''Monster Rancher DS'', known as in Japan, is a
life simulation
Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by
Cing
(styled CiNG) was an Independent business, independent video game developer based out of Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan. The company, a small development house employing only 29 people, was founded in April 1999, and was run by Takuya Miyagawa ...
and published by
UFO Interactive Games
UFO Interactive Games, based in City of Industry, California, is an American publisher of interactive video game content, developing on multiple platforms with a focus on original and mass-market gaming software. As an official third party licensee ...
for the
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
. It was released in Japan on August 7, 2008 and in North America on August 3, 2010. The game was not released in Europe.
Gameplay
The game, taking place in the BOMBA region, involves raising, fighting, and breeding monsters. The main character is never seen on screen, but always talks to his apprentice, Cleo, directly. The player chooses his actions and choices through menu options.
Creating Monsters
There are two primary methods for creating monsters: drawing pictures in the Magic Field using the touchscreen, and reciting an Incantation using the microphone. Other methods include combining two existing monsters to create a new monster as well as an additional unrevealed method.
New to the combination process is the "-ish" or "modoki" monster, a
glitch
A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among ...
monster whose purpose is to give you a monster when you attempt combinations that are not in the game, and appear as a light blue untextured version of the normal model, and appear as the last monster in each monster's entries in the monster encyclopedia, using the ???-subtype normally used by special monsters.
Fighting Monsters
The way you make money, and gain ranks, is by having your monster fight in tournaments. In a fight, your monster starts with a fixed amount of guts, which is basically energy to spend on the moves they know. You can control the monster yourself, or let them fight on their own as they do when they get into a battle in the wild.
Moves can be done in one of three ranges. You can move forward or backward on the battlefield to toggle between the ranges. If you get in very close, you can also push the opponent away from you.
A major change from the previous games is that you are able to use the touchscreen to move your monster forward or backwards, as well as to order it to attack.
Monsters
Various monsters which have been left out of previous games since ''
Monster Rancher 2
''Monster Rancher 2'', known in Japan as , is a 1999 PlayStation video game, and the second installment in the ''Monster Rancher'' series. It is the first game in the franchise to be released in Europe and PAL region, where it was published in ...
'' will be making a return including Monol and Gali. There are currently 272 monsters known in the game, including the glitch type monsters.
The main breeds are Abyss, Beaclon, Baku, Centaur, Color Pandora, Dragon, Ducken, Durahan, Falco, Gali, Golem, Hare, Henger, Joker, Lesione, Mew, Mocchi, Monol, Naga, Ogyo, Pancho, Phoenix, Piroro, Pixie, Plant, Suezo, Tiger, Xenon, and Zan.
Development
The game was announced on May 23, 2008 and would be released in Japan as ''Monster Farm DS 2: Yomigaeru! Master Breeder Densetsu''. At that time no localization for the first game, ''Monster Farm DS'' had been announced for North America.
This gave rise to speculation that both games would not be localized in North America at all which would be a first for the series since every past game in the series had been localized with all of the past portable titles: ''
Monster Rancher Advance
''Monster Rancher Advance'' (known in Japan as ) is the first of the ''Monster Rancher'' games to be released on Game Boy Advance.
Gameplay
Similar to the other Monster Rancher games, gameplay revolves around creating, raising, and fighting monst ...
'' and ''
Monster Rancher Advance 2
''Monster Rancher Advance 2'' (known in Japan as ) is the second of the ''Monster Rancher'' games to be released on Game Boy Advance. It is the sequel to '' Monster Rancher Advance''.
Gameplay
Gameplay in ''Monster Rancher Advance 2'' involves t ...
'' being released in North America. However, on November 10, 2009 this speculation was proven untrue when it was announced that ''Monster Farm DS 2'' would be released in North America as ''Monster Rancher DS'' with the first DS game, ''Monster Farm DS'' not being localized in favor of its sequel. This announcement came a year after its original Japanese release and came as a surprise to many fans who had lost hope.
Reception
The game received "mixed or average reviews" according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
In Japan, ''
Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' gave it a score of one six, one seven, and two eights for a total of 29 out of 40.
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monster Rancher Ds
2008 video games
Cing games
Life simulation games
Monster Rancher
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo DS games
Nintendo DS-only games
UFO Interactive Games games
Video games developed in Japan