I don’t know what it is about the monster tamer RPG subgenre that compels me so strongly. Maybe it’s the emphasis placed on build and team crafting, the ability to form a party of adorable creatures, or simply the satisfaction I get from filling up yet another encyclopedia of critters. PerhapsPokemonwas simplythatformative an experience for me. Who’s to say? All I know is that for me and many others out there, monster tamers scratch a very particular itch.
One of the best monster tamers of recent years is Moi Rai Games’Monster Sanctuary, which blends the classic formula (collect monsters, train them, use them to take on big bosses and other tamers etc.) with Metroidvania-style exploration. The monsters all have deep and complex skill trees, competent synergy-building is a necessity, and the presentation is a gorgeous mix of bright art with charming music. It was a perfect storm of mechanics, tone, and gameplay.
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A significant post-release update added some new game options that added some random elements to proceedings, allowing you to shuffle around skill trees, monster locations, and items. Randomisers are a big thing now, and for good reason - shaking things up in a beloved game is one of the best ways to keep things feeling fresh. You can’t throw a stone on YouTube without hitting a video of someone who randomised a Pokemon game orElden Ringand gets to act totally shocked when Brock sends out Godrick the Grafted as his ace or whatever it is the kids are up to these days. Moi Rai capitalising on this makes total sense, and it’s this understanding of how to prolong the life cycle of a game by adding random elements that makes me very confident that its next project will be one to look out for.
Aethermancer, Moi Rai’s recently-announced next project, takes its tried-and-tested monster tamer mechanics and takes them away from Metroidvania and instead to the world of roguelites. Roguelites are tricky to get right - they have to be challenging enough to make failure a very real possibility without feeling unfair, and there has to be a sense of incremental progression, whether that’s within or between runs or attempts. The Binding of Isaac is what I’d consider the quintessential roguelite - death is very easy to come by in that game, but every run is a learning experience, and the more you play, the more tools you unlock, which makes the game easier bit by bit. To compensate, the game gets harder largely at the same rate, evoking a constant and powerful sense of progression.
Roguelite monster tamers have been tried before. The Siralim series is a great example of how the two genres can work together well - throughout the early hours of a Siralim game, monsters are very basic and have few options to work with, but as you unlock more facilities, it’s possible to put hours into crafting the perfect monster with which to take on the hardest challenges. Siralim nails the feelings of progression and power fantasies but fails when it comes to its barebones presentation and the repetitive gameplay loop, largely consisting of random encounters and item gathering. It’s a fun time, but its flaws stop it from evoking those ‘oh gosh just one more run’ or ‘I just need one more Rabbitexon to finish this area’s Critterdex’ feelings that keep us playing roguelites and monster tamers for hours on end.
From what we know of Aethermancer, it sounds like a sense of progression is a big part of the design philosophy. You’ll be able to use currencies acquired through runs to advance between runs, unlocking new classes and strengthening your monsters. The idea of resurrecting my favourite monsters between runs and tweaking builds and strategies sounds incredibly fun, and we know that Moi Rai Games has a good handle on designing combat systems. In terms of presentation, even at such an early stage, Aethermancer looks like a very pretty game and a significant step up from Monster Sanctuary already.
I’m wary of putting all my eggs into one basket - it’s all too possible to betoohopeful for a game for which we’ve only seen one trailer. That said, I am optimistic that Moi Rai Games is onto something great here, and if it can pull it off, it will be a watershed moment for bringing together two of the most compelling and time-consuming genres together. It’s a studio that has proved itself, and I’m incredibly excited for the next offering.
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