“Demo Disk” – Monark (2022) [Steam]

Demo Disk is a series of first impressions posts for new releases and quick opinions.

At first glance, Monark seems like an anime trope-y game that takes place in a Japanese academia setting. This is common in many recent games, especially those made by Atlus like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. Funnily enough, Monark was developed by Lancarse (a Japanese developer known for the Etrian Odyssey series) with the help of some older SMT staff. Those staff members specifically worked on dialogue for the major characters and NPCs.

I went into Monark with low expectations. I was immediately captivated by the art style and the dialogue. I was further drawn in by psychological questions that concern the ego (stats based on the seven sins). The questions were also enjoyable to answer throughout my time with Monark. Since these questions are based on the seven sins, they are probing questions to answer.

The whole premise is pretty basic: students are trapped in a school shrouded in mist. The objective is to rid the school of the mist by defeating characters who influence the mist in corresponding areas. The concept and details surrounding the scenario make me feel I am playing an SMT game… even though I’ve never played a SMT game outside of Persona 5. While I’ll spare you the finer details of lore and definitions, I hope there’s more to it than I’ve seen so far. It’s a really cool idea but right now, I’m iffy about the execution since the game appears to be progressing slowly. The grind-y game play may drown out the story.

Combat & Gameplay

The combat in Monark uses turn-based strategy gameplay. When a battle starts, enemy and ally units start in a specified area on the map. Each unit can only move a maximum distance in a turn.

There are 2 types of attack commands: arts and authorities. Using arts always costs damage while using authorities will increase the MAD gauge, a gauge that fills from time spent in the mist and from using authorities. When the MAD gauge fills up in the overworld, the game will send you to the school infirmary. Also, if a character gives into madness by filling the MAD gauge, control over them is lost and they die in 3 turns. Higher madness can be beneficial for attacks that depend on the MAD gauge, though.

I personally think it’s a pretty cool system. Experience is gained from battling, but since battles are slow, grinding can be tedious. I haven’t really had any issues being under-leveled but newer party members always start at level 1 which can be annoying since you have to grind with them to be up to speed with your other party members. Also, I found it pretty interesting that if there aren’t enough party members for a battle, skeletons are used in place of them. The different skeletons represent Monarks (Gluttony, Pride, e.t.c) that are available. They have their own stats and skill trees as well.

Leveling works by collecting a currency called ‘Spirits’ that can be used on skills from the skill tree. Every time Spirits are spent to gain a skill, the character levels up, increasing a variety of stats. The main method of gaining Spirits is winning battles, but they can also be found in the overworld. I’ve had to play the same battle over and over to grind Spirits. I’ve seen that others have complained about this game being too grind-y but I haven’t run into an issue during the nine hours I’ve played it. It’s probably obvious that having more options for leveling up gives the gameplay more depth. Ultimately, I enjoyed the combat system a bit more than I thought I would.

Unfortunately, the overworld is pretty bland. The game starts from the first floor of a school building with a single hallway and progresses to lengthier areas as the upper floors are increasingly shrouded in mist. The puzzles on each floor are fun, taking some detective work to figure out codes for vaults. All of the NPCs in the mist have loose screws, but some have actual personal conflicts in their madness. Additionally, NPCs are bothered by phone calls as it makes them go crazy, so they’ll give chase when the protagonist’s phone is ringing.

Final Thoughts

Monark addresses some dark topics. Some characters act in ways that reflect one of the seven deadly sins, which is a nice touch. I don’t really feel too attached to the party members as it seems they come and go. A few important NPCs are introduced early on, which leaves a good impression, but I’m not too sure where this story is going yet (I’ve only played 9 hours of it so of course).

My impression of this game is it seems grind-heavy. I’m not the biggest fan of the leveling system due to the fact that I’ll probably be playing the same fight over and over for experience. The combat itself is pretty fun as I like that there are a lot of risk and reward mechanics. Overall, I’d probably sooner play Shin Megami V before getting to the climax of Monark. I’m worried that Monark may become a grind-y slog, so I feel there are other stories that may offer the same dark themes.

We would like to thank NIS America for providing a copy of Monark for our review.