I have been a fan of monster rancher since the first cd came out. and i even got more addicted to it when monster rancher 2 came out (i played it for almost 6-7 years until now). I was also a fan of the battle cards edition. However, the Monster rancher 3 dissapointed me and same to monster rancher 4. and i have read other posts that Monster Rancher EVO didnt improve the other versions.

PLS READ THESE SUGGESTIONS:
1. Its ok to put more monsters, but its better to keep the others (I liked ghosts and color pandoras).

2. Do not change the gameplay and put back the tournaments.

3. I prefer the old errantry style of training to learn new techniques rather than those repetitive dungeons.

4. Return the freeze/revive part.

5. Do not remove the monsters and put the old ones back.

6. Return the expeditions/adventures (from MR1 and MR2) and take away the repetitve dungeons.

7. The feeding shouldn't be a third person player, return the style of MR2.

8. Add more possibilities for the combination. and put the old style of combining back.
For example:
I combined a tiger/tiger to a suezo/suezo then I got a tiger/suezo. It would be better to have a plain yellow tiger rather than a yellow tiger who has one big eye. in short do not over exaggerate.

9. Make the game simple but not boring.

10. Again, bring back the old monster rancher and dont change it to RPG'S and bring back the old omitted monsters.


If I would rank all the editions here are the results:
BEST: MR2
WORST: MR3

If you follow these suggestions, I'll assure you that this will be a big hit again and the monster rancher sales will increase alot. So I hope you read this.

yer right kudos, MR3 seem to be more boring than MR2(MR2 rocks!), tecmo might see this suggestion in the near future, and we could play even more good games.

Uh, you can't state Monster Rancher 3 is the worst when you haven't even played EVO. And Monster Rancher 3 gets a bad reputation -- mostly because people keep expecting another Monster Rancher 2. It's like how Chrono Trigger fans hated Chrono Cross, just because it wasn't Chrono Trigger.

Play the other Monster Rancher games before you go spouting non-sense. Additionally, you don't actually think the developers hang out here, do you?

Yer also right Heat

I just played evo and it wasnt that bad. i think MR3 was alot worse and yes, I was expecting another monster rancher 2, but if they did another game, it shouldn't be called monster rancher anymore. I just got disappointed because it was different from what I expected. This is just my opinion.

Here are a few of my thoughts.

As some in this forum might know, I haven't posted here for quite some time. I have, however, been lurking and reading people's posts for the past week or so.

One thing that appears obvious to me is that the Monster Rancher franchise has suffered an overall decline in popularity and sales after MR2.

This begs the question: Where did Monster Rancher go wrong?

After reading the reviews and feedback of various posters, this is the picture I get: So far, it appears that the mainstream MR games from MR3 onward have emphasized the RPG/Storyline aspects of the games.

This was NEVER Monster Rancher's strength.

When one examines the first two (and most successful) games of the franchise, one finds that is really very little in terms of storyline. Instead, one finds an incredibly deep (for the time) sim aspect to the games. MR then was never about story, but rather the vast opportunities to experiment and explore. (It took us folks at MRM nearly FOUR YEARS to plumb the depths of MR2, even my help checking out the game's code (via Gameshark)).

From what I learned about MR EVO, it seems that they removed much of the sim aspect of the MR games and, if I read a post by Lisa Shock correctly, the results were disasterous. According the post, MR EVO logged the worst opening sales ever for a monster-raising sim in Japan. In short, they tore the heart out of the game, and gamers noticed.

My message to Tecmo:

Leave the RPGs to companies like Square-Enix and do what YOU do best.

PS: For you X-Men fans out there, I did NOT learn about a certain mutant's alter ego until AFTER I picked my handle. Just so you'd know. :)

NOTE: Please do not e-mail me. The address shown is no longer valid.

pssst...you can change it, use the edit profile link on the left side...

i agree dark phoenix

Monster Rancher 1 was funny.
Monster Rancher 2 was complex.
Monster Rancher 3 stayed the course, with some quirks. Good, but flawed (who didn't love accessories?)
Monster Rancher 4 was...well, the dungeons ruined it.
Monster Rancher EVO is an abomination. Why wasn't it given your standard MR# title? Because it's not a standard MR game. They basically tried to make Monster Rancher RPG. Obviously, it didn't work. (This is how I'm calling it, anyway)

My recommendation? We all write polite letters to Tecmo about how we, the fans, disagree with where they are taking this series. Point back to the MR2 days. Hey toss in some new stuff, I don't care. Keep it simple and legible, and don't write a book, because otherwise it definitely won't be read.

That way, they might actually read them, because I certainly don't think they will see them here (by some off chance, they really might, but I doubt it).

Sidenote for DP: Show your face around here a little more, won't you? As of late, it's not like I can really talk (haven't been around much myself), but you know.

I currently don't have an e-mail address of my own (I'm using my mother's computer right now) but hopefully that will change in the near future.

Right now, I'm waiting for digital access to come into my area, which could be very soon because the phone company says that the service will be availible in my area very soon and definitely before the end of the year. To back up that statement, I've been seeing a LOT of phone company trucks in my area of late, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Now, to MR stuff and a few of my assessments.

MR3: I found the idea of different raising locales and the influence on monster development to be quite interesting. Plus, the accessory part was a nifty idea. (Golem can't hit the broad side of a barn? Give him some glasses! Who would have thought?)

MR4: Don't know enough yet to comment.

MR EVO: There are a couple of interesting ideas. One was the idea of raising monsters for more than just digital cockfighting, er, I mean tournaments, and adventuring. Why should battling be all that monsters do?

The idea of selecting different trainers was interesting too. If the game was to go back to the PLAYER being the trainer, selecting between different types of trainer assistants, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, would be an idea with definite merit.

Another suggestion from me: ONLINE SUPPORT!

Many MR gamers here in the US would LOVE to battle each other, but distance and travel factors often prevent us from doing so in person. An online MR net could be just what the doctor ordered.

(Lisa: If you do need for me to have an e-mail address, tell me here and I could possibly set up a temporary one.)

I haven't played any of the games above mr2 but from what i heard it seems like thier best option is to combine the two concepts into one giant game. Go into dungeons to train your monsters directly or you can send them on "Training Missions" where the monster has to complete objectives to either learn skills, earn new traits, or gain a huge stat boost at the end. Who knows really. I like RPGs and i don't think the new style when i get the games (MR3 is going to be hard in my area). But again having not played any of them maybe its not my place to say anything.

I agree with what everyone has already said. Ready for my 2 cents? Ha! Thought so!

I personally cannot comment on MR3 or MR4 since I haven't played them but in my opinion, MR2 outshines the other games.

EVO was an ok game. As DP said, the ideas that monsters could be used for things besides battling, and additional trainers were interesting. 3 on 3 matches were kind of fun also (the combos were interesting, benefits/detriments from linking, and the boss battles).

Being able to walk around showed some decent 3D graphics, but was mostly annoying and time consuming. It was much easier and faster to go to the store or the saucer shop in MR2 than in EVO. The random guild missions were all right. They added another element to adventures, but also tended to be rather bare and plain. On the other hand, EVO was very friendly to those who don’t have hordes of cd’s with the ability to find book cards from battles.

Adventuring was decent, but quickly became easy and stale... fighting monsters and finding items in the exact same places per adventure = boring. Sneaking up on enemies was also WAY too easy of a win.

I'm sorry to say, but the RPG/storyline elements were terrible, and that's putting it kindly. The bad translations and very predictable plotline ruined any merit the storyline had. And the RPG aspect was too linear for my tastes and removed most of the good elements of breeding from MR2. Anima was an ok idea but they replaced already good and working parts of the old game (errantries and combining with certain items/monsters) to make it work. Badges in EVO were also worthless.

Sorry for the EVO tangent. As everyone has been saying, stick with the basics from successful games like MR2. Online support would also be very cool! It doesn’t need to be big or flashy, just the ability to fight other peoples' monsters on the net and maybe a running record of wins/losses. Anyway, thanks for reading.

PS: Hey DP! Nice to see you around!

I feel that the MR brand really has fallen flat; and MR3 is about
where it jumped the shark.

This is a shame, since the PS2 should have been where Tecmo
captured the market and really pushed the monster-raising
genre to new heights. Instead, as stated before, it focused on
its weakness (RPG) and let its strength (exploration) wither and
rot.

Now, is this a fair review? Probably not--I threw in the towel at
MR4. It was interesting, but it really lacked the exploration feel
of MR1 and MR2. Instead, from MR3 and MR4, I felt like, if I
played it long enough, all the mysteries will be revealed and I'll
play what few characters intrigued me.

Further, in my opinion, MR3 and MR4 became needlessly
complex. Complexity isn't necessarily a bad thing--a Rubick's
Cube can be considered complex. (How many different
combinations are there?) However, a Rubick's Cube, in its purest
essence, is simple: you rotate a plane to solve a puzzle. Rotate
it enough, and you win. Conversely, MR3 and MR4 complexity
muddied its entertainment value. (Accessories annoyed me to
no end--why do I **need** an accessory to play? Can't I just
pick up a controller, tell one of my creatures to do something,
and have fun? Why **must** I raise more than 1 to succeed?
Why can't I, on a whim, enjoy on focusing on just one creature if
I want?)

The entertainment of this genre of game should be in
discovering the creatures themselves--the different subbreeds,
how to obtain them, and how they react. Frankly, it feels like
the emphasis has pulled away from this. Fewer breeds, and take
a risk by cutting some favorites and introducing new ones. Risk
is good--but it's really, really stupid to do by alienating your
fanbase by removing factors of enjoyment. (In other words, the
risk should have been simply in *introducing* new species, not
removing them).

The deterioration really comes down to this: a game's success
isn't on how finely-tuned you've narrowed down your target
market, but rather how broadly appealing your game is. Case in
point: The Sims wasn't originally targeted for female players.
Yet look at the Sims franchise and its market share. Should
Maxis, when it introduces Sims 3, feature elements that alienate
a female market to capture a larger male market share? Of
course not--that's a suicidal market decision.

And yet, the MR franchise has done just this--focused on the
teen/pre-teen market with the hopes of "built-in obsolesce"--
that the young player will bore of the game and will buy the
sequel, or will buy a related MR game for another console.
There is (or was) a larger market for the MR brand--one that
included players like me, who have a life, job, and family--who
want to relax at the end of the day with an alternative to TV or
World of Warcraft. A game that is needlessly complex doesn't fit
within that kind of relaxation.

Again, take this criticism for what its worth. Months after MR2
was released, I had spent a good deal of personal time
researching different CDs and learning the patterns of shrining.
I enjoyed that research. It enhanced the enjoyment of the game.
When MR4 came out, I felt like that kind of research was
useless--I didn't want to raise 3-5 different creatures all at
once, much less figure out accessories or learning patterns or
"affinities". Frankly, the effort needed before I could even enjoy
the creatures was too much. I didn't want to have to **work** to
enjoy a game--I just wanted to enjoy it. (When I play a game, I
shouldn't feel like I should go by HR to pick up a paycheck at the
end of the week for doing it.)

If I wanted to play Battlefront, for example, should I learn how to
construct and deconstruct a rifle before I can play? Should I
have to memorize all of the Star Wars universe before taking on
Darth Vader or Yoda?

So, considering the "research" I did earlier, then why should I
spend time in learning about creatures I'll never want to play to
begin with, since I know that it'll be too much work to start?

To elaborate on the RPG: the strength in the franchise is the
characters. Moochi's cute. Suezo is adorable. Joker is
threatening. Phoenix is majestic. And, for the most part, given
the right media, I can play any of them. Or, if I don't like cutsey,
I can just play the Joker and Phoenix and never touch a
Suezo. ...And yet, with this kind of choice I have, I am locked
into playing a character (neither of which I liked, in MR3 and
MR4), can't choose a gender or appearance, nor can I choose any
of his reactions in gameplay. (However, I can choose his name,
even if mine is Sally or Jane.) See the disconnect here?

That's my two cents. I think if Tecmo rewound the clock and
revisited the magic of MR2, and built upon its successes, they
could revitalize the franchise. Otherwise, as it is right now, it's
dead in the water, and sinking fast. Look at the current "new
topics" on this board. Compare that to last year, and the year
before that. See a pattern? Years ago, there wasn't a night you
could hop into the Chat Room and there wasn't anyone else
there (unless Fenrick was holding a tourney). What's the story
now?

And how many other MR sites exist now? (I won't name names,
even though one woman's comes to mind, and I don't mean
Josie's.) MRM lasted not only because it was the best, but
because it simply out-lived everyone else. The interest in MR
specifically is gone, but I suspect that the overall market is still
there.

uhh..just a comment

"8. Add more possibilities for the combination. and put the old style of combining back.
For example:
I combined a tiger/tiger to a suezo/suezo then I got a tiger/suezo. It would be better to have a plain yellow tiger rather than a yellow tiger who has one big eye. in short do not over exaggerate."

What I like about combining is how it changes the looks of the monster. Sometimes...I pick a monster just because of its looks. So, I totally disagree with this and, its not over exaggerating.

well we all have different opinions, so we might as well repect each others

I guess I might as well throw in my thoughts...

I'm a player of 2, 4, and "5" (until I see a game called MR5, I'll consider Evo to be 5, much like I used to consider Vice City to be GTA4).

2 was excellent. Monster raising, training, battling, and every now and again have a visitor. It would've been better if some in-game clues had been provided for certain unlocks (Beaclon, anyone?). I even got a laugh one time when I sharked a monster combo that didn't exist (that was one funky-lookin' Worm).

4 was good as well, though it had some down points. I had to look in the FAQs to discover that praising every success was a bad idea, but the new avenues of possibility opened by multi-monster raising got me interested strongly. The dungeons are a bit of a downer, as others have said.

Evo... well, it just sits there. I pass it up in favor of MR4 and Guitar Hero and Lumines Plus and Castlevania. The sudden drastic change of gameplay from 4 to Evo was too jarring.

In general, Tecmo should bring back classic winning ideas (and monster types)if they want the series' vitality to keep going.

On a somewhat side note, I'm glad not every type combo is possible (at least in 2, maybe in 4). I've toyed with a similar game idea, and trying to imagine some of those combos has been nigh-impossible.