I'm much more excited about Monster Rancher 1 and 2 DX than Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl because I miss the feeling of a personal connection with my creatures.
Monster Rancher was weird | Billiam
That doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to the Switch remakes of Diamond and Pearl, but I’m actually all the more excited to play Monster Rancher again. Pearl is honestly my favorite Pokémon game and I can’t wait to see a modern remake of it. But Monster Rancher has held a very special place in my heart for almost 25 years.
And I mean, I get it. Pokémon was a lightning bolt in a bottle, giving the world exactly the kind of monster-collecting RPG it didn’t know it needed, and then building on it for decades. It’s a fun series with fantastic creature designs and mechanics that are as accessible as they are unexpectedly deep. I prefer Monster Rancher precisely because it doesn’t have most of those things.
Monster Rancher takes a much more personal approach to the structure: you live in a small town and have a new ranch where you want to raise monsters. That’s about it. You’re not traveling the country trying to “Be the best, like no one else ever was”—you’re trying to make a modest life for yourself.
