Monster Crown, the recently launched game from Studio Aurum, is a loving homage to the monster-catching games of a bygone era. With its pixelated graphics, simple colors, and colorful cast of characters and creatures, it's to be expected that the game has drawn more than a few comparisons between itself and Nintendo's beloved Pokemon franchise.
But even though the games do share some similarities, there are quite a few differences between Monster Crown and Pokemon. And while Monster Crown brings a few new things to the table, it does leave out a few features fans have come to expect from the other, much larger series.
10 Smaller Type Variety
Monster Crown doesn't have quite the same level of type variety Pokemon has built up over the years, but it also doesn't even have a comparative number to Pokemon's first generation. Monster Crown sports only five different monster types, while the original Pokemon games had three times that number.
Monster Crown makes up for it a bit by giving each of its monsters an alternate form in a different type, along with a robust breeding system that allows different monsters to inherit attacks of just about every type in the game.
9 A More Mature Story
The Pokemon games have always been designed for younger audiences, and their stories have reflected this fact. While some titles have dabbled with some heavy themes, most of them have kept the fare light and breezy.
Monster Crown rejects this formula for something darker and more geared towards adults. Characters curse, villains die, and rival tamers can take players monsters if they lose to them in battle. The society the main character lives in was even built on the back of a bloody revolution that installed new, more benevolent kings to rule over the land.
8 Very Few Battles With People
The Pokemon series is well known for its trainer battles; if the player wanders into another trainer's line of sight, the battle is on. Monster Crown takes a different approach to battles, predominantly relying on wild monster encounters to help players train their team.
While there are a few other tamers out there to battle, they're few and far between. While the Chief Tamers are reliable, hand-crafted encounters similar to the Gym Leaders in Pokemon games, other tamers are randomly generated, spawning into the world and standing in one place until approached.
7 No Free Healing
The Pokemon Center is a staple of every Pokemon game since the first generation, and it's always offered free healing for any trainer's weary Pokemon. Monster Crown isn't so kind, charging $15 for every healing request players make.
The reason for this is that the monster doing the healing gets so tired from the exertion that it has to rest for a while after, and it can die if it overdoes itself. What exactly the charge does to help with that is a mystery, but it does mean that there's no free, team healing in Monster Crown.
6 Different Loss Consequences
In Pokemon games losing to another trainer comes with the relatively minor consequence of some lost money. After paying the winner, trainers will wake up at the nearest Pokemon Center with their team fully healed.
Monster Crown doesn't take any money from players' wallets after a loss, but it does leave a stinging reminder after every loss. Players lose every restorative item in their inventory after every loss, and should they lose in battle to a Chief Tamer they'll lose one of their precious monsters as well.
5 Level Gates
Pokemon games have a feature where if players trade for a Pokemon that is stronger than their current badge level, that Pokemon won't obey their orders. It's a nuanced way of preventing players from just trading one powerful monster into a new game and blasting their way through it.
Monster Crown alters this mechanic to a more intense degree: monsters stop leveling up at a certain level until the player defeats the next Chief Tamer and attains a higher tamer level themselves. Any monsters the player has acquired are gated by this, forcing players to progress through the story in order to get stronger.
4 Larger Party Size
Pokemon games famously limit a trainer's party size to six, challenging players to find a balance between different types and stats to form a well-rounded team. Monster Crown allows players to keep up to eight monsters in their party, opening up even greater possibilities for team synergy.
Having a larger party is a nice feature as it slightly offsets the unfortunate inability to heal monsters during a battle that aren't currently battling. It also allows players who find a good balance with a smaller team to keep slots open for training up weaker monsters.
3 No Evolution
While many Pokemon will evolve and take on new, more powerful forms upon reaching a new level, the monsters in Monster Crown are more like those Pokemon that never evolve. They'll continue leveling up, learning new moves, and growing their stats, but they'll retain the same shape all the way to the last level.
They can be made to transform through the use of special items that can be used either in or out of battle, but even after transforming they'll still be an alternate form of the same monster. Players can also unlock these alternate forms through breeding.
2 Monsters Aren't Caught
While Pokemon trainers use Poke-balls to capture weakened Pokemon and train them to battle on their behalf, Monster Crown takes a different approach to the monster/human relationship. Instead of Poke-balls, tamers use something called a pact to forge a bond with their prospective new teammate.
These pacts are Monster Crown's answer to the perceived forced servitude Pokemon are placed under: the pacts are legally binding contracts that have requirements for both monster and tamer. There are even legal experts in the game that will draft and renegotiate contracts on behalf of either party.
1 Breeding Is A Free-For-All
Breeding the Pokemon games has a fervent following that has gone over every possible pairing trainers can use. These pairings often lead to Pokemon that know moves they'd never learn in a natural environment. Monster Crown's breeding system offers similar perks, but it's not as restrictive as its counterpart.
Any monster in the game can be matched with any other, providing players with a more accessible breeding experience. Matching a weaker monster that knows a useful attack up with a strong, high stat monster might produce just the monster needed to take down a difficult opponent.
Monster Crown was released on June 16, 2020, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.