I’m of the opinion that Monster Train is one of the best roguelike deckbuilders ever made. Frankly, I prefer it to Slay the Spire, and I think that mixing in tower defence elements was a stroke of genius that allowed the game to become more interesting overall. So, you can imagine that I was pretty excited about the idea of Monster Train 2. You’ll be happy to hear that I adore what I’ve played of the second game so far, and I can’t wait for the full release in May.
Monster Train 2 takes place after the first game – shocking, I know – and has you teaming up with some former angels who were previously fighting against to try and take out the mighty Titans who’ve taken control of Heaven. It’s basically an excuse to go up to Heaven instead of down to the depths of Hell, but you’ve still got to protect your Pyre to succeed.
The core gameplay loop is very much the same at the outset. You choose two clans to begin with, and then set off on a journey where you place your units and cast spells to try and come out on top in various battles.
You can upgrade your units and spells as you go, and also grab special artifacts that’ll help you gain more universal buffs, or really niche but powerful ones. Where you place your units and the synergies you manage to pick up are essential to actually succeeding, and putting one unit on the wrong floor or wrong position can really mess things up. That’s all the stuff we had last time, so let’s chat about what’s new.
In terms of combat, you can now get room cards and equipment cards. Rooms give buffs on a specific floor, and equipment cards are a new way to give even more buffs to units, with some of the clans really wanting you to focus on them. You can also fuse different equipment cards together to make them even stronger, but while also combining their cost. It means you can make a single card that’ll take a weak unit into one that can solo and entire battle, which is fun.
You’ve then also got the ability to change your Pyre Heart, which allows it to have different stats and different abilities. My favourite lets you click it once per battle to gain three energy, but there are a bunch to unlock and play around with. Then there are random events that give out lroe, train customization, and more. It’s a lot, and it’s all really good.
While I’m going to wait to make my full verdict until I’ve played the final version of Monster Train 2, I’m also still going to be playing this version of it for as long as I can because it’s just so damn entertaining! It’s fluid, the new mechanics all make perfect sense, and there are plenty of interesting builds to mess around with and try and figure out. If you liked Monster Train, you’re going to love Monster Train 2.