Monark review: Great RPG ideas, bad execution

digitaltrends.com:

Monark’s main claim to fame is the fact that former Shin Megami Tensei devs are the masterminds behind it. This, plus the two-hour taste of the game that the recently released demo fed me, was enough to get me excited. So when I finally got my hands on the full product, I was surprised to find that the final result left me feeling so unfulfilled.

What I was met with is a game that brings some great ideas to the table, but doesn’t have any idea how to use them to their fullest. The ideas that Monark presents the players with are both new and borrowed from the past. The only issue is that Monark quickly falls into a rut with them, giving players a Japanese role-playing game that eventually runs out of steam.

Monark’s protagonist awakens in a madness-inducing mist surrounded and filled school of Shin Mikado Academy, where no one has a way in or out. This mist has trapped students in various areas and driven people within it to insanity. Players join up with the principal, a group of students, and a demonic plushie. The party learns that the mist appears when a human becomes a Pactbearer and forms a pact with the highest-ranking demon, a Monark, and unleashes its power in the real world. The team is tasked with defeating the seven Pactbearers and their Monarks.

The plot is typical for a JRPG of this style, but that doesn’t make it unenjoyable. It’s actually a decent time and has a somewhat interesting twist later on.

The core weakness of Monark’s storytelling is the characters. Players follow a crew of stereotypical characters that share the same arcs relating to base-level mental health issues. That’s a real missed opportunity in a game that’s releasing after Tales of Arise, which confidently explores deep themes like race