Monster Rancher DS (Misc. Q&A; Get Your Questions Answered)

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

Your monster is fed and drilled by a giant white owl.

[simple man]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

DURAHAN!?!?!?!



yay!

[Red Dragon]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

Please cut that up.

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

Time for a big update abouts the everyday goings-on at the ranch!

The Monster Association for the region is known as BOMBA.



On the ranch, the top screen shows your guy frolicking abouts in classic MR2 fashion, whilst the bottom screen shows a complete map of your land. By tapping on a certain spot on the map, your monster will make its way there. It's quite possible that, depending on its traits, the beastie may go abouts stuff to trigger things like finding useful items.

Your monsters now have thought bubbles to compliment their gestures when reacting to things, or when you're about to start a drill. The thoughts depend on the monster's personality. Some monsters may not like certain types of training or items, whereas others may not like doing the same drill two weeks in a row. And speaking of drills, only the light drills are available at the start. There are four hard drills that you won't have access to until later.

Like MRA2, a monster can learn several techs, and can equip up to six for battle. Two for each of far, mid and close range moves. A monster will never have more than nine techs for each category.

According to some first-hand experiences, the E Rank tournament's difficulty is similar to that of MR1, which was quite challenging for an early-stage tourney. Only this time, the monsters are significantly quicker to react.

Thus far, the game appears to inherit some of the best elements of MR1, 2 and 4, along with a few unique bits.

[Red Dragon]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

The way you're talking about it it's going to be the best in the series since MR2. I hope you're right.

[Jeroak Nelave]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

ARGH! I want I want I want I WANT!!!!!!

[Dreggstar]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

Indeed.

I'm ordering MRA and MRA2 to get geared up for this game.

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

Well, MRA2 was perhaps the best MR since MR2, and this is looking even better. So we'll see.

You should skip MRA. MRA2 has everything it had with ten more breeds, MR2-style Ventures that are less problematc, and a very large number of amusing skits to boot.

Also, never, ever get either of them used. There's a very good chance its save function will be screwy after plenty of use. Get it new!

Speaking of Ventures, Training is back from MR1 (Very similar to Errantry from MR2), in which to send your monster to a far-off place for a month to toughen up in certain statistics. Training was the very first method of boosting your monster's stats a great deal and getting new techs. It's gotten a bit of a remix this time 'round, as you've more control over what's happening. It's the board game-esque dealie you saw in those first screen shots and the trailer.

The top screen shows the monster performing tasks, whilst the bottom screen shows the area's map and the monster's location, presented in a board game format. There's a big die there, too, as you can see. The object of Training is to successfully complete as many of the month's training exercises as possible while moving as deep into the area as possible so your monster's stats may increase, and may even be able to learn a new tech.

You start by rolling the die. Your monster moves a number of spaces depending on what you get. What actually happens during Training depends on which panels you land on. There reportedly are panels for training (O), panels for no training (X), additional die rolls, no die rolls, wild monster battles and unusual "?" panels. I'm not sure what they do, but apparently they're common and have a random element. Be careful, though, because there will also be dead ends and a chance your monster may get injured if you screw up too much.

Training is 2000G a pop, with the occasional discount.

There are also some rather interesting new ways monsters are unlocked. When Mew is unlocked, the person key to its unlocking says you can get it by using the name of a very strong soccer team in the shrine via voice regeneration. After some testing, it turns out it was Brazil.

[Dreggstar]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

New. Check. Guess I'll be spending a bit more money then.

And, yeah, I guess you're right. No reason in buying both.
It's not like I have every single other MR game and need both to complete some sort of collection...although, that sounds like fun...

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

S'alright. I've done that already.

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

Locked monsters confirmed thus far:


Dragon

Henger

Joker

Mew

Phoenix

Zan


More as the wind breaks.

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS

8 MONSTER TOURNEYS ARE BACK YAH YAH DAWG TUPAC IS RETURN BACK YO BLING BLING

My game is on its way here as I type on this keyboard. Screw this keyboard. What's it ever done for me, anyway?

Oh, I completely forgot. That pre-order punch card? It's actually a Picross puzzle. If you can solve it, you'll figure out how to regenerate a special Mew that apparently looks like a bowl of soup.

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS (GAME OBTAINED!)

GAME IN HAND GAME IN HAND MY LIFE IS COMPLETE

I even got the cool pre-order punch card!

I play now.

[Goyle]

Re: Monster Rancher DS (GAME OBTAINED!)

MOAR INFORMATSHUNS!

I do hope this gets a US release, for great justice. I started playing Advance 2 out of boredom and remembered how fun it is.

[RPGD]

Re: Monster Rancher DS (GAME OBTAINED!)

I've been playing for a while, and I think this is as close to MR2 as the series has ever been. Here's an analysis of what I've experienced and ascertained thus far.

First off, the visuals. Barring Phantom Hourglass, these are the best visuals I've seen on the DS. The models are pretty and the framerate is surprisingly high. It's quite something.

The music is subtle, with the usual quiet piece of mind music at the ranch and bustling little themes for drills. About right for a Monster Rancher game. I haven't heard that many tracks, though. The regeneration music sounds a bit odd at first 'till you notice the other instruments playing.

Speaking of that, I've spent quite a bit of time shrining monsters. I managed to get quite a few different breeds, and some unique secret breeds as well. But before I get to that, let me tell you about the regeneration methods.

The doodle regeneration is quite fun and amusing. You doodle on a 4x4 drawing grid with several little squares inside the bigger ones. There's a re-do button for when you mess up. You'll want to focus on simple shapes at first, though, because like MR1 and 2, a large number of the game's breeds are locked at the start, as they should be in my opinion, so lots of stuff will result in a temporarily unobtainable breed. No more "Here you are, beginner! Have fun with your bloodthirsty Joker!" here. More feelings of satisfaction from earning the awesome breeds through good ol' fashioned elbow grease! But that's what I think. No time for elaborating on personal views here!

Well, that was a tangent if there ever was one. Anyway, doodle regeneration is perhaps the easiest way to get particular breeds if you can emulate drawings consistently, mostly in the case of other people's scribbles which yield certain monsters. It's apparently also the only way to get the awesome special new special secret breeds.

Here's what I've ascertained in this regard: If you can manage an impressive drawing of a portrait of a specific monster, you will be able to get the aforementioned secret breed. However, if you end up making a crappy one, or one that misses the standards of the game, you'll end up with a Modoki monster for the breed. Modoki monsters are oddities that have the same shape as the pure breed, but their bodies are just one big blue silhouette, as if the 3D modelers didn't even bother giving them a skin. This is re-inforced by the fact that their stats and statgains are LOWER than those of the purebreed, and that even their book description pans them. So they're basically "gimped" monsters. When you get one, the game's basically telling you "Nice going, genius." I've been reminded of this a number of times through failed attempts at copying the Tiger portrait seen eariler on.

And yes, I've drawn penises. Several times. They consistently give you certain types of Abisu if you draw them vertically, though some more elaborate wangs give me locked monsters.

Voice regeneration is the best regeneration method for early game, as it gives you the most variety. Whenever you're ready, just say what you want into the mic and the shrine maiden will ask you if you want to regenerate from that voice sample. You can re-do it if you want. You can more easily get MR4 secret breeds through this method. I managed to get a secret Hare called Spyhare from MR4 by saying "It's..." in the same vein as the It's Guy from Monty Python's Flying Circus. However, I've found that copying what other people get from saying certain things into the mic is rather difficult, as a difference in the pitch and length of the recording can get you different results. In spite of this, certain keywords mentioned in the game consistently give you certain monsters.

GBA regeneration is both the most random and most consistent of the regeneration methods. The variety from the GBA carts is a bit wilder than that of voice regeneration, but the same cart always nets you the same monster. When regenerating with GBA carts, the shrine maiden will confirm this with you twice. Then you will be prompted to turn off your DS, plug in a GBA game and start it up again. You will instantly be taken back to the shrine, right where you left off, even if you turned your DS off multiple times in between, and will regenerate a monster from the cart. So basically, they're most equivalent to CDs. Obviously, the limitation is in how many GBA games you own, but fortunately you can get anything and everything from doodle and voice regeneration.

Naturally, the encyclopedia is still there to let you regenerate anything you've gotten before on the fly.

Speaking of locked breeds, they are as follows:


Baku (regenerates, but ranch upgrade required)

Beaklon

Dragon (Invitational Rank B)

Durahan

Golem (regenerates, but ranch upgrade required)

Henger

Joker

Lesione

Mew

Ogyo

Phoenix

Zan

Third New Breed


The town has the usual options. There's the market, where you can buy and sell stuff, and get fresh, baseline purebreed monsters if you don't fancy using the shrine for whatever reason or are having trouble getting a breed they provide. You can also sell monsters here if you're desperately short on cash. But be wary that monsters that haven't been raised much don't give you any return at all.

The lab is the usual fare. You can freeze, unfreeze, combine and delete monsters here. I've seen some people say that the lab is where you sell the monsters as opposed to the market, but I'll be 100% certain once I've raised a monster proper.

I'd like to correct a small error on my part. There is no Wi-Fi trade option. Rather, there is a Wi-Fi combination option! Both parties apparently end up with the final monster.

The BOMBA association building is where you can send your monster off to Training or Ventures. More on Ventures later.

That should do for now. I'll talk about the ranch in detail a bit later today.