Monster Rancher DS - Raising monsters for fun and profit!

RedMageDarion

Monster Rancher.

You remember it, right?

Spending whole days putting every CD you owned into your PlayStation just to see what monster you'd get?

Forcing your monsters to do back breaking labor for money, so you could live in a bigger house?

Crying like a little girly baby when your first monster died?

Well, it's back. Who knew? I didn't!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bIONo81g5o

I have no idea if it's going to be any good or not, but I'm excited!

Apparently it is out today/tomorrow! Go get it and start ranching monsters!

Henroid

DAY ONE.

Automatic Jack

I remember the TV show being baffling, and some magazine that listed what CDs would produce what monsters, one of them being Shania Twain's Greatest Hits or some such thing. I thought THAT was cool, until I discovered the monster would not be Shania Twain herself, but like some kind of talking bush with shorts? I dunno.

So without the CD gimmick... How does the DS version work?

RedMageDarion

Automatic Jack wrote: »

I remember the TV show being baffling, and some magazine that listed what CDs would produce what monsters, one of them being Shania Twain's Greatest Hits or some such thing. I thought THAT was cool, until I discovered the monster would not be Shania Twain herself, but like some kind of talking bush with shorts? I dunno.

So without the CD gimmick... How does the DS version work?

The way I understand it is you can write words, draw pictures, or record sounds to create monsters.

I really don't know much else.

Automatic Jack

So... This thread title... Am I being set up for more disappointment??

Okay, I'll settle for a hybrid between Scribblenauts and Pokemon. Call it Scribblemon Rancher if you must.

Robos A Go Go

Sounds like, while you generate monsters with drawings, the monsters generally won't reflect your drawing in any way.

Also, apparently generating monsters with sounds will more or less give you random results. One reviewer said that playing the exact same sound twice resulted in different monsters.

Gibbs

I really wanted to buy Monster Rancher 1 but I realized the other day that I have a fraction of the CDs I used to have.

InkSplat

A Monster Rancher 3DS game would be interesting--use the camera to scan barcodes and stuff.

RedMageDarion

I haven't found anywhere with the game yet.

Gamestop shows it as coming in tomorrow around noonish, so with any luck I'll be able to have my lunch with a side of (monster) ranch.

Zerokku

InkSplat wrote: »

A Monster Rancher 3DS game would be interesting--use the camera to scan barcodes and stuff.

Well this one was made by cing.

You know, hotel dusk and trace memory cing. Just recently filed for bankruptcy and are closing cing

Aegof

I've only played for a few months, but already the writing's starting to grate. But that's not what these games are played for, is it?

I feel like this game is a lot more transparent about the invisible numbers that kill your monsters three years early than the first couple games were, which is nice.

Henroid

I'll probably pick this up tomorrow (Gamestop is likely the only place to have it). I have a feeling cing fans will appreciate a little support in this manner.

mrmr

I have always loved this series, the first two the most. Reading up on this game I am excited to raise Galis again. I don't know when I'll get to buying it tho, because if I get it soon then I'll inevitably abandon Resonance of Fate thanks to my short attention span.

But I am pumped for this again after being pumped a few months back before it was delayed.

In pretty much every new MR game my first priority is to get four monsters, combine them, and then combine the results to train my first monster. But I think in this game you can pick what combo result you want instead of it being random, so that's kind of a bummer for me.

Zerokku

Managed to nab it today (my manager had to call a couple different gamestops since we only got one in which was preordered by my friend) and thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Edit: After playing for awhile longer, honestly my only real complaint is that the clock still goes on even if you have the DS closed in sleep mode.

Henroid

Nobody in my dumb little backwater is carrying the game or even PLANS to, unless people special order through the store.

If I'm gonna have to do that, it may as well be through Amazon. :?

Robos A Go Go

Zerokku wrote: »

Edit: After playing for awhile longer, honestly my only real complaint is that the clock still goes on even if you have the DS closed in sleep mode.

Could you elaborate on what role the clock plays in the game and why this is a bad thing?

Zerokku

Robos A Go Go wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Edit: After playing for awhile longer, honestly my only real complaint is that the clock still goes on even if you have the DS closed in sleep mode.

Could you elaborate on what role the clock plays in the game and why this is a bad thing?

You have the standard week time from Monster Rancher, but within that time when youre merely on the ranch not doing anything, time slowly is used up (during which time you could play with your monster) but since the clock still goes on when closed (unless you're in a menu) a week could pass with nothing of value being done.

Henroid

That has to be a bug that unfortunately slipped through the development cracks.

RedMageDarion

Henroid wrote: »

That has to be a bug that unfortunately slipped through the development cracks.

At least it's extremely easy to avoid.

Just choose any menu option before you close your DS and the clock won't go up. If you close it while doing anything else - in the middle of training, in a battle - the clock doesn't increase anyhow.

In other news, I got my copy! Woo! I started with some floating cloaked mage dude that I ended up naming Geno.

mastrius

I went to buy it on day one but shipment fuck up so Im waiting until next week : ( So sad.

Aegof

Hey guys, avoid resetting if you can stand to. Monsters have a hidden parameter that affects the stats of combinations using it, and I understand it drops like a rock tied to an anvil when you reset.

Zerokku

Yah, saw this over at gamefaqs -

There is a hidden parameter, Action points, which is modified every time you take an action. If your action points are high, your Potential will go up after combination.

Small gain actions -
Successful training
winning a battle

Moderate gain actions -
Finishing a tournament
winning a tournament
winning a local battle (Rank B or higher)
winning a wi-fi battle

Large gain actions -
Excellent training
Coming back from an expedition
Unlocking a monster/breed
Getting a monster bounty (noramon)
Learning a new technique

Large Penalty -
Resetting the game (-50 points to be exact, so resetting once would be equal to about 7-8 wi-fi battles)

Apparently it can go negative. So if you reset at all (much less reset multiple times) you're not going to get large benefits (if any) from fusion. Supposedly the idea was to try and make things more balanced online so that it wouldn't be dominated by people who spend a week resetting for the perfect monsters.

Henroid

So just save and shut off the game, no resetting?

Zerokku

Correct. You can reset, but it will fuck with your monster fusions.

RedMageDarion

Zerokku wrote: »

Correct. You can reset, but it will fuck with your monster fusions.

What is the difference between quitting and resetting?

If you quit before a tournament, enter and lose, then power off and load your game to try again, is that considered a reset?

Aegof

RedMageDarion wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Correct. You can reset, but it will fuck with your monster fusions.

What is the difference between quitting and resetting?

If you quit before a tournament, enter and lose, then power off and load your game to try again, is that considered a reset?

I'd say so. Just always use the quit function and take whatever the RNG throws at you, I guess.

Zerokku

RedMageDarion wrote: »

Zerokku wrote: »

Correct. You can reset, but it will fuck with your monster fusions.

What is the difference between quitting and resetting?

If you quit before a tournament, enter and lose, then power off and load your game to try again, is that considered a reset?

Yes. If the game is exited without using the proper "quit", it will register it as a reset.

If you ever played Animal Crossing, remember Mr. Resetti? Same kind of thing here.

RedMageDarion

Make sure you guys quit on a regular basis.

I just lost 3 years of game time because the game froze when I was making a new monster

Aegof

Man, D Class has like three permanent stress or fatigue-reducing items in tournaments. (6/1, 8/3, and 9/1)

mrmr

I wish there was an option to just save and keep going. I don't wanna quit every time.

I decided to drop the easy $30 right away anyway. Raising a Tiger/Abyss breed and it is pretty badass. I haven't managed to spawn a Naga or a Gali yet tho, and I really want them. Anyone find ways to spawn them?

RedMageDarion

mrmr wrote: »

I wish there was an option to just save and keep going. I don't wanna quit every time.

I decided to drop the easy $30 right away anyway. Raising a Tiger/Abyss breed and it is pretty badass. I haven't managed to spawn a Naga or a Gali yet tho, and I really want them. Anyone find ways to spawn them?

They're unlockables.

I just unlocked Durahan, so I'm excited about that.

RandomKit

This is my first Monster Rancher and it is pretty cool. Made some Mewbat thing which is kicking lots of ass in the battles.

mrmr

I unlocked Beaklon just now, along with upgrading my house and stable, but he's still too big yet. Cool, but I still prefer the Worms from MR1 and 2. Probably my favorite monsters besides Jells. Which are also sadly not present.

Zerokku

mrmr wrote: »

In pretty much every new MR game my first priority is to get four monsters, combine them, and then combine the results to train my first monster. But I think in this game you can pick what combo result you want instead of it being random, so that's kind of a bummer for me.

Actually theres still a level of randomness. When combining you choose the "dominant" main species, and the "dominant" sub-species, but from there things can still happen. I got a Tiger x ?(the gel/goo looking one) yesterday from fusing a tiger with a subspecies I cant remember, to a mochi with dragon subspecies. Was hoping for a Tiger x Dragon honestly

mrmr

I got a B Class Flazer (Tiger/Abyss) now but he's reaching old age already according to Cleo. So I froze him for now to bring out for spots of training/errantry, but I decided to raise up a Skeleplant (Plant/Joker) for shits and giggles.

One thing I don't think I've really ever done or known about, is what kinda things get passed down or whatever if I combine two monsters that I raised? I've really only ever raised a monster until they die in past games.

RedMageDarion

mrmr wrote: »

I got a B Class Flazer (Tiger/Abyss) now but he's reaching old age already according to Cleo. So I froze him for now to bring out for spots of training/errantry, but I decided to raise up a Skeleplant (Plant/Joker) for shits and giggles.

One thing I don't think I've really ever done or known about, is what kinda things get passed down or whatever if I combine two monsters that I raised? I've really only ever raised a monster until they die in past games.

Some of their stats are passed on, as well as the possibility of passing on traits (Brawny, Savvy), and battle abilities (Fight, No Prob). It might also affect how well they do at training?

I just combined two guys I had built up to Rank A and S, and ended up with a guy who had 300+ INT and SKI and 200+ in all other stats.

Aegof

I think I've lost more fights because I missed four times with a 56% chance to hit than for any other reason. This is why, I think, I've never actually beaten one of these games.

RedMageDarion

Aegof wrote: »

I think I've lost more fights because I missed four times with a 56% chance to hit than for any other reason. This is why, I think, I've never actually beaten one of these games.

This is why Skill is the most important stat.

It doesn't matter in the end though, you'll still end up missing 4 times in a row with 86% chance attacks and the enemy will take you out with two 42% hits in a row. Because the game cheats, you see.

I've beaten them main story! I have one post-game battle left (I think) but I lost the first time around and had to freeze my monster, hopefully I can win the second time around.

Henroid

In a shocking turn of events, the game was at Gamestop today. So I got it.

The game doesn't have the same charm as the first one on the Playstation did. But I'm growing to like it.

Henroid

Holy fucking shit, is there any reason why my cat's hit-rate is so fucking awful despite the 54% (highest I've seen so far) and almost 300 skill?

Aegof

There are a few of reasons I guess:

-fast opponents
-really inaccurate attacks
-you're attacking while the opponent's using a defense panel--i.e., any panel that doesn't have an attack on it will increase evasion rate