Monster Train 2 Preview
The first Monster Train left the station when deckbuilders started taking off. Now, the sequel arrives in a world its predecessor helped to create. There are a lot of deckbuilders now. Many feature unique styles or mechanics to help stand out from the ever-more-crowded pack. Can Monster Train 2 build up a head of steam? The answers may lie in the game’s new demo, available to all on Steam.
Hell Freezes Over
The now-growing Monster Train saga has become a surprisingly involved story. The forces of Heaven have decided to end Hell once and for all. Their invasion is literally freezing Hell over. You are entrusted with a train that holds the last spark of hellfire, and you must protect it from marauding bands of angels who mean the great freeze to last in perpetuity. You do this by making a deck of monsters and spells. You fill the floors of your train with your monsters and try to hold off the interlopers until the end of the line.
If Monster Train has a unique gimmick, it’s the way you upgrade cards. Unlike many other deckbuilders, you aren’t stuffing your deck with attacks. Every one of your monster cards can be upgraded, the right upgrades can create massive synergies, and you get the rest, you hope for some lucky draws as you hone your army. On every run of Monster Train, you choose two demonic houses to focus your cards. There are the standard fiery demons, but there are also plant monsters, wax monsters, and a species of demon that is mostly just big teeth. It’s a clever design because it exponentially increases the number of deckbuilding possibilities.
An Unholy Alliance
It’s a strong foundation, but it got me asking: do we really need a sequel to Monster Train? The game has a great hook, so how do you add to the formula? I was pretty skeptical going in, but the opening cutscene boldly sold me on the new status quo. Those angels you were battling in the first game? Well now, they are under siege too (dark territory!) because now they are being occupied by a force of titans! These chthonic creatures are… functionally pretty similar to the angels in the last game, only now you also have clans of angels to combine with your demons.
This is the main hook of the game, and I’ve gotta say, a pretty good one. Instead of another handful of crazy hellbeasts, you now get a handful of aesthetically diverse heavenbeasts to play with as well. It’s a classic sequel hook! The new threat is so scary that we will need an alliance between heroes and former villains to overcome them. I am starting to get on board this crazy train.
Full Head of Steam
Once you’ve boarded the titular train, the game proceeds pretty similarly to the first but with new cards and themes. And sure, you’ve got some new bells and whistles that might turn out to be deviously transformative. There’s the prospect of using cards to upgrade rooms on your train. The first game was pretty thorough in including extra challenges you could heap on top of a run to scoop up more deck-transforming relics. That all looks to continue in the full release, with the addition of an always intriguing Endless mode.
More of the same isn’t a bad thing when it is more Monster Train. I’d hope to see big, bold new ideas in a new installment and while the demo isn’t enough time for the sequel to stand apart, the new story is actually pretty great. It hits the right notes of silly, and the alliance between heaven and hell expands on the two-color deck building themes. Monster Train 2 may turn out to be very similar to the first one, but the engine has been refined. We will soon have all the answers when we reach our destination. You can try the demo or you can fully get on board when Monster Train 2 arrives imminently on all major platforms.
