Some things that normally don’t go together can still make a great idea. And Rolling Biscuit’s Monbattle takes several gaming concepts and smashes them into one game. To what effect remains to be seen but I’m afraid that this might be a case of to many ingredients in the broth. That said, it seems to have garnered enough interest to be 1/3 funded in just a couple of days.
Monbattle is, as it’s name suggests, a monster battling game similar to Pokemon. And while apparently few, there are some people who can control these wild beasts that have mysteriously appeared through a portal to Earth. Don’t ask me how or my brain will melt. But, based on the pitch it seems like the planet’s on the verge of collapse and an expedition is lost en route to another habitable planet. Presumably these two events are connected.
Monbattle takes its inspiration from a lot more than just monster battle games, though. It’s cited as a rogue-like monster collection RPG with trading card mechanics and played entirely online in a browser. Now that’s a mouthful.
Here’s the thing, though. I personally think that Monbattle is trying too hard to be everything but potentially failing at practically all of it. I don’t even know where the whole TCG element enters into it as it’s barely mentioned at all. Add to the fact that the plot is convoluted and makes no sense. Why are the monsters invading and how the hell can there be tamers if nobody’s seen them before?
To add insult to injury, whether as placeholders or being touted as actual in-game assets, some of the screenshots shown are obviously taken from Fallout 3. Which isn’t just copyright infringement but also is in stark contrast to the more cartoonish look of the characters and monsters.