Monster Rancher 2

Monster Rancher 2 is the second installment of a series of strategy games with elements of RPG and life simulation developed by Tecmo (currently Koei Tecmo).

Story

Monster Rancher 2 takes place in the same universe as the events presented in the original; however, the game takes us on a journey to a new continent. In the course of the game, we play the role of a beginner trainer of the title monsters, who in the company of his assistant - Colt - gradually climbs the career ladder, sending the won creatures to fight in the arenas.

Mechanics

Just like in the first installment of the series, the gameplay in Monster Rancher 2 focuses on breeding the eponymous creatures, which were differentiated in terms of appearance and combat effectiveness (described by a set of statistics). The potential of each of them can be increased by feeding it with various delicacies, training them (it is worth remembering not poverdo it, because it is easy to achieve an opposite effect) or by sending it to have paid lessons under the supervision of masters. The creature prepared in this way can then be sent on the arena - clashes take place in turn-based mode, and our role is limited to issuing commands; the list of available moves and attacks (the execution of which uses up the bar of gradually regenerating energy) differs depending on the current position occupied by our charges. The winner is the monster who has more life points at the end of the battle or the one who is able to knock out the opponent.

Of course, in the course of the game we are not forced to rely on a single monster. We get new specimens both during story events and during the aformentioned lessons. In addition, as in the first installment of the series, there is nothing to prevent us from taking advantage of the possibility of obtaining a new creature from the data stored on any CD; those who want to import a saved game state from the previous installment also welcome to do so.