Monster Sanctuary

Battle's are awesome,
Little secrets everywhere,
Best game I've ever played.

the story is interesting, the combats offer a variety of puzzles to figure out, i like the other puzzles in the game. I haven't fully scratched the surface but this game is really, really nice.

This game really caught me off guard. The turn-based combat has a shocking amount of depth, and the developers did a great job balancing the game such that you're naturally driven to explore the different build and team composition options to give you an edge in some of the more challenging areas. If you've been frustrated with how easy and mindless modern Pokemon games have been, this is the game you're looking for.

It's definitely a creature collecting game first and a metroidvania second, but the developers did a great job merging the two genres. Naturally, your monsters act as your items with each having an overworld ability. Also, I'm pretty sure it's the only creature collector I've played where I felt like catching them all was fun and doable in a reasonable amount of time.

This game really feels like a hidden gem and it pains me that it's not more popular than it is. It's 20 bucks at full price. BUY THIS GAME.

If the game came out 25 years it would have been a masterpiece. As it wasn't though, the amount of archaic design choices is absurd.
-Unable to sync new monsters to your current level without consumable items
-EGREGIOUS amounts of backtracking, where you don't get all your abilities to find secret areas until basically the end of the game.
-Cryptic systems, that might have been interesting in 1997, but now you'll just google them. Just put the info in the game, every time I have to go to the wiki it pisses me off.

Overall, it's a really fun game, and I think they really nailed the combat. Buffs and debuffs really matter, enough that counter buffing and debuffing is extremely strong; very few games get this right. A mix of tanks support and damage works as intended (it's hard to round 1 nuke everything). Fights feel challenging, with many boss fights making you really need to pay attention that what they're doing and counter it. Also you can control the combat animation speed, which is a really nice QoL feature.
The puzzles in the game are fine. I don't really care for puzzles in games, but these weren't too annoying.
Exploration feels ok. There are some secrets without visual indicators which means you need to test every single wall in the game, which is annoying. Aside from the EGREGIOUS amounts of backtracking in the game, normal exploration feels pretty good.
Items are fine. The food mechanic feels kind of like bloat, but you only rarely need to deal with it. Upgrades are kind of annoying due to limited resources.
The monsters feel pretty good overall. Some are clearly better than others, but all of the monsters are usable, even the really early games ones. The skills are petty interesting, and you can make some really strong synergies. It's really unfortunate that levels don't sync because I would have had a lot of fun trying different combinations. Unfortunately by the time you can purchase the leveling item as a consumable the game is like 90% over. Also the monster shifting items being a limited quantity is annoying. I didn't use a single one all game because I didn't want to waste them.
The story, writing and characters are all fine. I didn't find much particularly annoying which is pretty good, since most other similar games are borderline unbearably cringe.
Music is fine. Gets a little repetitive but it serves its purpose.

There appears to be some end game content, but I'm probably not going to play it. I've already beaten the hidden last boss, so I don't really see the point. I was planning to backtrack though and unlock everything, but at this point I don't really want to.

Overall it's a good game, but it feels like a huge missed opportunity. If the game was designed in a more modern way that respected your time, it would be like 300% more enjoyable. Maybe 5% of people who play this game will enjoy the archaic systems that artificially extend the game length, but everyone else would rather enjoy a single play through and move on. This style of game was fun when back when I was young and didn't have 40 other games waiting to be played in my Steam library.

I recommend the game as long as you have some patience, or really enjoy games that take a while to 100% complete.

It's a solid experience overall, but I think the game gets even more exciting after reaching max level and unlocking all monsters. At that point, you can experiment with countless builds and synergies, and every monster is viable in some way. This really makes you think a lot, especially with the tough keeper challenges that constantly push your team to its limits. If you're into experimenting or theorycrafting, you'll likely enjoy the game thoroughly, but if you just want a fun Metroidvania or creature-collector experience, there's still plenty for you to enjoy too.

JRPG x Pokémon x Metroidvania, and a good one at that.

exept the platformer part, that can be very anoying sometime, and never intersting :
(i would like an option to remove it of the game, make that the game automaticaly do the imput for maximum height multijump, that is somtime needed with high precision multiple time in raw)

it is a good game.
the teambuilding, chose of attacks with synergy, strategy with the monster, is good.

This game is very strange in a way, i got decently far in the game, but a series of the game's strange dissensions just made it a chore to play. It started with going into an area that was almost like a sun temple after completing the snowy peaks. but when i entered, it was from underground, but here i am in the open air, which makes no seance, it pretty much ruined the area for me since it obliterated any sense that this was its own little world rather than a game world.

And then there was the level jump, every thing was way higher level in an area i didn't like with monsters i didn't like, the entire place felt like slog, so i stopped playing, i have gotten my moneys worth of content so i quit. I real felt that this game could be better, and might even get better, but i'm not going though that stupid temple. (it admit idly didn't help that i discovered a really good minecraft mod by that time, stealing away any time i would want to spend playing a game).

Monster Sanctuary is a great monster-gathering metroidvania game. With a great artstyle, varied and unique monsters to gather and a solid soundtrack, it truly was a blast of fun to play trough.

Aurumtail, magmamoth & Rocky were some of my favourite monsters..

Surprisingly fun and addictive gameplay 👍

This is ART in the form of a video game.
Moi Rai Games does such a great job on the exploration, combat music, pixel art, depth of mechanics that I can't recommend enough the game.

Please play this masterpiece.

A rather amazing explortion and monster collecting game pokemon fans would most ceartinly enjoy this tittle. those who enjoy the more casual side of turn based strategy but want a bit of complexity whilst remaining easy to understand. The story is rather simple and quite charming and melds well with the realms history. i"ve found the music a bit on the loud side i do suggest turning it down a bit.

Good game, good price, very relaxing to play

Excellent Metroidvania with turn-based combat. Your teams are comprised of monsters that you collect along the way, and you can collect EVERY monster, minus the bosses. Don't let the cute pixel art fool you, this game can be quite challenging. Buy It!

Brilliant game, highly recommend.

For anyone who read the negative review complaining about drop rates being tied to your battle rating, the respawn rates of monsters, and the unskippable encounters don't worry, he's a moron:
-It's easy to get high enough ratings for the drops you want, even if you're not trying hard.
-Encounters respawn after you clear 3 others or use a cheap item.
-You can either just jump past most monsters or get an ability later in the game that lets you skip them.

The game has a highly addictive loop of finding new monsters that both:
-Have abilities that let you get to new parts of the map.
-You can theorycraft around to build a cool team/synergy for combat.

It's well worth playing even if you're not big on metroidvanias, and there's plenty of QoL and convenience built in for both the turn-based battler half and platformer half that means neither drag down the pace of the game or get frustrating if you fail. You just get put exactly where you were and get to try again. as there's basically no punishment for losing.

You can re-spec any monster at any time using a cheap item, and you'll often run into encounters that will make you re-think your approach, and cook up a better team in order to continue. You're encouraged to sub out different monsters depending on typing, and basically all of them are viable (you'll still see beginner monsters used in end-game fights).

Seriously, give it a try, and keep an eye out for Aethermancer being developed by the same guys if you're into Roguelites. Sadly I'm not, so I'll be waiting on a Monster Sanctuary 2, or a a permanent explore/story mode when they release their next game.

Game was fun,but I will not play twice.

One of my favorite games in the genre.

Instead of having 400 monsters that feel exactly the same, this game has 100 monsters and each of them has a niche. It’s a lot of fun to put together teams and think up new combinations.

The game also hits a good level of difficulty with many built in options for added challenge and randomization.

A hidden gem.

Fun little monster collector. Would be great if it received an expansion sometime down the road

This is one of the best creature collector game i played in recent memories. It's Pokemon meets any great metroidvania with so much uniqueness to stand out on its own..

Collecting Monsters, Exploring the map, solving puzzles, with amazing detailed skill tree system for each monsters & a just great mechanics around that makes this world so much fun to explore..
The story is good enough but the game-play mechanics elevates that.

Only nitpick for me is the game is quite grindy given the difficulity of some fights in the early to mid section.. But when you get a hang of the skill tree system, it gets very satisfying to play..

Also the music is really good, i was jamming the whole time....

Overall i will definitely play this game again in future with different monsters build teams...Loved it..8.5/10.....

Fun game, never really got into online play or anything, but finally played through the game again after the update last year. One challenge (that I personally enjoy) is that team building becomes more complicated as you both (1) get access to more monsters (2) get higher levels and (3) get access to shifts. It feels rewarding when you build a team to 5-star a champion that you were struggling with and succeed. The game also introduces you to PvP (at least PvP light) with trainer battles that are a completely different challenge, which comes with the same feeling.

One thing I didn't enjoy as much was the platforming and field abilities, I honestly think it detracts from the games main strengths, although it does promote exploration (i.e. I want to explore this dark room but I can't see where the the platforms are, maybe I can find a monster that will allow me to see).

I recommend this game to anyone who is looking for solving complicated team battles.

One of me favorite games! Mix Castlevania, Pokemon and Final Fantasy and ye come close to its spirit, eh! Buy it! It's a feckin' masterpiece!

Aloha, this is my review of Monster Sanctuary, a side-scrolling metroidvania with pokemonesque creature collection. You are one of the four spirit beast keepers and journey about the lands of monster sanctuary, finding hidden treasure, exploring the map with a variety of abilities, and collecting an army of monsters to do your bidden in exciting turn-based battles, while solving the mysteries of Monster Sanctuary. I found this game was a delightful romp, with plenty of cute critters and creative environments to explore. But enough about that, lets dive into the review!

The Good: charming colourful pixel art graphics, fun turn-based battle system, lots of monsters to choose from that you can customise with dark/light variants and skill trees and equipment and evolve into new forms too, nine cool player costumes to collect, tight and responsive controls, lots to explore with expansive map and metroidvania style exploration.

The Bad: music is forgettable, storyline is decent but quite cliched, there is no Dracula evolution for the vampire bat.

The Ugly: the punny names, like the SHOCK-Hopper [an electric powered penguin]

A very fun and unique blend between platformer\metroidvania\creature collector.
Loads of creatures. Loads of items. Loads of strategies.
And the 100% achievement is very do-able.

stupidly in-depth combat and team building. so damn fun, possibly the best turn based rpg combat ever? i wish the presentation was a bit more compelling. the pixel art is good but everything in the world is painfully generic. the gameplay completely carries the experience.

This game is unbelivably boring. It's written like an SNES game for 8 year olds and the gameplay looks complex but in reality I was 2 hours in and still just spamming anything to win every fight with zero challenge or thinking involved. Exploration is simplistic and linear. There's nothing here, it's just a genre mashup.

Ngl this game is underrated. when i first started playing I was like BRUH.. but I'm the kind of person who likes to finish the game i start. upon proceeding and getting introduced to the monsters and music and how the game works and the monsters abilities I was impressed. I was hooked so bad I finished it in like 3-4 days. which is quite fast according to me. I said underrated cz of the lack of videos about it online. would highly recommend giving it a shot

Great game I've played it 3 times going for the 4th.

Got this on sale and never regret.
Fun chill yet challenging game.

Quality game really well made. i can't say enough good about this game. if you enjoy turn base combat like older final fantasy games or Pokemon this is the game for you. Great exploring, Strong bosses that aren't pushovers as a new player catch new monsters change team to what you like. I enjoyed this game just as much as i did Octopath Traveler 2 if this game was $50 i'd happily pay the price tag. well done to the creators thank you.





play in 3x speed mode

Shocked I haven't reviewed this game.

A Simply brilliant game! I have no issues with it whatsoever.

This game is highly immersive and is made of pure fun with skillful professionalism and heart merged in one. its been a long while since a game has captured my attention and pushed my curiosity to its peak. Monster Sanctuary is a hidden gem and second to none at Monster Collecting genre. I love this game and cannot wait for a part 2.

One of the best Metroidvania games i've played and one of the few where i've unlocked all the achievements.

10/10

The combat system is simply amazing if not overwhelming. the level of potential cohesion between different monsters makes team-building very interesting. with the skill tree, equipment combination, and two shifts there could be a lot of ways one monster fit into different builds. using monster ability for exploration makes up some very cool puzzles, even if some platforming was a little wonky. It definitely gets a little too much for what monsters and their corresponding ability you need for every scenario. That being said, having the monster ability to avoid combat and mount was smart at avoiding pacing issues. I really like the designs of different areas and how they connect to each other. The story is serviceable and side characters arent that flesh out. The reveal at the end was solid, and some of the big battles post a good challenge. Evolution being a side upgrade is a good idea, i just wish there are more evolution lines instead of it being one item to one evolution. overall one of the best games ive played in a while.

I think i am at a good point to write a review since i have gotten to the point of understanding the basics of the game and have "settled" into it. Overall i think it's a fun game, although the back tracking and the grind gets quite visible early. The areas seem a tad too empty for giving this game a extremely high score. But i still think it's engaging enough/worth trying and the art style is charming. I would give this game 7/10 overall. I appreciate a game with unicorns in them.

A monster collector with actually good combat. Quite fun.

One of the best monster taming / battling games on Steam! Team building has surprising depth and the soundtrack is amazing.

Story is complete fucking whatever, graphics are just okay, Metroidvania elements are decent

But holeee fuck I LOVE the battle system. It starts off so simple and gets more and more fun and complex the deeper you go. At one point you get this massive change that makes you reevaluate every monster you've tamed. I loove ittt!!!!

Got the game on a steam sale and didn't have any expectations. Played for 59 hours.

rpg-like adventure, hollowknight-like platforming, and ninokuni-like monster taming. what a great combo.

but I hate the puzzle cause I can't see the entire screen, and level-grind takes a lot of times.

good game worth it on sale. for $8 bucks you will have a fun time.

WOW!!! I was not expecting to spend three and a half hours playing this! A Pokemon Metroidvania, and it works rather well! Fight monsters, hatch eggs, and build up some rather complex strategies for handling various situations. Every creature seems to be viable, and there are numerous ways to tweak their stats so they shine much further than they already do. The graphics are absolutely charming and wonderfully reminiscent of ye olde super nintendo days. I got Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger vibes every now and then, which I really like.

There are definitely some skill checks fairly early on - I totally bombed my first keeper duel. I had a strategy that worked for normal monster battles, but not for a 6-monster endurance match. This game WILL get you to rethink your strategies every so often, and it seems like each monster you have is going to be important at some point.

While I did enjoy the game for a good chunk of my playthrough, as soon as my monsters hit max level (which is 42 specifically for some stupid reason), it stopped being fun entirely. The skill tree mechanic is very enjoyable, but as soon as you can't upgrade anymore, the game just stops holding back and won't let you progress unless you build an entirely new team for every single fight onward.

The devs took the monster collector subgenre and fused with well thought out Metroidvania mechanics.
The only downsides I can think of is the management of the equipment of the monsters and their skills: it can be overwhelming from the middle game to the late game, if you don't like spending quite some time in the menus.

If you're playing this game for the Pokemon aspect, you have to play a couple hours before you actually get to a trainer battle. Was really only interested in the full fights, but most of the game is platforming and killing super weak wild monsters. Even on 3x speed it gets kind of tedious. Didn't enjoy it, but it's not a bad game, just not for me. Get it if you're into the idea of a metroidvania with the bonus of pokemon.

its good, it has a mix of adventure and difficulty and luck to get eggs for monsters

I bought this game on sale for 5 dollars and it's literally better than the last 10 triple A $70 titles combined. I would have paid full price had I known this game existed when it came out in 2020.

Pros
- LOADS of monsters to find and fight
- Tons of team comps, synergies to come up with
- Making your own team comp feels very rewarding
- Simple but fun storyline
- Classic metroid style exploring, secrets, side quests
- Art style is incredible

Cons (Almost none, I'm being nitpicky here)
- Main menu UI could use some work, navigating to select a specific monster once you have over a couple dozen can be tedious due to the way the menu works

This game is easily worth $40+, the $20 tag is a bargain and any sale price is an outright steal

A metroidvania mixed with creature collector/battler that has a simple presentation with engaging buildcraft and wonderful quality of life features.

There's a lot of customization for coming up with builds for your monsters themselves and as a team. The game can be quite challenging, which can motivate you to come up with new builds and teams.

The star of the show for me is all of the quality of life features. They really implemented a lot of things that respect your time. No random monsters, monster health being reset after battle, defeat placing you right before a fight meaning no long runback, earnable ability to avoid common fights as well as a consumable item to escape them, a feature to earn monsters slightly lower than your max level monster, the ability to place custom map markers, the option to speed up battles and more. It's so nice that they cut out a lot of the tedium.

Strategic turn-based battles meet non-linear exploration in a beautiful blend of my two favorite genres; JRPGs and Metroidvanias. As a big Pokemon fan, the monster taming and training aspects are enjoyable as well, and I love me a good skill tree. I was a little disappointed that you can't learn all skills with your monsters even at max level, but it does make for more strategy when choosing your build. The writing is kind of stilted at times, but the story is fine overall. Other than that, I have no complaints. I strongly recommend this gem to any fan of RPGs, Metroidvanias, Pokemon, or video games in general.

Great game!

fun to explore, very interesting meta, different then what I was expecting. despite that there are lots of ways to build your team.

enjoyed the story, enjoyed the pixel graphics.

the end game was surprising. I had one team beat most of the legendary keepers once I got it in place. but there are some that are pretty tough and require a changeup

the Champion monsters in endgame were tough and required me to create whole teams to beat them. was very cool to see my builds work.

I would recommend this game, support an indie and have some fun. it lasted a good while.

How many more replays until I am officially finished with this game?
The limit does not exist.

Pretty pixel dungeon crawler where I can collect monsters cute, strange, sexy, ugly, funny in appearance. Unlike most RPGs, a combination of my attachment to my monsters combined with a refined combat system results in me actually equip and stats tweaking. It makes a real difference.


Even with an obsession for some Monsters over others (Tanuki Tanuki Tanuki), taking the time to swap in new monsters, customize them, with new parties and combos is really satisfying. A turn based game where I actually have to pay attention. Rare!

Whose cutest to you?