Monark review: Great RPG ideas, bad execution

Monark’s protagonist awakens in a madness-inducing mist surrounded and filled school of Shin Mikado Academy, where no one has a way in or out. This mist has trapped students in various areas and driven people within it to insanity. Players join up with the principal, a group of students, and a demonic plushie. The party learns that the mist appears when a human becomes a Pactbearer and forms a pact with the highest-ranking demon, a Monark, and unleashes its power in the real world. The team is tasked with defeating the seven Pactbearers and their Monarks.

The plot is typical for a JRPG of this style, but that doesn’t make it unenjoyable. It’s actually a decent time and has a somewhat interesting twist later on.

While the story didn’t pull me in, the combat fares much better. Starting with the Monark demo, I was immediately impressed by what new ideas this game brought to the table. There’s a balance that Monark’s battles seek to attain, and I think it comes close but could use some fine-tuning to really hit a home run.

This is a non-grid-based tactical JRPG, placing players in control of a party of up to six characters on a map where they can move a set amount of space within a circle, using and avoiding hazards while fighting enemies at the same time . This piece of Monark’s combat formula interested me, as it put extra focus on character placement with its free-roaming nature. For example, characters can attack together if they’re close by and can attack without fear of being counter-hit if they’re behind the enemy. Many times, I found myself baiting an enemy nearby and having two characters run behind them to double attack from there.

Characters can use physical-based attacks called Artes and magic-based attacks, buffs, and debuffs called Authorities. However, these abilities cost more than just MP or BP. Certain Artes can take health to use against enemies and Authorities raise the MAD Gauge, which is the focal mechanic of Monark.

All these mechanics work in tandem to make for an interesting battle system full of risk vs reward moments.

In battle, if a character’s MAD meter hits 100%, they are inflicted with a heavy defense decrease while all other stats are buffed. After three turns with this infliction, the MAD unit will be knocked out (that means game-over if the protagonist falls).

The MAD meter isn’t the only mechanic players need to watch in Monark’s battle systems. There’s also the status sharing Resonance, which gives surrounding units the same buffs and debuffs the unit using it have. Along with this comes Awakening, which players gain by being hit or using Resolve. When 100% Awakening is reached, all stats are buffed for a set amount of time. Max Awakening can also be mixed with max MAD giving a large stat buff in all areas along with free use of Arts and Authorities for three turns.

All these mechanics work in tandem to make for an interesting battle system full of risk vs reward moments. However, it isn’t without its own group of flaws.

The leveling system of the game feels imbalanced, making for an annoyingly grindy experience. I felt as if I was constantly under-leveled, and not in a fun, challenging way. The fact that Spirit, the game’s battle points that are used both to level character stats and move lists, is earned at such a slow pace and has to be used to purchase items makes it even more tedious. I had to resort to going to specific grind missions over and over to make any real progress. That’s made even worse due to the fact that you basically have to reach max level to get the true ending.

Battles can be very long and drawn out. Late-game, many of them took up to an hour due to an enemy AI that just didn’t want to move. Other times, the fun challenge I noticed early game devolved into a war of attrition where I’d just keep doing the same run behind enemy and attack. The novelty can wear off and that’s not what you want from your RPG’s battle system. It’s great that the game has a speed-up function, but it still didn’t help much.

The visual variety also leaves much to be desired as every enemy, apart from bosses, is just a skeleton. Stages all look exactly the same besides a simple change in the sky’s color. It’s an eyesore that this game definitely could have done without.

The overworld exploration segments are easily the lowest part of the game. Players wander through a school and are tasked with solving puzzles, talking to everyone they come across, and finding phone numbers in books to travel to different Otherworld battle rooms.

What makes exploration so weak is that the school is one of the blandest overworlds I’ve ever traversed in an RPG. Everything looks exactly the same as if I was playing a literal hallway simulator, and it isn’t helped by the game’s poor graphics. The repetitive gameplay loop just makes that even worse.

The overworld exploration segments are easily the lowest part of the game.