What's next in the Monster Capture Genre of Video Games?

Hey guys,

So Pokemon defined the monster capture sub-genre within the RPG genre.

Since then, there have been numerous other monster capture games, most of them clones of Pokemon in one form or another. Particularly on mobile and facebook.

As a fan of this sub genre, my question is, would you want to see a monster capture game in this genre, that's not just simply a clone of pokemon? I personally have grown tired of playing clones everywhere.

No. Forgive me if I misinterpreted the question but most games for either mobile or Facebook are strictly pocket grabbers. Pocket Monsters for Pocket Grabbers does not work in my book (I had to). Don't get me wrong. There have been very few mobile games that simply just work. The Infinity Blade series would be my primary example.

The only way I can actually see this being a decent game is if the developer originally created the game with a console platform in mind (Playstation, Xbox, Gameboy) and at the last minute decided to port it on mobile.

But. then again... All this new DLC stuff may have just nullified my argument.

While I see the negative stigma towards mobile/facebook games due to the negative public perception. Take a game like Hearthstone. It's on tablet and will be making it to iPhone this year. This game is what I consider monetization done right. You can purchase any of the in game items using the in game currency. And never need to pay in order to access any of the game's content.

Btw, Hearthstone has over 75 million players now.
I think that as we move forward, games like Hearthstone will define how monetization should work on facebook/mobile.

Get ready for Yokai Watch to come over to the US! (Won't be as popular as japan, but it's a quirky very Japanese-esqe game) It's one of the more creative takes on the capture monster genre rpg's. As you can see, the game looks much more like its anime counterpart than pokemon XY/ORAS do, which is pretty cool. And, some of the ghosts are pretty messed up...that dog with an old man's face!


I really wish a Digimon game would come out on the 3ds (or even the US vita).
The evolution mechanics were a bit chaotic, but I kinda loved that about it..though the actual battle mechanics leave much to be desired (but could be easily refined). Cyber Sleuth just looks amazing as well, with more detail and artistic finesse that X/Y.



Neither of these games have the simplistic mechanics and charm of pokemon as far as monster design goes though. With that said, it would be nice to have a bit more variety of GOOD monster catching games to play alongside pokemon.

I'm definitely a fan of Digimon, and don't believe it's precisely a clone of Pokémon. Former is much, more old, if I'm not wrong (though, I could be!), so if anything, it might be the other way around?

I agree with Dark Avenger on them putting together a Digimon title for 3DS; that would be sweet. I've enjoyed their DS releases a ton--especially Digimon World Dusk and Dawn--and if they were to announce anything new, I'd be very much intrigued to see what they have in store for us as far as graphics, features, and story go.

Anyhow, since this thread is not solely directed towards Pokémon series, it'll likely fit better in Video Games board. If we're okay with this, I'll go on ahead and move it there for you!

Thread moved.

How does the battle mechanic in yokai watch work? / What makes the game unique?

The Dark Avenger said:

Get ready for Yokai Watch to come over to the US! (Won't be as popular as japan, but it's a quirky very Japanese-esqe game) It's one of the more creative takes on the capture monster genre rpg's. As you can see, the game looks much more like its anime counterpart than pokemon XY/ORAS do, which is pretty cool. And, some of the ghosts are pretty messed up...that dog with an old man's face!

I really wish a Digimon game would come out on the 3ds (or even the US vita).
The evolution mechanics were a bit chaotic, but I kinda loved that about it..though the actual battle mechanics leave much to be desired (but could be easily refined). Cyber Sleuth just looks amazing as well, with more detail and artistic finesse that X/Y.

Neither of these games have the simplistic mechanics and charm of pokemon as far as monster design goes though. With that said, it would be nice to have a bit more variety of GOOD monster catching games to play alongside pokemon.

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when is that game coming to the US? it looks really cute.
im so into monster capturing games. im always looking for games on the ios. i can never find the right one. i've played that monster galaxy squad on my iphone before. i just hate waiting for it to load so i start playing again.
another good monster game is monster squad. my bf and i played it for a LONG time. i highly recommend it!

@The Dark Avenger and Peitharchia There actually is a 3ds digimon game, but it's japanese only and there's been a petition going on to localize it and Cyber Sleuth for well over a year, although Bandai Namco seems to be very skeptical of the popularity of it ever since Championship flopped and all-star rumble didn't help much.
Also Pokémon came a few months before Digimon.

Well I guess there's the shin megami tensei and Persona games as you technically "capture" monsters.

Satoshi Ookami said:

We'll be catching moefied monster girls.
Trust me on this.

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As long as it's nothing like Monster Monpiece and got localized properly, I'd be down with this.

Anyways, just because other games feature similar gameplay it does not automatically make them "clones" or anything of the sort - Pokemon does not own exclusive rights to the idea of capturing the monsters, and other games that use this can be compared to it, but shouldn't be referred to as "clones" of it, as though they're just stealing the idea or blatantly ripping it off. If you're going to follow that line of thinking, then every RPG in existence is a clone of pedit5.

I'm wondering at the new directions they'll take the basic monster capturing gameplay myself, actually...it's not a gameplay style that is actually utilized all that often outside of handheld titles, and when it is it tends to be in rushed games in place of proper party members...as was the case with Final Fantasy XIII-2, which was developed in about a year or so. It's rare to see monster catching games with the depth of, say, Ni No Kuni on consoles. It'd be nice to see something like that again. Being able to design your own monsters could be interesting as well.

I'd love to see some of the proper Digimon RPGs hit Western shores, although it seems unlikely...I don't know what Bandai Namco expect in terms of sales and interest; it must be ridiculously unreasonable, because the amount of fan demand is, from what I can see, significant. Far more significant than the likes of NIS America, Compile Heart and Atlus must have to localize every single title that they possibly can. I'm not buying the lack of funds or interest excuse - they just want unreasonable sums of money in all probability.

Satoshi Ookami said:

What was bad on MonMon? =D It was a cute game =D

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That it was cute was the only positive thing that could be said about it! I have a very high tolerance for bullcrap in anime-style JRPGs, but MonMon went riiiiight past it. I don't think I've ever played a more badly designed card battle game...well, except for maybe that awful Dungeon Dice Monsters GBA game.

...oh, on a side note, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Dragon Quest Monsters.

What are the top 3 most important things you look for in a monster capture RPG game?

For me, the top 3 are:

1) I can play in some way with friends
2) An interesting story (that isn't about a spunky kid, who wants to be a master of pokemon)
3) The monsters look damn cool

Why are all these monster collection battling games so easy? I feel like I'm mindlessly grinding for most of the game. PvP is really where it gets interesting. We really need more challenging games, like the nuzlock challenge in pokemon.

Has anyone found any good ones that support online play? Basically any that don't require a DS or some hardware.

Can't revive threads this old. Feel free to ask your question in the DCC.