Monster Train 2 Preview

I got the chance to check out a preview build of Monster Train 2, a roguelike deckbuilder developed by Shiny Shoe and published by Big Fan Games. I haven't played its predecessor, but any roguelike that comes across my desktop at GameGrin is a title I’m willing to try out.

Heaven has fallen into corruption, threatening the world at large, to the point where Angels and Demons must work together (albeit begrudgingly). Starting from the depths of Hell, you'll be driving your insanely souped-up train through Heaven, assembling an army of heroes, and taking down Titans to save the world.

In order to win a battle, you must defeat all enemies while protecting your Pyre, which is essentially your HP. Before the fight starts, you'll be deploying a few of the units you have in your deck on the four floors of your multi-level train. Once you do and end your turn, the enemy will invade, starting at the lowest level and working their way up to your Pyre after each combat.

If you want the Pyre to keep burning, you need to do everything your deck will allow to stop them. Summon additional units to buy time, cast spells to damage and disrupt, give equipment to make your summons even stronger, and even change the very rooms you fight in. Of course, between battles, you'll be able to upgrade and refine your deck through rewards earned by winning fights and the various shops and events. The game is actually fairly difficult, even in the early stages, so getting a decent deck going as soon as you can is required, especially against tougher foes like the various bosses that you’ll encounter.

Bosses are special as they don’t work on a traditional turn-by-turn combat. Instead, it will shift to an autobattle-like phase where both it and your summons will continue attacking until one side remains. It’s even a little crazier with Titans who can freely move between floors, supporting its allies (though still vulnerable to attacks) until the last wave of enemies spawned, which from there they’ll act like a normal boss. These fights can be intimidating, with the enemy having hundreds or even thousands of HP before they go down, but it is very possible to beat them if you have the right cards.

Once your run ends, prematurely or not, you can either start a new one straight away or head back to the Outpost, where you can view cutscenes, customise your train’s rooms, check the logbook, and set the conditions of your run. Use different clans who have their own playstyle and synergise differently with each one, change your Pyre to have other effects, or challenge yourself by adding difficulty modifiers. There’s plenty to do even after you’ve conquered Heaven for the first time. A lot of the progression is also done naturally just by playing the game, with challenges to unlock new factions and Pyres with different effects, to levelling up those very clans to unlock more cards.

The time I spent on Monster Train 2 was pretty good and made me eager to discover more about the game and its world, to the point where I kind of wanted to play the previous game just to get a better handle on the story and mechanics. That being said, you don’t really need to play Monster Train to fully get into it, and after some research, it seems to just be like it but with more refined mechanics, so if you liked the first one (which you probably did as it is currently sitting at Overwhelmingly Positive), you’ll like the sequel. I look forward to further developments.

Monster Train 2 will be released on the 21st of May 2025 on PlayStation 5, PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.