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Monark

Monark

Lancarse·Released Oct 13, 2021·Single player

Platforms
PS4PCPS5Switch
Genres
RPGStrategyAdventure
Critic57/100
Across 3 reviews
AgreementData pendingNo votes yet
About

Monark, the “new school RPG” from former Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei staff, will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch on October 14 in Japan. The story follows the True Student Council, which was established to solve the abnormal situations in the school. The protagonist, who becomes the deputy head of the council, chooses a buddy from four characters to defy the unreasonable. The main story has multiple endings. There are different routes for each of the four buddy characters. To make multiple playthroughs easier, you can also skip shared routes and advance through different buddy routes. Battles are command-based with a free move turn system. Increasing your madness will allow you to use more powerful skills, but if you increase it too much, you will go insane and rampage against targets both friend and foe, making it impossible to fight. There is also an “EGO” system, which represents the player’s desire levels of pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. These change depending on your diagnosis and the choices you make, and also affect the demons you can employ as your “underlings.”

Reviews

3 reviews
IGN logo
IGN
Cameron Hawkins·Feb 19, 2022
Critic60/100
Agreement

Monark has some good ideas but repetitive level design makes it feel more like a prototype.

Read full review at IGN
No vote recorded.
Push Square logo
Critic40/100
Agreement

There's an interesting story here and the horror-JRPG vibe is much appreciated, but whatever enjoyment they could bring you is utterly annihilated by the outrageous, egregious amount of grinding you'll need to do to see the game through. Monark is gaming reduced to a thick, treacly sludge to wade through, no cutscene or story beat or reward ever feeling like it was worth the struggle. Just play Shin Megami Tensei while listening to Nine Inch Nails and you'll have a better time.

Read full review at Push Square
No vote recorded.
Nintendo Life logo
Critic70/100
Agreement

Monark proves itself to be an interesting, low-budget take on an SRPG, combining its Persona influences with original ideas to make for a compelling experience. Risky, rewarding combat, a creepy atmosphere, and an interesting story make this one easy to recommend, but things like the low-quality graphics, repetitive environments, and nonexistent enemy variety keep it from ever approaching greatness. We'd recommend Monark to any SRPG enthusiasts (especially those that are sick of fighting on a grid) or fans of the old-school SMT and Persona games. It may not have nailed its execution, but Monark is an experience that we think is still worth your time.

Read full review at Nintendo Life
No vote recorded.