Gamezebo Rating:

Gotta catch 'em all. And then you gotta send 'em all off into the wilderness to fight while you stay at home, because man, that junk is dangerous. Monster Adventures is a monster hunting/battling game with an admirable amount of depth and creativity. However, you need to suffer a slow start before you can really get to the rich center of this monstrous journey.

Monster Adventures begins in the manner of most monster-battling games. You're a youngster in a backwoods town who possesses a hidden talent for getting monsters to do what you say. In fact, within minutes of starting the game, a water creature takes a shine to you and begins following you around. He's your first "Spirit," a mythical figure you can train to fight and capture the other monsters that roam the world.

Monster Adventures resembles Pokémon in many regards (Foursaken Media even describes the game as "Pokémon meets Zelda"), but it puts a lot more emphasis on hardscrabble, slug-it-out battles than Nintendo's beloved collecting franchise. You can send your monster away from the safety of town to explore different environments, like plains and mountains.

From there, your monster explores the shifting terrain (yes, Monster Adventures has roguelike elements) and whacks the many "Wildlings" that come after it. Your monster is also equipped with a net, which it can use to catch Wildlings that have had their energy sufficiently depleted. When monsty returns to town, the data it's gathered about other monsters can be used by the village elder to craft new skills for it.