Obviously Pokemon didnвЂ™t invent the catch monsters or the make them fight (I feel like that was Dragon Quest Monsters but I could be wrongвЂ¦ or maybe it was SMT) mechanic, but I feel like the вЂњplucky child from a modern inspired world goes off into the world to catch and fight with local wildlifeвЂќ is where these clones run into trouble.Д¬opying the pokeformula but being legally distinct has the same impact most counterfeits do: makes most just long for the source material. I always have mixed feelings about these types of games. Such issues arenвЂ™t game-breaking and very well could be resolved in patches, but just be aware that the launch version feels like it couldвЂ™ve used a little more polish. Running through the overworld at high speed is prone to hit you with rather frequent frame rate hitches as Monster Crown tries loading in the oncoming assets, and we encountered at least one scenario where a glitched menu selection caused the game to lock, forcing us to close it and lose about 30 minutes of progress. Unfortunately, we ran into some noticeable performance problems, too, which frankly feel unacceptable given this style of game. Granted, there are sacrifices that had to be made to maintain the Game Boy style, but it feels like more couldвЂ™ve been done in these aspects to breathe more life into the overall world. Things arenвЂ™t helped by the lack of distinct cries for each monster and the nearly non-existent battle animations, which can make the uninspired designs seem that much flatter. With 200 base monsters, there are certainly a few decent designs to behold, but many of them look more like the kind of thing youвЂ™d see in a cheap ROM hack. One area thatвЂ™s a little lacking, however, is the monster design.

The simple sprite work gives it an authentic retro feel and the soundtrack often sounds eerily similar to longtime classic PokГ©mon tracks. This lack of balance can add a fun element to combat, but itвЂ™s difficult to discern whether this is by design or poor balancing.ДЇrom a presentation perspective, Monster Crown certainly nails its GBC aesthetic quite well. By all rights, we should not have won that battle so easily, yet it seems moments like this are almost common if you know what youвЂ™re doing. We ordered said monster to inflict a poison-like attack on the boss, which promptly took off about 80% of its health over the next couple turns, making it an easy kill for the rest of our still under-leveled team. For example, we came across one early boss that was level 18, and we opted to open the fight with a level 5 monster we caught in the starting area. Simply put, it feels like this is a combat system thatвЂ™s easily exploited or вЂbrokenвЂ™, which can make for some ridiculous wins that feel almost unearned. It must be said that combat feels rather unbalanced in many places, which can be both a positive or a negative depending on the player. There are four stages to the Synergy meter, with each consecutive one stacking on new stat bumps and benefits that enable you to really let вЂer rip when you finally act, though the trade-off is obviously that every turn spent building the meter is one where you arenвЂ™t attacking. Things are mixed up a bit with the usage of the Synergy mechanic, too, which allows you to build a special meter by either swapping monsters or defending for a turn. ItвЂ™s not an especially inspired story-the monster battling gameplay is clearly the main draw here-but itвЂ™s just interesting enough that it feels worthwhile in the end. You play as a young, up and coming Monster Tamer from a humble farm, but quickly get swept up in a plot that puts the fate of Crown Island in your hands as you repeatedly interact with an anti-hero character focused on installing a group of tyrants. For example, here you donвЂ™t catch any monsters you bring to your team, but instead form a вЂpactвЂ™ thatвЂ™s essentially a contract for the tamer to provide for the monsterвЂ™s needs in exchange for its powers. Monster Crown is set in the wild world of Crown Island where humans and monsters donвЂ™t so much live together in harmony as they do in begrudging acceptance. Monster Crown offers up an enjoyable, though flawed throwback to simpler monster-battling days, but it ultimately proves to be a worthwhile experience.

Now itвЂ™s 1.0 release has finally come to fruition and itвЂ™s naturally made its way over to the Switch. After making over nine times as much money as the initial goal, the title then shifted to Early Access on PC, where it was regularly iterated on and updated in tandem with community feedback. About three years ago, Studio Aurum pitched Monster Crown on Kickstarter, a monster-battling RPG which wasnвЂ™t shy about taking inspiration from a certain popular Game Freak franchise.

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