Monster Crown: Sin Eater
Developer: Studio Aurum
Publisher: Studio Aurum
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed), PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $24.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to monster collection games, they tend to come in a few different kinds of flavors. There are cute ones focused more towards children, ones that tip-toe between the lines, and others that reach into the darker depths of how sinister a world can be where monsters roam free and can be tamed by nearly anyone. Monster Crown: Sin Eater happens to be the latter, focusing heavily on being a darker game that looks to set itself apart by taking from a number of familiar mechanics and combining them to make something of its own. With a retro-style design and chip tune soundtrack, is this turn-based monster battler worth picking up for those looking for a darker trip to the past?
Story
While Monster Crown: Sin Eater is the second game in the series, it does not follow the story from the first game at all outside of a few “myths” being mentioned in passing. As such new players can come in freely without worrying about missing out. Players take on the role of Asur, a farmboy in the Crown Nation who lives with his rare-speaking younger sister and mother while tending to the farm. His older brother, a well-known and accomplished monster tamer named Dyeus, has just come home and is eager to teach Asur the ropes of monster taming. The reason for this is that Dyeuss admits that a great danger is on the horizon and even the brutal totalitarian ruler Lord Taishakuten, his Four Heavenly Kings, and legion of twisted beastmen, won’t be enough to stop it.
Unfortunately, before Dyeus can help train Asur beyond the basics, one of the Heavenly Kings’ brutal enforces arrives and accuses Dyeus of conspiring against the Lord and takes him away and, despite Asur’s best efforts, the only thing he can do is watch his brother’s head be sliced from his body by the mantis-like woman that takes sadistic glee in her kills. Vowing over his brother’s grave, Asur sets out on a path of vengeance to take down every leading member of the Crown Nation no matter the cost, as long as they pay for the blood spilled that day.
Monster Crown: Sin Eater sets its tone early with one of the first major plot points being an example of just how cruel The Holy Order governed by Lord Taishakuten can be and this is emphasized countless times throughout the player’s journey as Asur comes across the ruins of towns left to fend for themselves while thriving, obedient, towns are bustling full of people under the protection of their respective rulers. Talking to NPCs throughout the world emphasises this fact, at least partially, as they’ll discuss various events happening around an area but it is also worth noting that the title does have some flaws with NPC dialogue. While some NPCs have entire stories to tell, hints on where to go or side-quests, and even some moral choices, others recycle the exact same dialogue as everyone else in town and there is no way to know without talking to everyone. Ironically, talking to the same NPC over and over again in a town can run through the town’s entire dialogue tree, with a gangster punk talking about how high class a restaurant is.
It is also a bit unfortunate that, for as interesting as the world-building ends up being through books and conversations with characters, including the fact that there are various groups that players can choose to align themselves with to create a unique storyline and encourage replayability, that the game takes its “open nature” a bit too far past the initial pair of story bosses. Moving beyond the mostly straightforward “Windy Province” location and into the rest of the world means that players will be dropped with the ability to go nearly anywhere they want, even if it means getting lost and a bit confused with their only task being told to hunt down the other Heavenly Kings.
Ironically, the one hint that players get just before the first boss fight is to head to an island where the resistance is established, only the ability to actually “surf” isn’t given until players discover it on their own and in any order. While the lack of handholding is a bit of a nice touch, since it gives players freedom to challenge areas however they see fit compared to being on linear routes, a little extra guidance wouldn’t have hurt, especially since players gain various abilities when defeating members of the Heavenly Kings. Though it is worth noting that players cannot waltz into the final dungeon on their own, which is at least one noteworthy limitation.
Gameplay
Monster Crown: Sin Eater is a somewhat simple yet complicated beast to tame on its own. Players will be able to fight as Asur themselves, firing a gun that deals minimal damage but this is a last resort as dying as Asur will end the game. Instead Asur will gather up to eight different “pact bound” monsters that can make up his party at any given time. The monster that the player takes as their lead will follow along behind them while traveling through the world and will also be the first to fight in any monster or tamer encounters. Tamer encounters are an interesting element in the game as they are not challenges and are entirely optional, with the rewards for winning generally being a large sum of money that is useful in shops and for the game’s generous monster modification options.
Fighting in Sin Eater is a turn-based affair with the faster monster moving first and each monster having a designated base type as well as various move-types that they can utilize. All monsters in the game are either Will, Brute, Malicious, Unstable, or Relentless with a special Crown type being generally boss monsters. Each of these monster types are strong and weak against one different type of attack and players will want to adjust as necessary, swapping out monsters or powering through if need be since swapping out mid-battle means that the new monster will eat an attack for free. While fighting, every monster has a certain “MP” level for their moves and this dictates how much certain moves can be performed. While this will rarely be an issue, it is entirely possible to run out of Unstable MP and be forced to use less effective brute attacks or swap out the most effective fighter as a result. This can be caused by monster traits and other elements, since some monsters can inflict “gravity” requiring moves to cost more MP or even draining MP entirely from certain pools.
The most unique element when it comes to fighting in Sin Eater is the synergy gauge. This meter, which is above the HP bar, fills up over the course of attacking and receiving attacks (though some moves can drain it too) and synergy is then used to “Crown” an attack, basically amplifying its effects or strength. Crowned attacks are far more powerful and at 100% charge can be devastating for the enemy, though the enemy also has a synergy gauge players will need to keep an eye on. When battling a monster that players want to tame, with the exception of story bosses and beastmen, players can use a “pact” to add the monster to their team or send it back to the boxes. Most monsters will ignore or only slightly ponder a pact at full health while those beaten to near death or suffering from a status ailment will be far more likely to agree. Though there are a specific subset of enemy types that can only be tamed by rare pacts, signified by their red outline and will scoff at any other pact.
One thing that would have been a nice quality of life improvement for the game would have been the ability to speed up combat, to even double-speed. While players do have the option to turn off attack animations, this lowers the quality of the actual fights. As a result, players who are trying to level up their weaker monsters by having them battle stronger foes will find fights taking far longer than they should since, even with animations turned off, battles drag on against even simple foes. That isn’t to say that the combat isn’t impactful, but the option to adjust the speed would have been appreciated.
It is interesting to note that the amount of customization when it comes to creating the player’s team is outstanding in Sin Eater as both the monster breeding, complete with gene editing at an extra price, and monster fusions can help create some truly powerful monsters if players are willing to take some risks and figure out the best combinations for their teams. Some monsters are even sold in town monster shops, giving players the ability to work with extra creatures at a cost if need be. Similarly, excess monsters that the player may never use can also be sold at a Monster Shop for some money if necessary.
While out in the field and exploring, one thing to note is that Sin Eater makes use of a “predator and prey” system. This means herbivores will either ignore the player or flee from them while carnivores and omnivores will actively chase the player down. This is a nice little touch, even if it feels mostly useless in the grander scheme, but it also allows players to place bait down, such as veggies or steaks to draw in monsters that they want to either hunt down or avoid fighting entirely.
One issue that plays a major role in Sin Eater is the fact that it is incredibly easy to become too overpowered for most encounters. Thanks to the game’s open exploration after a certain point and the numerous ways players can power up their team, it is entirely possible to overlevel your primary monster and start wiping the floor with most wild monster fights and even bosses. Even rotating starters to try and spread the XP around doesn’t help much as it usually just provides extra strength to the overall party in the end. There are three difficulties to choose from and they can be changed at literally any time, this means that players can choose to up the difficulty if needed which may be needed if they become too overpowered too quickly.
Audio & Visuals
It must be said that Monster Crown: Sin Eater is an absolutely gorgeous looking game that replicates the retro styling of the “OG” monster collecting games with their sprites and environmental designs. Special characters have unique character portraits and there are a decent amount of special effects for different attacks. The designs of the monsters themselves vary wildly and while there are a base of roughly two hundred monsters, they quite literally come in every different type and the different in their base type also changes their appearance.This level of visual change is quite impressive considering how much players are encouraged to breed and fuse their monsters together to create stronger forms, especially since some can only be obtained through fusion.
There is no voice work throughout the game but the title does sport some decent sound effects that replicate what a fan would expect of the era Sin Eater is replicating. One thing that is nice to note is that the game features a wonderful sounding soundtrack, featuring plenty of unique chip-tune style songs that vary depending on the locale and even during battles, with more intense tracks playing during boss encounters or even demon fights.
Overall
Monster Crown: Sin Eater is a great improvement over the original and offers extensive team building thanks to the breeding and fusion systems available, allowing players to truly craft a team that fits their playstyle all while trying to keep some of their favorite monsters in the line-up. Between the deep combat and interesting story, this monster taming game seems like a big win if it weren’t held back by the open-ended design leaving for some confusing pacing and overleveling becoming far too easy as a result.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
