Monster Rancher 3 Preview

When the original Monster Rancher hit the PlayStation in 1997, it hooked gamers with its original premise and innovative gameplay. The ability to raise monsters randomly generated by ordinary CDs and a variety of random factors in the game allowed it to offer a fairly unique gameplay experience for players. The series was further refined with Monster Rancher 2, which added new gameplay elements and upped the monster count significantly. For Monster Rancher's PlayStation 2 debut, Monster Rancher 3, Tecmo is blending together old and new gameplay elements with a slick graphical overhaul to produce a game that's shaping up to offer a pretty rich monster ranching experience.

Let's get ready to rumble.

Monster Rancher 3 tells a tale set in a time before the original Monster Rancher games, when a race of people called the tochikans helped breed monsters. You assume the role of a prospective monster breeder who hooks up with a tochikan girl named Feria. Together, the two of you set out to kick butt, get famous, and breed a top-ranked monster.

Just as the game's story has been slightly tweaked, the structure of the game has also undergone a bit of revision. The basics of the game are the same: Get monster, raise monster on farm, and compete in tournaments until you reach the S rank. But quite a few tweaks have been made since the last game. Your options for obtaining a monster have changed slightly. Instead of picking up a monster from a store in town or generating one using a CD, you'll now be able to select one of three monsters from an encyclopedia in the game or generate one using a CD or DVD. The game's encyclopedia will gain a page every time you generate a monster that doesn't have an entry. In a nice touch, the encyclopedia will allow you to re-create any monster with an entry even if you choose not to keep it after generating it. Spend some time generating monsters using discs and you'll give yourself a healthy selection of choices. You'll find 24 "types" of monsters--some familiar, such as suezo and mocchi, and others that are brand new, such as psiroller and raiden. Within each type, you'll find five variations based on the environments in the game, as well as secret character variations.

Say hello to Scissors.

After you've settled on a monster, you'll take it to an open area to raise it. Unlike in the previous Monster Rancher games, there are no farms to raise your monster. Instead, the game provides five open regions, each with a different climate, where you can hang out with your monster and train it. Each region provides different methods to train your monster and increase its statistics. As before, you'll have to feed and rest your monster accordingly when training and competing, but MR3 provides more variables to keep track of. Food is displayed with bars indicating its nutritional value and whether or not your monster cares for it. How your monster reacts to food affects its development and its bond with you. In addition, it's possible to find accessory items that you can equip your monster with. Offering more than just a snappy fashion statement, the items can affect your monster's stats. Taken together, all the variables help you mold your monster's personality, which, in MR3, is now very distinct. The monsters definitely come across as individuals in MR3. As they grow, they gain characteristics that affect their behavior and performance in combat.