Back in Ye Olden Days, I used to be the EIC of Gamereactor UK, and my then partner-in-crime on the UK desk was a HUGE Monster Train nerd. I didn’t get aboard the hype train myself at the time, but I knew first-hand from the near-impeccable taste of someone I trusted (don’t tell him I said that) that Shiny Shoe’s 2020 deckbuilder was likely to be a fiendishly addictive proposition.
I myself discovered the joys of Monster Train some time later, when I started my research for this article about the best deckbuilders. I knew that there was a glaring blind spot in my knowledge, and so I dove in and started exploring the game’s many nuances. And in a nutshell: I had a jolly good time.
What is Monster Train 2?
Just like its predecessor, Monster Train 2 is a roguelite deckbuilder with a heavenly theme and a multi-tiered battlefield that creates a distinctive and memorable tactical experience.
The aim of the game is to drive your train of misfit creatures forward through the firmament, develop a deck of cards, and advance through a series of battles to save both Heaven and Hell. These battles take place on the eponymous train, which (as you might expect, given the headline) is full of monsters – on each side of the aisle, and across a trio of floors.
There is, thank heavens, a fourth floor. At the top of your train sits your pyre. The pyre represents your health, and if your enemies deal enough damage to it, your current run will abruptly end. Before that happens, though, you can slow them down using a deck of cards full of powerful units, weapons and gear, buffs and bonuses, and even the odd negative effect.
Battles are turn-based, with your enemies entering the train from the ground and then going up a floor after every subsequent round. Each floor is the scene of its own skirmish, with up to three units on each side (sometimes four if your opponent’s boss can fly) taking it in turns to slap each other about a bit.
So it as good as the original Monster Train, then?
In a word: yes. Monster Train 2 is very much a case of “more of the same, just better” from Shiny Shoe, and when you’ve got one of the best card games in the business on your hands, that feels like a smart move. The developer has taken the core of what made the first outing so moreish, made some gentle improvements and revisions, and thrown in a bunch of new clans and features, and the resulting game feels like a natural continuation.
The smooth handover comes because, while the core concept remains the same, the various moving parts have been given a refit. Brand-new Endless Mode is there to appease those who want to invest hundreds of hours, but I think the fresh tactical possibilities are also interesting. New clans means new cards to learn, and while some of the synergies are obvious and simple to understand, others feel like they have really specific use-cases that players are going to have fun discovering.
I think, for more than any other reason, I’m enjoying myself because Monster Train 2 delivers a constant stream of interesting decisions for me to make. As the deck evolves and new cards are offered, I find myself constantly delighted by the possibilities that open up. There’s just a tremendous amount of depth here, with satisfying interactions to explore across multiple runs.
Train hard for the battle ahead
You start with two, and then the rest of the clans are unlocked over the course of the campaign by simply doing natural things during play (in alphabetical order they are: Banished, Lazarus League, Luna Coven, Pyreborne, and Underlegion). You pick one as your main, and a second is added as your support clan, which alone creates a huge range of possible gameplay permutions.
Things get even more nuanced when you get into the nitty gritty of combat tactics. Unit positioning, for example, is absolutely vital; you’ve got to arrange your minions during battle so they can do the most amount of damage possible. The new deployment phase makes a big difference in this respect, as you have a chance to set yourself up to a limited extent. Naturally, there is health and sometimes shields to manage, but once battle starts you can see the expected damage spread before you make your move and therefore you can make educated decisions (there’s also a rewind button, if you mis-click).
Enemies attack first during the auto-battle section at the end of each round, but you can play your cards before then and thus affect the outcome. For example, you might be up against two opponents, but you can play cards that inflict low-level damage on the support character to wipe them out before they can take their actions, thus reducing your incoming damage for that round.
Your deck contains a finite number of units, but also spell cards. These include the new room cards, which add general buffs that persist on that floor for the duration of that encounter. I personally enjoyed covering my enemies with pyregel at every opportunity, as it increases any damage that they take over time from other attacks.
Do you need to know the original?
Given that it’s a sequel, some people might be wondering whether it’s worth picking this one up if they played the original. In this regard, I think there is plenty of content and enough new stuff to warrant a return to action for veteran players, including the floor spells and new equipment cards, which you can bind to characters to give them new abilities. I like both new systems, for what it’s worth.
Similarly, noobs who’ve never played the original might be wondering whether they need to go back and try the OG before catching this sequel? To that I would say: I don’t think so. Yes, there’s a bit more going on in Monster Train 2, and yes, you’ll find your feet much quicker if you’ve played the first game. However, it’s not essential that you play both, in my opinion. Desirable; not essential.
I’m aware that there’s been very little in the way of critique, so I dug down behind the seat cushions in the first class carriage and therein found something to complain about, in the interests of balance, of course. While I quite like the codex and the detail it offered, some of the storytelling was a little lacklustre in places, and I do think that more could be done to make card descriptions clearer.
Otherwise, apart from some unneccesary confusion around some of the more nuanced spell interactions, I’ve had a tremendous time with Monster Train 2 so far. Shiny Shoe’s deckbuilder sequel is set to arrive exactly five years after the original, and whether you’re a veteran card shark or an angel-faced newbie, this is one train you won’t want to miss.
Monster Train 2 is out on May 21 on PC (Win), PS5, Switch and Xbox Series. I played the game via access kindly provided by the devs and their PR chums!
