Monark is basically Shin Megami Tensei with one big twist

digitaltrends.com:

Within five seconds of playing the demo for the new JRPG Monark, I realized that I would have known this game was made by ex-Shin Megami Tensei devs even if I had no clue beforehand. The title feels like a lost tactical RPG installment to the series and that’s not a bad thing at all. That is, unless you’re not a fan of the classic Atlus school setting, a teenage cast of characters, and an annoying obligatory demon mascot.

The premise of Monark isn’t a formula that is lost on veteran Atlus RPG players. Taking control of a nameless main character, I was thrown headfirst into a mysterious academy being plagued by a madness-inducing mist and a dark dimension called the Otherworld. Together with a secret group of staff, students, and a demonic plush bunny, players must travel the school and the Otherworld to find the method behind the madness and hopefully free the school from the curse surrounding it.

Monark begins in a classic Atlus-esque sequence by throwing some interpersonal and philosophical questions out. This is a continuous trend in the game that shapes the main character’s Ego (or their stat build, in non-JRPG terms), their Daemons/Fiend (Basically their Persona/Demon), and the outcome of the game.

As with the Shin Megami Tensei series, players come in contact with various characters who represent different beliefs. In layman’s terms, whoever you agree with philosophically will affect the world in the story. If we’re continuing this trend of being “Shin Megami Tensei but not,” then there may be a true ending as well, but that hasn’t been confirmed just yet.

Where the game differs from the standard Atlus affair is the combat. While Shin Megami Tensei has stepped into tactical JRPGs territory before with the Devil