Monark Review
It’s always exciting to dive into a new JRPG from one of the genre's veterans at the helm. Monark comes to us from Kazunari Suzuki, best known for his work on the Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, so it had a ton of potential. To its credit, it does introduce some fresh combat mechanics to an otherwise-straightforward tactical JRPG structure. But Monark continuously trips over itself elsewhere due to a disjointed story, static puzzles, and repetitive level design that made staying interested a lot harder than it could have been.
Monark sets up a high-stakes story that takes place at Shin Mikado Academy, where a mysterious barrier looms over the school grounds and makes it impossible for anyone to leave. You take control of a Pactbearer: someone who has made a deal with an otherworldly daemon called a Monark that provides a unique power known as authority. The drawback, however, is that if this is used in the real world a mist will appear that will slowly drive people mad.
This setup is engaging to start, but it never develops much tension. Most of the characters are interesting thanks to distinct personalities and solid voice performances to sell them: Ryotaro, for instance, is a fellow Pactbearer who has a confident sense of self and purpose yet has a tragic and grounded backstory. The cast has some fun little banter between expeditions in the True Student Council meeting room, too. Unfortunately, by the time there’s any real effort put toward fleshing out the characters you’ve already hit the climax of the story, making it far too little too late.
Things begin with your traditional silent protagonist taking a psychology test to develop your ego – effectively a personality sheet detailing attributes which
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