Music Banter - View Single Post

Key · 04-03-2021, 11:04 AM

First Impressions: Monster Train

I saw a lot of buzz about this game online when it came out, but I hesitated due to being occupied with other games. I just picked this up last night and I've probably put in about 6 hours already. It's a deck building strategy roguelike very similar to Slay The Spire, though they are two completely different games in their own right. Monster Train does enough things different to the formula where I don't think it's necessarily fair to compare it to Slay The Spire. Both are solid games, obviously.

Monster Train takes the formula and sort of twists it a little bit. You get your standard deck builds and you figure out how to use them with one another. The biggest takeaway for me so far is the combat. Not only is it engaging, but it's done it such a way that's both unique, and allows for creativity in how you want to play the field. You, at times, may be fighting 3 lines of enemies simultaneously, and you have to strategize with each set to take them down efficiently without losing many of your monsters on the field. You will lose them a lot. Because while the combat is really satisfying and creative, it can be very punishing. But, if you get the right combinations, it'll more often than not work in your favor.

The other great thing about this game, and it's something i'm typically a stickler about when it comes to this genre, is how each run feels. Does it feel like the same thing over and over again? Certainly not. There's so many different ways to play and different factions to choose from, whom all have different categories of cards that you use together with other cards. You'll typically never have the same run twice. Sure, some strategies carry over from run to run, but that's the beauty of the genre as a whole. Easy to pick up, tough to master.

With as many hours as I have put into this game already, and simultaneously how many i've put into other deck building style roguelikes, this is probably the best one I've ever played. And again, that's not to throw any shade at Slay The Spire or any other games in the genre. This one just does everything so well and it's already so refined that it's nearly impossible to stop doing runs.

Monster Train gets my highest recommendation.

04-03-2021, 11:04 AM	#153 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	First Impressions: Monster Train I saw a lot of buzz about this game online when it came out, but I hesitated due to being occupied with other games. I just picked this up last night and I've probably put in about 6 hours already. It's a deck building strategy roguelike very similar to Slay The Spire, though they are two completely different games in their own right. Monster Train does enough things different to the formula where I don't think it's necessarily fair to compare it to Slay The Spire. Both are solid games, obviously. Monster Train takes the formula and sort of twists it a little bit. You get your standard deck builds and you figure out how to use them with one another. The biggest takeaway for me so far is the combat. Not only is it engaging, but it's done it such a way that's both unique, and allows for creativity in how you want to play the field. You, at times, may be fighting 3 lines of enemies simultaneously, and you have to strategize with each set to take them down efficiently without losing many of your monsters on the field. You will lose them a lot. Because while the combat is really satisfying and creative, it can be very punishing. But, if you get the right combinations, it'll more often than not work in your favor. The other great thing about this game, and it's something i'm typically a stickler about when it comes to this genre, is how each run feels. Does it feel like the same thing over and over again? Certainly not. There's so many different ways to play and different factions to choose from, whom all have different categories of cards that you use together with other cards. You'll typically never have the same run twice. Sure, some strategies carry over from run to run, but that's the beauty of the genre as a whole. Easy to pick up, tough to master. With as many hours as I have put into this game already, and simultaneously how many i've put into other deck building style roguelikes, this is probably the best one I've ever played. And again, that's not to throw any shade at Slay The Spire or any other games in the genre. This one just does everything so well and it's already so refined that it's nearly impossible to stop doing runs. Monster Train gets my highest recommendation.