Hello, Monster Keepers!
We have a lot of news to share with you since our last update.
Post-Launch Update 1.1.
The release of our first planned post-launch update is sadly delayed until March. We apologize for this delay - but we are still aiming to release this update on all platforms at once.
Apart from bug fixes (many of which for both the console versions as well as the PC version) and many balancing changes aimed to bring you a better PVP experience, this update will also include a few new features. On the topic of PVP, this update will also add better matchmaking that will attempt to match you against players of a similar Monster level and PVP rating. You are also able to configure this setting for yourself inside the game.
New Game Plus
The first of the two big new features coming to Monster Sanctuary: New Game Plus mode! This mode is unlocked once you have completed the main story content of the game at least once. When you choose NewGame+ from the starting menu, you have to select any of your existing save games - this will determine the extra Monsters and items available to you at start. You can then start your new save file on the same save slot or on any other save slot.
All Monsters and many items from the chosen save file will be transferred to your new save file. The restrictions are as follows:
- Monsters are reset to Level 1, but keep their Shift.
- Equipment upgrades are removed.
- You keep all items except Crystal Shards, Craft Materials, Food, Key/Story Items, Level 40 Badges, Craft & Reward Boxes.
- Explore abilities can't be used until you encounter Monsters which can use them.
We will unveil the full details of this game mode on the release of the new patch!
Casual & Master difficulty modes
We are adding two new difficulty modes to Monster Sanctuary (with the current difficulty of the game taking the role of the "Normal" difficulty that is chosen by default).
For the regular difficulty of the game, we aimed to design the difficulty so that players are required to choose the Monsters on their team and their skills very carefully. Finding good Monster and team builds requires a lot of deliberation, experimentation, and time (most of which is spent on the Monster skill tree menus). We realized that a portion of our player base does not enjoy this type of experience and instead expected something more in line with a traditional Monster catching RPG. The new Casual mode aims to alleviate the difficulty curve of our game. However, it's only a slight decrease in difficulty, which means that players will still need to engage with our skill systems and think about their strategy in order to succeed.
On the other hand, we quickly realized that the game was much too easy when played on New Game+. Having the ability to start with just about any six Monsters, with Shifts unlocked, a large selection of gear ready to optimally equip each Monster to from the beginning - all these factors made especially the early game a walk in the park. So for one, we decided to slightly increase the difficulty level on New Game+ by default - but beyond that, we also decided to add a new Master mode which is meant to provide a new, harder challenge for veteran players. While it is technically possible to beat the game on Master mode with a regular save file, we highly recommend using this mode in conjunction with New Game+ (preferably using an optimized team of six Shifted Monsters from the game).
Hardcover Monster Journal
We have a quick progress update on the status of the hardcover Monster Journals: We are expecting their arrival very soon! As we receive them, we will be shipping them out over time. They should be arriving in your hands by the end of February or early March.
Also, for those who missed out on them, we will put up a certain number of the hardcover Journals for sale online.
Physical Switch Version
We are excited to announce that we will be releasing a physical version of the game for the Nintendo Switch! It will be released by Limited Run Games. There will be a regular version and a Collector's Edition, the content of which we will reveal at a later point. These physical versions will be available later this year, but we cannot specify the exact date yet.