We’re living in an age of gaming where the need to do your own thing is becoming increasingly important. As game creation becomes more accessible to indie developers, there are certain titles that have begun to bloat as players-turned-gamemakers recreate the mechanics they loved to play themselves. While I don’t exactly hate this phenomenon, it can lead to a lot of games feeling pretty similar. I’ve lost track of how many deckbuilding roguelikes I’ve reviewed in the last two years, as this genre in particular seems to be becoming more and more accessible for developers. As this happens, making your game stand out with your own unique twist on the formula can do a lot to separate it from tons of other games available at the consumer’s fingertips.
Enter Monster Train 2, which separates itself from other deckbuilding roguelikes with a unique, almost tower-defense-like mechanic.
In Monster Train 2, you do not simply engage in battles across the procedurally generated roguelike map as you might in, say, Slay the Spire, the game that arguably created the subgenre. Instead, battles take place on a four-tiered map with three playable tiers for the player to interact with. Each wave of enemies enters from the bottom of the tiered tower (usually) and, if they are not killed before the end of the turn, advance to the tier above them. If they make it to the top, they have the chance to do damage to your train’s core, which carries over to the next battle and results in a game over if destroyed.
Because of this, you need to win not only one but three fights with three separate groups of allied units. Card effects vary from floor to floor based on the local buffs, and it’s up to you to place units where you want them on the map.
This creates a unique strategy for Monster Train 2—one where you have to think not only about the upcoming battle, but two battles ahead. Enemy units keep attacking in waves and are usually strong enough to fight past the defenses you have on the first floor, making character management incredibly important. Do you want your first floor to do as much damage as possible, allowing your second floor to pick them off more easily? Do you build your whole train around a heavy-hitting mid-lane, with the first floor being all about stacking debuffs on the enemy? Do you go for a magic-focused lane knowing that spells won’t be as powerful on the other two floors? There is a lot to keep in mind with Monster Train 2’s strategic setup, and thankfully, the game rewards this extra echelon of thinking by allowing you to create some seriously strong, seriously fun combinations.
Units can be upgraded to soak up massive amounts of damage, spells can rack up hundreds of damage points, and equipment can be combined to create the deathsword of your dreams. The game is not shy about letting the player feel powerful and offers up a lot of options for how you want to play each of the game’s five factions, knowing full well that you are going to need it to beat the game as things start to get more difficult.
It seems like the developers of Monster Train 2 know what people like in a card game. You want to play your favorite (read: coolest-looking) characters and buff them to oblivion with cool pieces of gear and powerful spells. This is something you can do a lot of in Monster Train 2, and in several different ways, really capturing the essence of what drew me to card games in the first place and instantly hooking me on what the game had to offer.
Paired withMonster Train 2‘s excellent mechanics are some of the best aesthetics I think I’ve seen in a roguelike in a while.
Monster Train 2 is a game all about liberating heaven as the forces of hell. To go with this theme, you get some excellent art depicting all kinds of fantastical fantasy creatures and strange, unhuman angelic monsters invading your train. Each of the game’s factions has its own unique identity, both in visuals and mechanics, and unlocking new cards is always exciting—both to see the great new art and to further increase your arsenal of power.
Paired with all of this is what I would call a pretty kickass soundtrack, with some heavy orchestral metal (I don’t know music subgenres, sue me) that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of each new enemy you encounter on your railway to heaven. The game is one of the few I play without a TV show or YouTube video in the background because the awesome score utterly captivates me in ways I rarely feel outside of the Final Fantasy genre.
Monster Train 2 was, at least for this reviewer, an unexpected treasure. Having not played the original that this game is a sequel to, I was unprepared for the ways in which this charming deckbuilding roguelike would combine its fantastic art and unique setting, unique twists on genre mechanics, build diversity, and awesome soundtrack together, making a game where the hardest part of my review was turning the game off to actually write about it.
The Final Word
Monster Train 2 doesn’t just earn its place in the crowded roguelike deckbuilder genre—it sets a new bar. From the intense, multi-layered combat to the unforgettable art and music, every part of the game feels purposeful and polished. It’s rare to find a sequel that not only stands alone but also pushes the genre forward in such a confident, satisfying way.
Try Hard Guides was provided a Steam code for this PC review of Monster Train 2. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on ourGame Reviewspage! Monster Train 2 is available onSteamandXbox.
