Monster Train 2 Review

Monster Train 2 proves that determination was nary request to reinvent the wheels connected the Boneshaker bid successful bid to relight the fires of this outstanding deckbuilding roguelike. (Not that they ever truly went retired – I’ve played the 2020 archetypal astir regular for years.) It’s precise akin to the roots of Monster Train, with a three-tiered operation defence operation wherever you optimize your portion placement and spells against incoming waves of invaders and take your way on the tracks, though this clip that way is headed from a re-lit Hell up to the gates of a corrupted Heaven alternatively of down. The 5 wholly caller clans person fixed maine an tremendous magnitude of toys to harvester and experimentation with arsenic I physique up momentum toward the last brag conflict connected each run, particularly successful tandem with the caller instrumentality strategy that lets you premix and lucifer parts, and a steadfast fig of different astute tweaks to the original’s incredibly replayable setup. In fact, Monster Train 2 is easy among the astir compulsively replayable games that’ve ever gotten their hooks into maine – I’ve already sunk implicit 90 hours into it (mostly connected Steam Deck) with nary motion of losing steam.

What makes each astir hour-long tally truthful gripping is that determination are non-stop choices, and each 1 of them feels meaningful: which 2 factions volition you brace up, which of your superior faction’s 2 champions bash you instrumentality (and which of their 3 precise antithetic accomplishment paths bash you thin into), which Pyre Heart (with associated bonuses) bash you slot successful – and that’s earlier you gully a azygous paper oregon take a azygous game-altering artifact. All of those choices compound upon each other, and if you play your cards close and physique synergies and combos you tin go truthful wildly almighty that it feels arsenic though you’ve wholly breached something. But then, arsenic you fertile up and the enemies successful consequent runs go much powerful, it rapidly becomes wide that if you don’t interruption it, it volition interruption you. Like each large roguelike oregon roguelite, this isn’t a crippled you should expect to triumph each time, but each devastating nonaccomplishment makes the adjacent triumph that overmuch sweeter (and usually unlocks thing new).

It’s truthful consistently absorbing due to the fact that of the intricate mode each of the systems interact, from the elemental positioning of your units truthful that the beardown support the anemic to the highly important bid of operations to maximize the effects of your spell cards arsenic you effort to play arsenic galore arsenic imaginable successful a crook by reducing casting costs and generating much vigor to spend. Figuring retired which actions to instrumentality archetypal tin often spell the quality betwixt winning and losing, and Monster Train 2 allows you to experimentation overmuch much than the archetypal did by gathering successful buttons to reset your crook oregon adjacent restart a full conflict (which, successful Monster Train 1, you benignant of person to cheat to do). This volition efficaciously enactment an asterisk adjacent to your people connected immoderate leaderboard due to the fact that knowing what’s coming gives you a immense advantage, but I’ve recovered it to beryllium an invaluable instrumentality to assistance maine larn the champion mode to play my manus – and fto maine salvage immoderate truly amusive builds from premature ends aft I made a atrocious move. (For example, if I hide to usage 1 of the caller peculiar abilities that immoderate units person connected a cooldown timer, specified arsenic a shield slam, a dragon’s occurrence breath, oregon potion brewing. Those often slipped my mind, adjacent though there’s a salient icon reminding me!)

Randomness volition ever play a immense relation successful a crippled similar this – sometimes I extremity up with a anemic platform that bites the particulate successful the archetypal oregon 2nd conflict (even aft a fewer retries), sometimes it’s dynamite retired of the gross but past gets utterly destroyed by a brag that counters my strengths. (It does archer you astatine the commencement of a tally which large bosses you’ll face, truthful you tin program to antagonistic them if you deliberation ahead.) But 1 happening that makes Monster Train 2 astatine slightest a spot much predictable than the archetypal is that determination is present ever a deployment signifier astatine the opening of each battle, guaranteeing that you’ll person a accidental to plop down astatine slightest a fewer units earlier the enactment starts. Especially if you’re packing a platform afloat of spell cards and buffs, it’s reassuring to cognize that you aren’t going to extremity up without anybody to formed them connected for respective turns.

A caller furniture of complexity is added successful the signifier of Equipment cards, which fto you buff a portion with much onslaught and defense, positive peculiar abilities similar increasing Spikes erstwhile you’re attacked, Trample, Life Steal, oregon gathering much imperishable onslaught powerfulness with each kill, to sanction a few. Some of those interact successful awesome ways with a unit’s earthy abilities, and you tin adjacent harvester 2 pieces into 1 successful bid to, for example, make a limb that some expands the capableness connected a level with each termination but besides grows the equipped portion each turn, making them dramatically much powerful. As agelong arsenic they support scoring kills, they’ll ever person country to support growing. And due to the fact that these instrumentality cards are shuffled backmost into your platform each battle, you’re encouraged to swap them astir to antithetic portion types for antithetic effects (or you tin wage to upgrade 1 truthful that it’s consistently disposable successful the deployment phase).

On apical of that are the caller Room cards, which tin beryllium utilized to heighten each of your 3 floors with peculiar effects. Some simply marque your guys bash +15 harm with each attack, others springiness them stat boosts connected summon oregon Reanimation (the much you die, the stronger you get), 1 nukes everything connected that level for 50 harm each turn, 1 makes spells cheaper, different makes them much powerful, and 1 gives you currency for everything that dies there. That’s conscionable a sampling of them, and they’re different affluent accidental to augment your characters with adjacent much analyzable piles of modifiers and multipliers.

Another caller swappable portion is the Pyre Heart of your bid itself, which sits connected the 4th level of your bid and serves arsenic your persistent wellness bar. It tin present beryllium swapped retired astatine the opening of a tally to either springiness you a once-per-battle boost similar a fewer points of vigor oregon freezing your cards successful spot for the adjacent round, oregon radically change your tally by ditching the modular starting cards and letting you gully immoderate randoms to regenerate them. There are a clump of these to unlock and effort out, which further shakes up aboriginal runs.

All of that lays the groundwork for the colorful caller clans themselves. These 5 factions are conscionable arsenic amusingly goofy looking and smartly designed arsenic those that came earlier them, and there’s nary extremity to the fantastic combos you tin travel up with by combining their peculiar abilities. They person excessively galore amusive things astir them to database – literal volumes of guides volition beryllium written astir however to usage them astatine precocious levels – but my favourite to play arsenic has to beryllium the fungus-based Underlegion: galore of their units and spells tin physique up immense stacks of damage-over-time Decay (similar to Frostbite) that melts enemies to puddles of goo, oregon they tin absorption connected spawning progressively almighty stacks of mushroom soldiers – and sometimes, erstwhile the stars align, the enactment of spawning mushroom soldiers triggers immense stacks of Decay and Sap to render enemies toothless arsenic they die.

The huffy scientist-themed Lazarus League are my runners-up. They’re mostly focused connected the caller cogwheel system, and their roster includes respective units with 1 deed constituent that travel with instrumentality grafted to them. When they die, it becomes disposable to connect to anybody else, giving them a amusive Frankenstein’s Monster taxable I emotion to play with. If that’s not your style, though, you tin absorption connected potion mixing to make progressively almighty cocktails that assistance Rage, Regeneration, Sap, oregon Unstable (which makes a portion detonate if its wellness drops beneath the fig of stacks), often with broadside effects similar harm shields, Frostbite, and Resurrection, which instantly brings a portion backmost from the dormant with 1 HP.

Sometimes I’ll fto destiny determine by randomizing my selection, and I’m ne'er bittersweet erstwhile it lands connected the Pyreborne dragons due to the fact that their thirst for golden funds each the unit, spell, and cogwheel upgrades wealth tin bargain if you tin stack Avarice (granting wealth from each attack). Alternatively, you tin absorption connected Pyregel, which increases the harm an force takes with each stack. With either of those approaches, you’ll besides gain aureate eggs that tin beryllium cashed successful for bonus artifacts betwixt battles, oregon held onto for bonuses for definite units that are much almighty the much eggs you person successful your cache.

Then you person the Banished, fallen angels who absorption mostly connected gathering up Valor (basically a caller rotation connected Rage) to buff some harm and, for the beforehand unit, armor generation. Some units gain Valor by moving, truthful utilizing spells and abilities to displacement them from beforehand to backmost oregon betwixt floors creates a highly mobile benignant of play that’s wholly unsocial to them, portion others physique Valor done Revenge – which triggers whenever they instrumentality harm – creating harm sponges who get spongier (and deed harder) the much they soak up.

Finally, there’s the magic-focused Luna Coven, who, similar the Stygian Guard earlier them, are my idiosyncratic weakest faction due to the fact that I’m not arsenic bully astatine gathering spell harm arsenic I americium buffing up a juggernaut unit. Even so, I’ve recovered occurrence with them by making usage of units that physique their powerfulness with each Moon Cycle – the satellite alternates betwixt afloat and caller each turn, with each signifier granting bonuses to definite units, similar onslaught boosts oregon expanse during a afloat moon. That is, it alternates each crook unless you meddle with it utilizing spells and abilities to tally up that score, affecting each units you person deployed who similar erstwhile it switches from 1 to the other. They tin besides specialize successful gathering up Conduit stacks connected units that service to amplify their spell powerfulness connected that floor, and if you slot successful a Mage Blade limb it enhances their onslaught arsenic well.

Naturally, each units tin beryllium upgraded doubly by default from options successful shops, and erstwhile you premix successful immoderate peculiar options that you tin lone get retired of a random event, it leads to immoderate genuinely chaotic combos. One of my favorites I’ve done was to upgrade a Pyreborne Gildmonger dragon, who is simply a anemic combatant but gives you a aureate ovum erstwhile helium dies, with the Endless power. That lets you get him killed each crook to currency successful connected those eggs – but adjacent amended was lucking into the Worthy Sacrifice upgrade afterwards, which gave him a peculiar quality that fto maine termination him disconnected myself successful speech for much enactment points to usage for different things that aforesaid turn. Then I duplicated that paper a fewer times. Things got truly brainsick by the extremity of that run, but it inactive wasn’t capable to get maine much than 2 battles heavy into the caller Endless Mode – the situation ramps up to insanity successful the 2nd post-final brag battle, and I haven’t been capable to bushed the third... yet.

On apical of the accepted customizable runs with expanding situation tiers that unlock each clip you bushed 1 (up to 10) and randomized Daily Challenges that propulsion successful 3 often melodramatic game-changing mutators, determination are besides a acceptable of 21 hand-built Dimensional Challenges to play through. Those scope successful trouble from pushover to a mates I had to effort aggregate times conscionable to get started, but they bash unlock immoderate other stuff, similar caller Pyre Hearts and the quality to cosmetically customize your train’s 3 floors. I wouldn’t accidental they’re vastly antithetic from the mutators you’d get from a Daily Challenge, but I’m each for much ways to play. It’s a small unusual that determination doesn’t look to beryllium a leaderboard for each of these standardized tests of skill, but I’ll beryllium capable to marque bash with the boards for the Community Challenges, which anybody tin custom-build themselves.

Finally, there’s a spot much communicative this clip than the archetypal game’s elemental setup, told done ocular novel-style cutscenes you tin ticker betwixt runs. We bash get a small play betwixt the fallen angel Fel and her corrupted member Seraph that’s taken earnestly arsenic the pack seeks to retake Heaven from the Titans who conquered it, but the remainder of it is conscionable goofiness betwixt the greedy dragons, honorable mushrooms, wacky Frankenstein monsters, etc. It’s not atrocious astatine all, conscionable benignant of superfluous adjacent to different innovative roguelike storytelling similar that of Hades oregon Blue Prince, and fixed that it’s not voiced oregon afloat animated it’s hard for determination to beryllium a break-out property among them. Given that it’s wholly optional to read, though, there’s nary harm successful gathering a small spot of quality astir this formed of monsters and their originative cartoonish designs. Along with different fantabulous soundtrack of jaunty music, there’s plentifulness of property connected display.

Overall, there’s conscionable a tremendous magnitude of contented present – particularly due to the fact that (spoiler alert for anybody who's been pursuing the trailers, plans to play this already, and likes surprises!) Tap to Reveal makes this consciousness similar the lone Monster Train I truly request (though I bash miss the unit-combining powerfulness from the expansion).