holoz0r's A-Z of Steam: Monster Train

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holoz0r3.1 Klast yearPeakD4 min read

October was the first time I think I penned my thoughts about Slay the Spire. That game is so incredibly addictive, creative, and engaging. It has an addictive gameplay formula, and a model of making you want to keep playing and keep playing and keep playing - you get it.

So, when I found out that there are other games like Slay the Spire; I stayed as far away as I possibly could, as I did not want to get into any of that "send help, I've had ten minutes sleep and need to work a ten hour day" sort of trouble that us gamers can often find ourselves in.

Enter Monster Train. It isn't about training monsters. It's no Pokemon. It is about a train literally carrying the last embers of the flames of hell back to hell, so that you might extend a dark dominion over the Earth.

It is a reversal of every Tower Defence game you've ever played, and it is like playing three games of Slay the Spire all at once. This makes it truly magnificent.

Your train has three levels - it is truly gargantuan, considering the monsters that can fit within - and you are beset upon by enemies. You play cards to summon things, heal things, damage things, augment things, and interact with tons of gameplay mechanics, as you fight to keep the burning embers of the pyre alive as the train descends toward increasingly more powerful foes.

It's extradentary stuff, and you can build some really overpowered combinations of creatures and abilities, which seems really enjoyable, until you encounter that one guy that won't put up with that, and shreds right through your defences.

You still need to maintain a fair bit of luck to get through a run, and I've only managed to complete 2 in the dozens of hours of I've been playing this game on my Steam Deck.

It is a glorious game on Steam Deck, and perfect for a handheld form factor. I nabbed it on sale, and am certainly happy with the value I got from this game.

But that doesn't mean I'm done talking about it.

You get to choose between a primary faction (which determines your 0 mana hero) - and a secondary faction, and I still haven't unlocked or come close to unlocking even half of them. This means that there's going to be more depth and complexity, the likes of which I can't predict awaiting me in future builds.

While I think I might have something overpowered and well balances as my go to strategy now, it may just be that I've chosen the worst option in the world.

One criticism I do have of Monster Train is that text is a tad bit difficult to read on the small screen of the Steam Deck. This can be fixed by squinting a little.

A second criticism is that of the audio. Sound is great - well recorded, and the musical soundtrack is excellent - bombastic, fantasy arrangements that would do Hollywood composers proud. By boy, do the voice acting and "grunts" of monsters taking damage and doing damage sound about as appealing as a tennis match being played on a public address system inside of a port-a-loo.

Grab this on sale if you like strategy, roguelikes, and card games, or each or any of these in isolation of one another. You'll find plenty of enjoyment here. Just maybe play without sound in public.