Atlus Monark - 'new school RPG' by SMT veterans, out early 2022 [PC/PS4/PS5/Switch]

[Thac0]

News about the project:
https://www.gematsu.com/2021/06/new...-for-ps5-ps4-and-switch-developed-by-lancarse

The development studio is Lancarse which had nothing to do with Caligula Effect. According to their website they've provided some assistance with such Atlus Titles as Etrian Odyssey 1&2, Strange Journey and Persona Q2. Game releases on October 14th PS4,5 and Switch in Japan. The trailer should drop in about 20 hours.

Oh hey I know that name, they also did Zanki Zero. ZZ is just about the only real time (Eye of the Beholder real time) Japanese dungeon crawler/drpg. It has some issues, but it is certainly ambitious and a breath of fresh air.
They also had a Japanese exclusive DRPG called WiZmans World which is supposed to be really tough but quite fun, sadly it has no English version and last time I tried my Japanese was too bad to enjoy it.

This probably won't be another SMT revival like in the best case scenario, but with lancarse it has at least a chance to punch above Caligula Effect's weight.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Literaly SMT If... 2. But for some reason people are comparing to Persona even though sounds like nothing Persona

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Seems like a cool game but the demon/underlings design looks super bland.
https://personacentral.com/first-monark-rpg-screenshots-released-famitsu-scans-box-art/

Edit: Trailer is out..
Seems kinda mid...

 

[karoliner]

JRPGs are dead.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Looks pretty good for me. I want to know more about how demons works here since trailer implied that they're highly customizable.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Too bad about school setting, but there's definitely some cool looking stuff in there. The "ego" system, combat, and minion body-part swapping/customization in particular.

 

[TheSoul]

Character designs don't really fit with aesthetic they're going for except guy in all white and old men.
Does every jrpg set in the real world need fucking high schoolers?

 

[HoboForEternity]

Another school setting . . Eeeeeh

But demon/medabot thing looks cool. The only thing that makes me like cold steel/tokyo xanadu school setting is that they actually use the setting well and develop many character outside the playable casts, while games like persona have literal dead-inside NPCs outside the social links/party members

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Game is coming out early 2022 in the west. PC version added.
https://www.gematsu.com/2021/06/monark-coming-west-in-early-2022-for-ps5-ps4-switch-and-pc

 

[Puukko]

NISA as the western publisher... oh no.

 

[Rean]

NISA as the western publisher... oh no.

They seem to have learned at least a bit after the YS VIII fiasco and they've been getting Durante involved lately.
There's still the matter of dogshit translations and censorship, we'll see how that goes.

 

[HoboForEternity]

NISA as the western publisher... oh no.

Cold steel 3 and 4 were good. Not as good as xseed or geofront but good.

 

[TumblingTorin]

NISA is pretty much the place to go when you want something done cheaply. The bigger question is, how badly will they fuck up the PC port to NISA's "quality" programmers?

 

[Rean]

NISA as the western publisher... oh no.

Cold steel 3 and 4 were good. Not as good as xseed or geofront but good.

Yes. Us XSEED buddies were expecting the 3 and 4 ports to be absolute shit, but Durante did well.
I think 3 had at least one scene censored, 4 none (not even the bath one)?

 

[HoboForEternity]

NISA is pretty much the place to go when you want something done cheaply. The bigger question is, how badly will they fuck up the PC port to NISA's "quality" programmers?

They partnered with Durante which has been delivering like crazy in term of quality. If anything the port quality is my least worry for now compared to the game itself.

 

[Abu Antar]

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/07/monark-systems-overview-trailer

 

[Sentinel]

Seems like it's an evolution of Persona 1-2 type of JRPG and not Persona 3-5.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

I finished Caligula Effect 2 last week so now i will play Monark, all i know is that some of the guys behind SMT If... are behind it, so it could be incline.

 

[Puukko]

I watched a friend play it for a few hours. It is definitely more story/character focused and the early game is quite exposition heavy. Bangin' music though. Can't say much about the combat though since I haven't tried it myself.

Protip: the student bios have important information you need to progress.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Furyu game's music is always amazing, i find myself listening to the caligula effect 2 ost while browsing the internet or studying quite often, glad to hear the ost is good this time around too.

 

[Matador]

Hopefully this won't go full weeb shit.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

That's the MC's sister.

At the start the game makes you answer some questions about your personality, one of the questions is if you see porn on your phone or your computer, if you say no they basically call you a liar.

 

[Poseidon00]

Industry veteran is a major red flag

 

[karoliner]

This looks and sounds like some generic Bandai Namco RPG. I'm glad SMT V exists.

 

[Abu Antar]