These days even the kids have a balanced team because of the EXP share.
Sometimes I think it’s really ruined the new games, but then I remember they’re made for children so it’s obviously going to be balanced for them.
I really want a good pokemon spiritual successor targeted at adults. Like I hope it’s still cute and wholesome, just balanced for adults, and without so much hand-holding.
I’ve heard Palworld is really good, but also that it’s more like Arc than Pokemon.
I wish the Monster Rancher series would return. Not sure how you’d do the “collection” aspect tho. Not many CDs/DVDs around anymore. Maybe something with qr/barcodes. Or image recognition. Regardless, I always felt that game series had a slightly older demographic.
Monster Rancher has made a return!, in a sense.
“MR1&2DX” a “Remaster” is on Steam, Switch, and iOS. This came out in 2021. (It’s mostly the same game, just with a searchable CD Database/Song List instead of physical media, upscaling, both JP and English monsters in the same game, Enemy monsters raisable, extra freezer slots, fast forward, instant loads etc. a bunch of QoL stuff).Also there’s Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher (This one is on Switch only) that came out in 2022… a Crossover franchise of raising Ultraman Kaiju that plays like a mix of both MR1 and MR2
And LINE: Monster Farm, came out in 2023. A JP only gacha game, though there’s some hopium that it will be released in the west eventually.
There’s a huge Monster Rancher community and Discord that even holds public tournaments with varying formats and stat-cap limits. It’s a lot of fun!
Holy shit thanks!
