Being able to take your favorite monster and change its typing is a cool addition, but it doesn't change the fact that it lacks the depth of similar franchises.Īdditionally, there's no real way to get a sense of a monster's power. Why? Who knows? The game provides some reasoning for it, but it never feels natural, and I remembered the colors more than the types. In addition to feeling less interesting than even the first-gen Pokémon's elemental system, it's also pretty difficult to parse at a glance. Each type is strong and weak against only one other type. Each monster is one of five types: Brute, Malicious, Relentless, Unstable or Will. Likewise, the elemental strength and weakness system doesn't feel anywhere as interesting or robust. Compared to other monster trainer games, Monster Crown lacks that certain je ne sais quoi. I like a couple of designs, but none were particularly memorable. It makes Monster Crown feel like a lower-effort Pokémon rom-hack instead of a Pokémon-inspired title. The crossbreeding feature means that most of the monsters have multiple designs, so it's a neat concept but doesn't change the fact that none of them are as instantly appealing as Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.

At best, they feel like the Dollar Store version of existing Pokémon, and at worst, they're bland and unmemorable. For the most part, the monsters in Monster Crown are visually unappealing mishmashes. However, one of the biggest problems on the surface with Monster Crown is that it apes Pokémon so closely but misses a few appealing characteristics, like the monster design. If your favorite part of monster trainer games is building the ultimate creature, then Monster Crown has a lot of ways to achieve that. There are also other options, such as fusing monsters or randomized trading with people on the internet. It's a really satisfying evolution on the Pokémon system that offers more unique outcomes and more transparency. There are even special items to transform your creature into new forms. Repeated breeding can also provide access to much higher stats and abilities. There are a couple hundred monsters in the game, but most of them have different variations for each elemental type, leading to a huge number of possible outcomes. This stands out because you can also crossbreed to create new variations of your existing creatures. Again, this is rather similar to Pokémon in that you take two of your creatures and breed them to make a new, stronger creature with the attributes of both. Perhaps the coolest feature in Monster Crown is the breeding system. There are some nice changes, such as the complete removal of the 'PP' system that Pokémon used to limit actions, but it's a bare-bones system, and the creatures don't have quite as much variety in attributes or abilities as their more well-known brethren. Different moves have different attributes, such as poisoning, lowering stats, and so on. Hitting an enemy with a move they are weak against does more damage, hitting an enemy with one they are strong against does less. As in that game, you have creatures with different elemental types and different moves. The combat system is very similar to Pokémon but somewhat simplified. This also puts it in the weird position of being a game in a genre designed for children that absolutely isn't interested in being for children, but it also doesn't manage to create a Pokémon for adults. It doesn't treats the world of monster training any more seriously or logically it's just as silly as any Pokémon game but with more swearing. The game shifts from the cheerful friendly tone of Pokémon to lame attempts at maturity, and somehow, it ends up being worse. It simultaneously tries to feel like an old-school Pokémon game while also being 'dark' and 'mature.' In this case, dark and mature means that people swear and there is inexplicable violence.

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