Monster Sanctuary (Nintendo Switch) Review

The monster raising genre lives and dies on monster variety - both in terms of art direction and actual gameplay. Thankfully, Monster Sanctuary not only packs little more than over 100 monsters into its bestiary (a reasonable amount that doesn't shoot for the moon or leave audiences short-changed), but there is also an expansive skill tree for each one. Every monster can be customised by the player, from what weapons and armour they equip to the skills they learn, with each level-up offering an extra skill point.

Different monsters have their own set of skills, relegating them into specific combat roles. Blobs make solid on the fly healers, Mad Eyes cover a wide range of debuffs, and Yowies tank damage like it's their job. Better yet, the inclusion of skill trees as opposed to set learnable move pools like in Pokémon ensures that even early monsters are viable later in the game. The first monster a player finds can comfortably be raised into a proper beast with enough commitment.

Of course, audiences are encouraged to take advantage of all the monsters in the roster. Along with each monster fulfilling a clear gameplay role (at times unique exclusively to them,) they have abilities which can be triggered on the overworld á la Breath of Fire. These abilities are used to circumvent gate checks, playing up a Metroidvania-esque gameplay loop where players hit a wall and then need to use the correct monster to proceed. While there is some light platforming involved (along with an unlockable double jump), progression is dictated primarily by which monsters players have on-hand.

On that note, monster catching is a fairly automatic and painless process. Each monster has the chance of dropping their respective egg at the end of a battle, with the player's rank influencing drop rate. Once obtained, an egg simply needs to be hatched in the inventory for the monster to be added to their team, scaled to the average level. Aside from Champion Monsters (ostensibly boss fights) there is no real grind involved in catching.

This is further mitigated by the combat's ranking system. Players are evaluated at the end of each fight based on how quickly they were able to defeat their opponents. Five-star ranking outright guarantees an egg drop whereas a 1 star will, at best, get players some gold and maybe a common item. Players are encouraged to prioritise weakness coverage, attacking enemies with their monsters' hardest hitting moves. Unfortunately, this has the unintended consequence of downplaying support tactics altogether.

Because ranks are tied closest to how long a battle lasts, spending a turn to heal or buff/debuff can be a waste of time - especially since monsters fully heal between fights. At the same time, the hardest fights outright require advanced, long-term tactics that will inevitably weigh down rank. The ranking system simply doesn't account for team synergy, neglecting to reward players who try to take advantage of everything at their disposal.

For what it's worth, it's easy to ignore ranking altogether. There is no real need to hunt down every single monster, and most fights will drop eggs naturally. Smart party composition also triumphs over grinding and each monster's skill tree can be re-specced, allowing players to correct course when necessary. Battles are fast paced enough so that any loss can be made up in no time, as well.

It should come as no surprise that Monster Sanctuary's focus is on combat above all else, but the Metroidvania overworld still leaves quite a bit to be desired. Setting the game on a 2D plane doesn't exactly help in worldbuilding, with visuals too generic for their own good. The monster design is quite nice, but the actual world feels haphazardly thrown together with little of Castlevania's elegance.

Exploration isn't bad by any means, but what puzzles there are feel like a distraction above all else. Worse, the platforming isn't particularly engaging, despite making up a good chunk of the game. Monster Sanctuary is still worth a playthrough nonetheless, but there isn't too much gold to be expected from the Metroidvania angle.