I could go on and on about how great this game is and what features it has, but for a practical note? Try out the demo, see for yourself if you like it, and go from there.

This game is totally worth it. If you enjoy the monster-taming formula from games like Pokemon (and others), but wanted it to be a little more “meaty” in terms of strategy, then look no further! Why this game is great: [list] [*]3 v 3 battles. This makes it so team dynamics are important. Instead of each individual monster needing to be a powerhouse of some sort, you can have monsters focusing on a variety of roles, damage / tanking / buffing / debuffing / etc. Playing around with team compositions is really fun. [*]Every monster has a talent tree with multiple branches. This allows for significant build variety in each monster itself. Depending on the monster in question, you can build them for different roles or a combination of a couple of roles. The fact that there are team-oriented auras (not just for + damage or something, but also cool / unique effects) helps add to the fun of building a good team comp. [*]Every monster is worth using in some fashion. In Pokemon, there are many pokemon which are specifically “inferior” to other pokemon in every objective way, in terms of having lower stats, etc. In Monster Sanctuary, obviously there will be “some monsters which are better than others”, but for the most part, you can look at a monster’s talent tree and go “ok, I see what this one does”. No junk monsters is a big plus for me. [*]Monster Equipment! Yes, each monster gets 1 weapon slot and 3 accessory slots. This allows for further customization of your monster alongside the talent tree. Add in the fact that some monsters have talents which increase stats which they gain from equipment, and choosing how to equip your monster is very important. Yes, there is a crafting system in the game, and you can craft and upgrade your equipment. [*]What about evolution? Monster Sanctuary doesn’t follow the general Pokemon / Digimon formula of “form 1 – 2 – 3”; instead, most monsters don’t have evolutions. The exception is that [i]a few[/i] monsters have “evolutions” which you can trigger through special means to change their form. This doesn’t mean that the other form is “100% better”, it’s just different. Example, you can change a fiery caterpillar into a fiery moth. Their movesets are “similar”, but the caterpillar being more defensive / team oriented, while the moth is more offensive-oriented. [*]The big alternative to evolution: Light / Dark shifting. Later in the game you will gain access to light / dark shifted monsters. The difference is that this is the same monster as its base form in terms of talent trees, however, it gains additional stats. The general idea is that Light Shifted will “tend” toward more defensive / team-oriented stats and powers, while Dark Shifted will “tend” toward more offensive / individual stats and powers. Alongside the base stat increase, your monster will gain a cool passive power. Sometimes these can be more simple in nature (like plus percentage of certain stats), other times these will include cool powers (like extra equipment slots, gain shields based on damage the monster inflicts, etc). This mechanic really adds to the fun of “how do I build my monster?” [*]YES! Talent-reset is available! You can experiment with various kinds of builds with your monster and use an item to reset its talent points. A big plus for me—very flexible. [*]Metroidvania-style exploration is done in a decent way. I love a good MV game, which are usually action-games, but in this, only the exploration is done this way, with the battles being turn-based. Like any MV, you’ll find various key items and such to help you explore, with the monsters being huge in that role as they will have an “exploration move” to help fly around / cut vines / activate special switches, etc. It may not be the most complex system, but it works and is fun. [*]Speaking of turn-based battles, during your turn, you can switch between your monsters, so YOU choose who does what move in what order. This leads to high levels of strategy where you can adapt to what’s needed for the immediate situation. [*]MONSTERS AUTO-HEAL AFTER EVERY BATTLE. No need to micromanage your health or waste potions or something, monsters 100% heal and revive after every battle, so play with less time waste and stress! [*]Obtaining new monsters is simple and doesn’t involve a “pokeball” kind of item. All you do is: fight monsters, and if you do well against them (there is a star raking system of 1 to 5 stars based on how efficiently you defeat them) you have a chance to obtain an egg from the monster(s) you fought. Just hatch the egg at the press of a button and voila! You have a new monster. [/list] I could go on and on about how great this game is and what features it has, but for a practical note? Try out the demo, see for yourself if you like it, and go from there.