Monster Rancher 4
Get to know Temco's fourth monster breeding sim. Tasty screens and first details within.
Published: September 3, 2003
Since its introduction on the PlayStation way back in 1997, the Monster Rancher series has managed to gain an incredibly hardcore following. Not an incredible following, just an incredible hardcore one. Hardcore as in proclaiming at the top of their voices in the middle of a busy games store that the Monster Rancher series is "effing brilliant" after overhearing a comment by yours truly that the series has stagnated a bit since the PlayStation glory days. That hardcore.
Still, it's not like it's not completely unwarranted - if just on a far, FAR smaller scale. The games have always turned the funky and fun gimmick of tossing in your random CDs (or with the introduction of MR3 on the PS2, DVDs) to see what kind of monsters would be created into an enjoyable endeavor. It's just that after three iterations spanning two different generations of PlayStation hardware, things truly are starting to stagnate.
Luckily, it appears Tecmo is well aware of this fact, and though we'll have to spend a bit more time with the monster breeding sim, the new features for the game may yet give it enough legs to last at least another game.
Monster Rancher 4 is still the monster collecting sim to Pokemon's RPG experience, weighing things more towards actually raising a monster (or, for the first time in the series, multiple monsters at the same time), but Tecmo has finally seen the merit in including some form of actual adventure game elements to keep things interesting. Upon creating and raising a monster, players can now take them on an action/adventure section of the game to do more than just battle endless monsters in one-on-one events.
The actual breeding itself has been overhauled with new, fully customizable training digs that will add a bit of strategy to raising and training newly-bred monsters. Ranchers now have a variety of equipment to pick from and place in the training facility, and the equipment and training regimens will actually play a part in how well the monsters develop. Better equipment and routines will yield better monsters, and thus a more robust means of taking on other creatures.
Tecmo is promising more enhancements to the now familiar formula, too, with the addition of a tweaked battle system, a healthy helping of unlockable levels and monsters (we can't wait to see what kind of ubermonsters popping in Sony CDs and DVDs will yield this time around) and even some secret adventures for the expanded RPG-ish elements.
Monster Rancher games are not Pokemon games, and admirably, they aren't trying to be, which is nice. The series is still undoubtedly what one would call a monster raising simulation, but with the advent of more evolved modes and some key additions, the fourth Monster Rancher game may end up being the best in years. Keep checking back for full hands-on impressions in the near future.
Still, it's not like it's not completely unwarranted - if just on a far, FAR smaller scale. The games have always turned the funky and fun gimmick of tossing in your random CDs (or with the introduction of MR3 on the PS2, DVDs) to see what kind of monsters would be created into an enjoyable endeavor. It's just that after three iterations spanning two different generations of PlayStation hardware, things truly are starting to stagnate.
Luckily, it appears Tecmo is well aware of this fact, and though we'll have to spend a bit more time with the monster breeding sim, the new features for the game may yet give it enough legs to last at least another game.
Monster Rancher 4 is still the monster collecting sim to Pokemon's RPG experience, weighing things more towards actually raising a monster (or, for the first time in the series, multiple monsters at the same time), but Tecmo has finally seen the merit in including some form of actual adventure game elements to keep things interesting. Upon creating and raising a monster, players can now take them on an action/adventure section of the game to do more than just battle endless monsters in one-on-one events.
The actual breeding itself has been overhauled with new, fully customizable training digs that will add a bit of strategy to raising and training newly-bred monsters. Ranchers now have a variety of equipment to pick from and place in the training facility, and the equipment and training regimens will actually play a part in how well the monsters develop. Better equipment and routines will yield better monsters, and thus a more robust means of taking on other creatures.
Tecmo is promising more enhancements to the now familiar formula, too, with the addition of a tweaked battle system, a healthy helping of unlockable levels and monsters (we can't wait to see what kind of ubermonsters popping in Sony CDs and DVDs will yield this time around) and even some secret adventures for the expanded RPG-ish elements.
Monster Rancher games are not Pokemon games, and admirably, they aren't trying to be, which is nice. The series is still undoubtedly what one would call a monster raising simulation, but with the advent of more evolved modes and some key additions, the fourth Monster Rancher game may end up being the best in years. Keep checking back for full hands-on impressions in the near future.
