Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Monster Rancher 4

Written by Andrew Fitch on September 03, 2003

First Impressions: Pikachu just ain't tough enough for the farmin' life...

One day around Christmas 1997, I was doing some holiday shopping for friends and family at the local mall -- however, I'd had enough of the Уspirit of givingФ for one day, and decided to pick up a video game for myself while I was out. Since this was in the dark ages (a.k.a. before my access to the Internet), I was forced to rely on word-of-mouth and print media for my gaming information. But I actually decided on a title I'd never heard of before: Monster Rancher.

The description on the back of the box seemed too intriguing to pass up: You raised monsters on a farm, eventually doing battle with other monsters in a tournament -- and even cooler, all of these bizarre (and clearly Japanese in origin) creatures were УbornФ by putting some CDs from your music and game collections into the PlayStation! Nowadays, games where you raise and breed animals, monsters and even people (The Sims) are commonplace, but back then, it was groundbreaking. The rather rotund sales clerk confirmed my suspicions that this would be a wise purchase, as he informed me that it was a spectacularly addictive title. And he was right -- Monster Rancher ended up being the best sight-unseen game I've ever gotten.

Since then, the Monster Rancher series has had a reasonably successful run on this continent, featuring three more console editions and three GameBoy/GameBoy Advance titles. However, with the explosion of Pokemon (which actually wasn't out in North America back in 1997...yes, I know it feels like it's been forced upon our collective consciousness since time began!), and every Saturday morning anime import seemingly about raising monsters or robots or digital monster robots, Monster Rancher is no longer novel idea -- Tecmo has to offer something different and new in this incarnation to set itself apart.

And indeed, Monster Rancher 4 looks like quite a different experience from Monster Rancher 3. To begin with, Tecmo is making the whole Monster Rancher experience more story-driven. Sure, there was always a УstoryФ in Monster Rancher games, but it wasn't much more than УYou're a monster rancher -- start raisin' some monsters!Ф This time, you'll meet characters with more in-depth personalities than just УHi, I'm your assistant!У or УI'm an explorer -- mind if I take your monster on an expedition?Ф The first two games took place in a universe where monster ranchin' was a well-established career, and the last incarnation gave some back story to the premise in a prequel. There's no word yet on exactly where this game fits into the Monster Rancher canon, but a more fleshed-out story would most likely make it the most rewarding experience in the series yet.

However, in any story-driven game, one needs something to actually drive the story. In Monster Rancher 4, you'll do this with a new adventure mode, in which you'll go on dungeon-based explorations with your critters. Expeditions are nothing new to Monster Rancher -- the first two games featured treks to ancient ruins to search for various items. However, Monster Rancher 4's quests will be longer, and play an integral part of the game, rather than simply serving as options or side-missions. And unlike the expeditions in previous games, they'll feature actual battles, which you can use to build up some of your monster's attributes.

Besides the addition of a storyline and adventure elements, the other most noticeable change in this version is the graphics. The bizarre cel-shaded УcartoonyФ look from last game is gone, replaced by the more traditional Monster Rancher style of graphics. I'm a fan of cel-shading, but Monster Rancher 3 may have been one case where it somewhat hurt, rather than helped -- the visuals were by no means bad, but they weren't really УMonster Rancher.Ф This version's graphics look very strong, and update the familiar look and feel from the first two PlayStation games into the 128-bit world.

But the main focus of any Monster Rancher game is the monsters themselves -- Tecmo is being rather tight-lipped on exactly which critters will be appearing this time around. However, it's known that certain Monster Rancher favorites will be returning, such as Mocchi (weird pink duck thingy), Suezo (a.k.a. cute (?) li'l eyeball) and Golem (big hunk o' rocks). And as usual, you'll be using regular household CDs and DVDs to create them. For those who are new to the Monster Rancher universe, these are not randomly generated creatures -- each CD has a specific monster based on its digital data. Do you desire a wussy, foppish-haired monster that somehow still manages to get the ladies? Pop in your (er...your sister's/girlfriend's!) Titanic DVD! Want some whiny, bald, pretentious monster? Try out some R.E.M. CDs!

Actually, I highly doubt those CDs and DVDs will actually produce said monsters -- however, the game's creators have been known to pair certain monsters with specific albums/games. For example, in the original Monster Rancher, INXS' УKickФ album produced УGooaall!,Ф a soccer-ball monster, while Mariah Carey's Christmas album unlocked УSanta,Ф a Santa-rabbit monster. However, if you don't have a large CD and DVD collection, don't fret -- as always, you can create a good number of monsters in-game, though some very rare monsters are only available via CD/DVD.

And as usual, it's expected that Tecmo will be rewarding its loyal customers, as Tecmo titles have always generated some of the rarer monsters in the series. However, Tecmo is not against cross-promotion -- they reached a deal with Ubi Soft and Sony to include some monkeys from the Ape Escape series. Exactly which CDs these simians will be generated from is as yet unknown, but I'll go out on a limb and guess that poppin' Ape Escape 1 and Ape Escape 2 into your PS2 might be a good place to start.

While the game will use a tried and true method to generate the creatures, how you actually go about raising them will somewhat different. Previous games locked you into working with one monster at a time -- since it tended to take a while to build one up, this could be a tedious process at times. This version features a new Уmulti-breedingФ and training program -- you'll be able to raise and train many different critters all at once. Your monsters will now do things like run around an interactive УplaygroundФ with lots of bizarre training equipment, as a bunch of trees with eyes look on for no apparent reason.

However, the same rules for raisin' your monster apply as in previous games. You can be as lax or as tough as you want -- do you want more of a pet, or would you like to mold a hardened, trained fightin' machine? It's all up to you. However, if you're a bit cruel to your monster, it may not always do what you want -- and in the end, it'll probably die sooner than normal (yes, they do die -- be sure to buy lots of tissues for the kiddies!). One thing that might disappoint some players is the lack of an online option for the game. The ability to take on other УranchersФ from all over the world seems like it'd be a cool addition to the Monster Rancher universe -- maybe next time.