![]() These dungeon sections, despite playing out in relatively mundane Academy hallways and classrooms, actually offer up some fairly inventive puzzles and obstacles in order to gate player progress. The game’s initial cycle is the introduction of a new environment, a new partner character and a parallel narrative that links them to the chapter’s Pactbearer, and a series of cutscenes juxtaposed with dungeon sections, during which the player seeks out the literal/figurative Ideals of the Pactbearer in order to smash them to bits and assert dominance. In particularly unsafe areas, Mist pervades the halls of the school itself, driving students mad and turning them into hazardous obstacles that you must avoid. In forming a pact with the Monark Vanitas, you become the Pactbearer of Vanity and set out on a quest to beat the other Pactbearers of the Academy- each linked with one of the seven deadly sins- into submission in order to free the students from the barrier of Mist that surrounds the school. Monark has the player taking on the role of an amnesiac second-year student at Shin Mikado Academy, a place tied deeply with dimensional-rifts that may or may not be induced by madness-inflicting daemons. Does a closer look at Monark reveal a regal success, or is it yet another pawn to be toppled by more substantial contemporaries? To come out of the gate with a title like “Monark” and the backing of former Shin Megami Tensei creative influences on its development team, it might seem as if FuRyu was swinging for the fences with this new title. Despite my love/hate relationship with developer FuRyu, there is no denying that their products fall into this group, flip-flopping between moments of brilliance due to the right creatives and banal, gimmick-heavy titles with episodic design and overwrought dialogue. So silly hierarchical subdivisions aside, you may or may not be surprised to find that Monark, the game being covered in this review, falls firmly in the AA category. Then, of course, there are KEMCO games, the absolute lowest of the low (kidding, of course…). ![]() Independent developers occupy a strange area, as some can be stronger in quality than AA releases, while many others would be considered lesser. Then, there are what many might consider the “AA” department- developers putting out competent, inventive products that maybe miss the mechanical or aesthetic polish of the tier above. After these titans, you have series like Tales of, Trails, Ys, Monster Hunter, and Shin Megami Tensei that occupy more niche roles, still popular and most certainly high quality, but not reaching the same heights as the true monarchs. Whether you feel Square Enix did their Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest properties any justice in the 2010’s or if you think Game Freak has reached a period of stagnation with the Pokemon formula, these franchises still occupy an echelon of recognition and popularity that many others do not enjoy. Unfortunately, there's still no information on a Western release date, or even if there will be one in the future.When dealing with a genre like RPGs, it’s hard to say if the reigning kings and queens will ever be usurped from their thrones. Monark will be available on October 14th, 2021 in Japan for the Nintendo Switch, the PS4 and the PS5. ![]() ![]() The game's "Ego" system scores you for the pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth you exhibit throughout your playthrough, based on the choices you make. Based on the trailer, you'll be able to control demons during battles - in fact, your demon underlings will be affected by your "Ego" points, and you can also alter their appearances and voices. The battles are command based and uses a free move turn system, which wouldn't come as a surprise for SMT and Persona fans. Each character has a different route, and the story itself has multiple endings. The Hero, who becomes head of the council, has to choose an ally to solve the mysteries with from four characters. According to the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu as reported by Gematsu, Monark's story follows the True Student Council that was put in charge of solving weird happenings in their school.
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