Monark Reviews
Monark brings me both surprise and disappointment, the depth of the story and gameplay are unique, but the combat is boring, making it not as good as expected.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
The story and creepy atmosphere paired with psych tests gives Monark a unique RPG twist. I highly recommend checking out and exploring Monark for its story development, gameplay, and its unconventional but familiar JRPG action.
MONARK is one of those games that had everything in place for it to be something special and unfortunately either a lack of experience or budget absolutely crucifies it. Uninspired gameplay and poor graphics spend their time battling an amazing narrative and well-crafted atmosphere. You can see where the influences came from and the presentation of the game has some great aspects. But when it comes to the actual video game section of MONARK, you find it’s just middle of the road.
The amazing thing about these moment to moment battles is that they always end in euphoria and rarely cause fatigue. The sense of victory that comes from figuring out the next location to explore or that final blow on a boss always provides a boost of energy before the next challenge. In every way possible, Monark succeeds in providing an amazing experience that always keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Monark is an excellent JRPG with a dark and appealing story and an incredible soundtrack, that it's perfect for every fan of the turn-based strategy games.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Monark is a solid start to a promising aspect of JRPG games filled with horror elements. It tackles heavy issues with its characters. Monark is a solid blend of Tactical RPG with JRPG leveling mechanics. It is an enjoyable game with difficult rewarding battles.
Monark has many great ideas, and some of them are executed well, but the game falters when it requires you to grind for hours just to stand a chance against the next story battle. The exploration and puzzle-solving keep things exciting, and the use of the Seven Deadly Sins for character personalities is a unique way to develop your characters. All in all, though, Monark may have been a better adventure or visual novel game than an RPG.
undefined.If I'm not having fun with an RPG I've noticed lately that I have to force myself to play it. Monark started strong but my opinion of it dropped rapidly every time I spent an hour checking everything I had unlocked in the school; I had to be missing SOMETHING that would get me to proceed, right? If you're feeling sharp and are okay with little to no environmental variety then Monark might be worth a look - there's a demo for it - but it's nowhere near the best RPG from this developer in the last six months.
Monark weaves an engaging story even though it may rely on tropes and archetypes to do so.
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.
Although the combat system is a highlight, the madness stirs in this repetitive and dull RPG.
Monark is a fun JRPG with interesting characters and a unique story full of personality tests and high school drama. Though at times navigating the character can get a bit frustrating.
Monark tries a lot of new ideas, but only finds success with an intriguing battle system ... and even that has a mileage that may vary.
Monark is a game filled with great ideas and themes, and it manages to deliver on some of those in spades. Unfortunately, Monark is also its own worst enemy, and many of the gameplay elements simply get in the way of making it something truly exceptional. Still, if you can manage to get through the slog of repetitiveness, there’s a fascinating and thematically engaging story underneath.
There is fun to be had and lessons to be learned, but it is a true test of your patience and dedication.
Monark's creepy setting, tactical combat and banging soundtrack is well worth experiencing, but prepare for some obtuse puzzles.
We had high expectations for Monark, as some of the people who worked on it have given birth to some of the old Persona games, but we've come highly disappointed, due to absurd design choices and PS2 era graphics.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
Monark is a slow and frustrating RPG over several hours of gameplay. His Ego system is his most interesting point, along with his riddles, although everything is diluted with some uninteresting characters and a way of playing that gets stagnant. At first it seems "more of the same", but after a while it is pleasant to play.
Review in Spanish | Read full review