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Monster Train 2 Review: More Content, Refined Gameplay, and Familiar FlawsMonster Train 2 expands upon its predecessor with more factions, cards, and game modes, refining the deck-building gameplay. It includes the original game's content, offering a vast array of combos and strategic choices. However, it retains flaws like repetitive events and limited enemy variety, leading to runs that can feel automated.
1. 🚂 Monster Train 2: A Bigger and Better Version of the Original
- ✅ Monster Train 2 is essentially the same game as the first, but with more content and refined mechanics.
- ✅ It includes all five original factions alongside five new ones, offering a total of 10 factions to mix and match.
- ✅ Purchasing the first Monster Train is less justifiable now, as its core content is included in the sequel.
- ✅ The game feels like a large add-on for the first, which is a positive in the deck-building genre.
00:02 - 01:56
1. 🚂 Monster Train 2: A Bigger and Better Version of the Original
- ✅ Monster Train 2 is essentially the same game as the first, but with more content and refined mechanics.
- ✅ It includes all five original factions alongside five new ones, offering a total of 10 factions to mix and match.
- ✅ Purchasing the first Monster Train is less justifiable now, as its core content is included in the sequel.
- ✅ The game feels like a large add-on for the first, which is a positive in the deck-building genre.
01:57 - 03:12
2. 🎲 Diverse Factions and Deep Combo Potential in Monster Train 2
- ✅ The game's strength lies in the variety of combos its factions offer, with each having two leaders and numerous cards.
- ✅ Players choose a primary and subfaction at the start of each run, leading to many ways to break the game.
- ✅ New factions include angels that maneuver units, dragons that use pyro gel, mad scientists with mutagens, mushroom armies, and moon people with cycle-based powers.
- ✅ The amount of card and combo potential is staggering, providing a fresh take on the deck-building formula.
03:13 - 04:10
3. ✨ Agency in Deck Sculpting and Strategic Choices
- ✅ Monster Train 2 offers agency in sculpting your deck and strategy through routes with shops, artifacts, and events.
- ✅ Players can modify units and spells with new keywords or stats and merge equipment cards for unique combos.
- ✅ The potential combos feel infinite due to the combination of 10 factions, with player choice at the center.
04:11 - 05:34
4. 🎮 New Game Modes and Replay Value
- ✅ While the multiplayer mode is missing, Monster Train 2 offers standard runs, ascending difficulty modifiers (Covenant ranks), endless mode, dimensional challenges, daily challenges, and mutators.
- ✅ The endless mode addresses the original game's short runs, allowing players to see how far they can get.
- ✅ The game refines its formula and offers more content than expected, making it a substantial package.
05:35 - 07:26
5. ⚠️ Retained Flaws: Repetitive Events, Limited Enemy Variety, and Autopilot Decks
- ⚠️ The game retains flaws like a small pool of random events that repeat and limited enemy variety.
- ⚠️ Enemies often feel like bags of hit points, lacking impact on decision-making.
- ⚠️ Runs can feel "on rails" as players make the same choices and use the same strategies repeatedly.
- ⚠️ Once a build is decided (within three battles), the deck can feel like it's on autopilot, reducing the need to adapt.
07:27 - 08:27
6. 🤔 Deck Building vs. Adapting Strategy
- 🤔 The reviewer notes a concern that matches feel decided during deck building, with less emphasis on adapting strategy during the run.
- 🤔 This can make the game feel repetitive despite its content, as the deck plays itself.
- 🤔 It's acknowledged that this might be unavoidable in deck-building games, but it happens quickly in Monster Train 2.
08:28 - 09:17
7. 👍 Final Verdict: A Worthwhile Sequel with Minor Annoyances
- 👍 Monster Train 2 is a content-packed deck-building game that includes content from the first game.
- 👍 It's a polished and refined version of Monster Train, making it an ideal sequel for the genre.
- 👍 The game offers meaningful choices, an endless mode, and iterates on its genre evolution.
- 👍 Despite minor annoyances, the game offers an absurd number of gameplay hours for a relatively inexpensive price.