Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher (Nintendo Switch) Review

Monster Hunter is a long-standing franchise - an institution! Harkening back to the original PlayStation era, it is often cited with reference to Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh or Digimon, as it betides from the same wave, yet has waned in relevance a little bit more than it's peers due to the rigidity of its mechanics.

That comparison and assessment certainly persists in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, 25 years removed from the zeitgeist, as it plays more like an advanced Tamagotchi crossed with a sports management sim, rather than the typical RPG-lite-collectathon that one would be accustomed to from the other titles. Its Pikachu equivalent is a uniped eyeball character - which is probably an appropriate similitude that can accurately describe the Monster Hunter franchise as a whole.

The collecting is there, the monsters indeed, and the role-playing, as a young Monster Rancher tasked with training these said monsters over the course of four years to battle in tournaments and become the best dang Monster Rancher in all the land.

The original titles differentiated themselves by using different CDs, which could be placed into the PlayStation's disc drive to generate a random monster specific to that CD, and, though not quite as novel, the modern translation of that is done via the use of NFC. It's a much slower burn than that of the aforementioned counterparts, with menus, navigating and selecting them, comprising most of the gameplay.

Of course, there is more depth than that, this being a management sim and all, as meters keep track of the in-training monster's anger and fatigue level, and the decision on whether or not to send it for a training drill or, alternatively, rest for a week, and what food it has been fed, will have a direct effect on its rate of growth and success.

It can be addicting and very engaging, weaving a light narrative and random scripted moments throughout, which work in large part because the presentation in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is excellent. It is, however, a less 'cute' experience than something like Pokemon, which can affect attachment with a given monster. The crossover conceit means that many of the kaiju take the literal form of a human inside a lo-fi aesthetic monster costume, which also raises a lot questions about the world of Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher.

The unique battle system uses a 'Guts' stat - basically an equivalent of FP or stamina, which ticks up over time, to then spend on an attack, which is context sensitive to the distance from an opponent. It's simple, but effective and fun. This simplicity, which runs through every aspect of Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, can be a good and a bad thing, however, as it creates an easy and addicting loop to understand, but it does also very quickly become repetitive.