Additionally, having your allies near the enemy you are attacking will allow them to do a follow-up attack to deal extra damage.
In combat, the goal is always to approach an enemy from behind to deal extra damage and avoid a potential counter-attack. That being said, while Monark does have an impressive amount of different abilities and skills, the enemies never pushed me out of my comfort zone, so I was never forced to do anything other than my proven routine. Spending one or the other based on the situation is a meaningful tactical choice that brought another layer of depth to every battle. Art skills are physical in nature and take a chunk off of your health when used, while Authorities are magical and sap your sanity, increasing your Madness meter. There were very few times where this happened in the more than 40 hours my playthrough took, and the big risk is that you must become Mad first to achieve it – but when the stars align, it’s a good feeling.Īll of Monark’s overlapping systems frequently gave me reason to pause and think about every action I took during combat, because everything you do comes with a cost. It is a rarity, but you can also become Enlightened – when you become Mad and Awakened at the same time – allowing you to deal even greater damage without losing control.
Alternatively, each party member is able to defer their turn over to another character who has already gone, allowing them to act again – but in doing so their Madness increases more every time they are given an extra turn, which is a good way of limiting this powerful mechanic from being abused. Getting my Awakened meter up never felt like a priority, but if there is a round where you can’t hit an enemy it feels good that you can dedicate your turn to that instead of wasting it.
This power is obtained by using the Resolve skill or by being damaged in battle.
#Monark game full#
On the opposite side of the spectrum is becoming Awakened, a state where you gain the same kind of power as in Madness but maintain full control of your actions. The level of repetition and lack of variety in Monark’s level design is what eventually made it feel more like a chore than a pleasure. These are generally solved by looking through documents or student profiles on your phone, and that kind of sleuthing never felt satisfying. Most of the time this involves solving mundane puzzles to find a key to unlock the room that contains the Ideal, and that involves either a combination safe, a computer login, or hints that are too vague to be useful. All three of the Ideals for each Pactbearer are based in the same building, so your goal is usually to reach the roof, clearing out an Ideal on each floor one at a time. These Ideals are located in the Otherworld, a grim plane inhabited by daemons and where all of Monark’s battles take place. Each section of the story is built around a different party member, but their objectives are always the same: find all three of a Pactbearer’s Ideals (giant crystals that make up their inner self) and destroy them. For instance, after saying that I would choose to sing popular songs during karaoke, I was perceived as being someone who likes to stand out as much as possible something that I find to be true as an extroverted person.īut even with those personal touches, Monark’s greatest sin is repetition. At Monark’s encouragement, I based my answers on what I would personally say (as opposed to a character I wanted to roleplay as) and I found most of the results and descriptions to be a relatively accurate description of my beliefs or feelings, whether that be a good or bad thing. They’re just tools for you to use at the end of the day.Īs you explore the school you will run into people who give out more psychology tests to further boost your ego. This also ensures you’re never alone when it comes to combat, but it seems like a missed opportunity that these fiends don’t have any role outside of that, whether it be in the story or even just having a personality to interact with. Each fiend has a unique skill tree that focuses on different abilities such as attacking, healing, or causing status effects like poison or bleed, and that can have a big effect on your playstyle. Depending on which sin you match best with, you are given a corresponding fiend who serves as a party member. Things begin with your traditional silent protagonist taking a psychology test to develop your ego – effectively a personality sheet detailing attributes which are based on your relationship to the Seven Deadly Sins.
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