The deck-building tower defense game 'Monster Train' was a time thief game that made you want to play it many times.
' Monster Train ' is a tower defense deck building game that defends the train from oncoming intruders, and was rated 'overwhelmingly popular' by Steam at the time of writing the article. I was wondering what kind of play feeling would be created when the deck construction game and the tower defense game were combined, so I actually installed it on my PC and played with it.
Steam: Monster Train
·table of contents
◆ 1: Basic flow of the game
◆ 2: Factors that enhance strategicity
◆ 3: Addictive that makes you want to play many times
◆ 4: How to introduce Japanese MOD
◆ 5: Summary
Monster Train is not officially translated into Japanese, but there are Japanese mods created by volunteers. This time, we are reviewing with the Japanese MOD installed. The second half of the article also explains how to introduce Japanese mods.
◆ 1: Basic flow of the game
Monster Train aims to defeat the enemies invading the train and aim for the innermost part of the stage while defending the 'pile' which is the heart of the train. When you start the game, a map with rails will be displayed as shown below, so click on the part marked 'Battle' to proceed with the game.
When you start the battle, you will be switched to a viewpoint where you can see the inside of the train. The train has four floors, and the 'pile', which is the heart of the train, is located on the fourth floor.
After the battle begins, enemies aiming to destroy the pile will invade the train. If the pile is destroyed, the game will be over ...
Players place monsters on the 1st to 3rd floors of the train ...
You need to repel the enemy by doing damage with a spell card.
The cost (Ember) is written on the upper right of the monster card and spell card, and you can summon monsters and use spells for the amount of Ember displayed at the bottom left of the screen. If you run out of embers, click 'End Turn' at the bottom right of the screen.
Then, the battle will start automatically.
After one turn of actions by the enemy and allies, the surviving enemies will move up one level without being defeated. In other words, before the enemy reaches the 4th floor and destroys the pile, it is necessary to use monsters and spells to destroy the enemy.
In Monster Train, the loop of 'enemy invasion'-> 'summon monsters & use spells'-> 'battle'-> 'surviving enemies move to the upper layer and new enemies invade' continues until all enemies are destroyed. increase. In the following movie, you can see the flow from the actual invasion of the first enemy to the defeat of the enemy in the final wave.
In the above movie, the enemy can be repelled before reaching the pile, but even if the enemy reaches the pile, the pile itself has the ability to attack, so 'If the enemy reaches the layer with the pile, the game is over immediately. 'It does not mean that. However, since monsters cannot be placed on the floor with piles, it is better to repel enemies on the 1st to 3rd floors without relying on the pile's own attack ability.
Defeat all enemies in the final wave to win and earn loot such as money and cards.
Three loot cards are presented at the same time as shown below, and one of them is selected and added to the deck. Monsters that can be summoned with cards have various abilities such as 'Increase the defense power of allies' and 'Strengthen allies each time you defeat an enemy'. In addition, spell cards also have various effects such as 'attacking the enemy', 'recovering allies', and 'giving allies the ability to counterattack the opponent when attacked'.
Once you have received the loot, you can move the train to the back of the stage. Facilities that have effects such as strengthening the deck and recovering the HP of the pile are placed on the stage where the train advances, but since the track branches to the left and right, only the facilities on the selected route can be used. Each facility has an important role in determining the composition of the deck, so careful route selection is required.
Here is an example of a facility. 'Weapon Merchant' can give monsters effects such as 'Attack Power Up' and 'Attack Count Up' by paying money.
There are also facilities where you can get 'artifacts' that have a lasting effect during the capture of the stage. The abilities of the artifacts are all powerful, such as 'damage when an enemy appears' and 'summon multiple monsters at the beginning of battle', so you will want to actively collect them. In addition, there are facilities for strengthening spell cards and facilities for discarding unnecessary cards and compressing the deck.
As you progress through the stage while strengthening your deck using the facilities, a powerful boss awaits you at the back of the stage.
The boss at the back of the stage has high attack power and physical strength, and also has vicious abilities such as 'disable the ability increase of the monster summoned by the player' and 'limit the number of times the player can use the spell card', and it is quite chewy. You can enjoy a certain battle.
◆ 2: Factors that enhance strategicity
・ Selection of clans and champions
Monster Train allows you to set a 'primary clan' and a 'sub clan' at the start of the game. In the initial state, you can select two types of clans, 'Hellhorn', which has many monsters that have the effect of strengthening offensive and defensive power, and 'Awalkon', which has many monsters that have recovery and counter abilities. The 'champion' of the clan set for the clan will be added to the deck.
Champions are powerful monsters that can be summoned at zero cost, and their abilities can be enhanced with dedicated enhancement facilities. Since each champion has completely different abilities, the feeling of play will change depending on the selection of the primary clan or champion.
・ Check the enemy's abilities and formulate a strategy
As mentioned above, a very powerful boss is waiting at the back of the stage. In the second and subsequent plays, you can check the names and abilities of the bosses that appear on the stage at the start of play, so you can build decks and select artifacts according to the boss's abilities.
You can also check the ability by hovering the mouse cursor over the enemy's standing picture before the start of each battle.
In addition, you can check the abilities of enemies who have entered the train, so you can move around flexibly according to your abilities. For example, this enemy named 'Pyromancer Wings' turned out to have the ability to 'reduce the player's usable cost when attacking.' Judging that 'it would be a problem if the usable cost decreases, so it is better to defeat it as quickly as possible' ...
After increasing the armor value of the monster, activate the spell card with the effect of 'damaging 4 times the total armor value of the monsters placed in the same level to the enemy', inflicting a total of 184 damage and starting the action. I succeeded in repelling before.
・ Check the map and make a facility usage plan
As mentioned above, there are various facilities on the stage, and the available facilities change depending on the route selected. The layout of these facilities can be confirmed from the map menu. By checking the location of the facilities on the map, you can use the facilities according to your strategy.
For example, this time I was able to confirm that there is a 'Hell Spout' at the end of the stage where you can duplicate any card, so before reaching the 'Hell Spout', strengthen the monsters and make the strengthened monsters. I was able to increase it to two.
◆ 3: Addictive that makes you want to play many times
There are more than 200 monster cards and spell cards in Monster Train. In the initial state, you can only use a dozen or so cards, but if you play many times, new cards will be unlocked and the range of tactics will expand.
Also, as you continue to play, the number of clans and champions you can use will increase, so the more you play, the more fun you will find.
In Monster Train, not only the strategic factor but also the luck factor is important. For example, some of the artifacts that can be randomly obtained are super powerful, such as 'Ignore the cost and size of monsters and summon 4 at random.' In addition, the layout of facilities and the types of bosses are different each time, so even if you challenge the game with the same strategy, you can enjoy different game characteristics each time.
◆ 4: How to introduce Japanese MOD
At the time of writing the article, there is no official Japanese version of Monster Train, but you can play it in Japanese by installing a MOD loader and a Japanese localization MOD.
To install a Japanese mod, first click 'Community Hub' on the Steam library screen.
Then click 'Workshop' from the menu at the top of the screen and search for 'mod loader'.
When the MOD loader and Japanese MOD are displayed in the search results, first click the MOD loader ...
Click Subscribe on the mod details screen.
When 'Subscribing' is displayed, the installation of the MOD loader is complete.
Similarly, after introducing the Japanese MOD, start Monster Train.
When Monster Train starts, click 'Mod Settings' at the bottom right of the screen.
Since the introduced MOD is displayed, click the red frame part to switch to 'On' and click 'Apply Changes'.
When the confirmation dialog appears, click Apply and Quit to exit Monster Train.
Next, start Monster Train again ...
This time, click 'Setings' at the bottom left of the screen to open the setting screen.
If you click the part marked 'English' on the 'OTHER' tab of the setting screen, 'Japanese' can be selected, so click it.
This completes the Japanese localization work. After that, click the x mark on the upper right to close the setting screen ...
You can play Monster Train in Japanese.
◆ 5: Summary
When I actually played Monster Train, the strategic elements and luck elements that build the deck were very well-balanced, and I was able to enjoy a different sense of play each time while assembling my favorite tactics. Since there is almost no explanation of the story and there is no official Japanese version, it seems that the hurdle to play is high, but once you play to the point where you fight the boss, even people who have never played the same type of game I can understand the system. Also, it takes about 30 to 60 minutes to defeat the boss. The operation system is a simple design that can be progressed with just a left click, so it is recommended not only for those who are accustomed to deck construction games, but also for those who are looking for a game to play with a click to kill time.
At the time of writing the article, Monster Train is sold on Steam at the regular price of 2570 yen.
Steam: Monster Train
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1102190/Monster_Train/
Related Posts:
