Monster Rancher 3 (PS2)

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Alucard1191
Posts: 476
Joined: November 16th, 2016, 12:55 pm

Monster Rancher 3 (PS2)

Postby Alucard1191 » September 17th, 2018, 8:28 pm

I have successfully "beat" monster rancher 3. And it only took me 14 years of play time and 4 monsters.

By "beat" I mean defeated Ragnarok and gotten the final trophy. Of the first three monster rancher games where would I place it? Probably in the middle... or last... I haven't played the first one in too long to judge. But I still like part 2 more than this one.

The game has a lot of cool new things, like other trainers that have monsters that they train along side you as well. It also can make monsters from both DvDs and CDs, so big plus there. The game also bases things on terrains, each type of monster has an artic type, a desert type, forest type, etc.

I personally like that more than the original first two games "main type/sub type" formula. Some, like pixies, would have over 20 mixtures and others would have 2 or 3. Everyone in MR3 (Monster Rancher 3) has roughly the same amount. (all the main terrain types and 1 or 2 unique ones from special DvDs/CDs)

The different areas have different story lines and trainers to fight, and new training techniques. All of these things are great additions to the classic formula of Monster Rancher.

But where Tecmo give, they also take away.

The game is honestly not as fun as the first or 2nd one. It is much, much too easy for one thing. (Beat the game on my 4th monster. It took me over 20 monsters in both 1 and 2 to beat the final boss monsters.) And things like exploration are mandatory. It happens every season change, which is 3 or 4 months. You can't say no, and it is also how you level up your techniques. You can train techniques now, which is a plus. It can only happen during these mandatory exploration sequences, which really slows down the gameplay and just annoys me. And you can only have 4 moves total. This is horrible considering in MR1+2 you could easily get 8-10 techniques with a monster. (My pixie/durahan in MR2 that I'm currently training has 12 techniques at the moment, and she might get to 13 before I retire her.) I HATE that you only get 4 moves.

And another thing, the monsters don't really have set stats. Want a fast golem? Train it in speed and after a few it will be getting speed close to a pixie or hare. This happens all the time in the game, color pandoras with lots of power, golems with lots of speed, pixies with tons of life, etc. The lack of stat consistency means that other than the type of techniques you get, there really isn't a lot of difference between the monsters, which is a real bummer.

In conclusion to a long game 'review,' Monster Rancher 3 makes a lot of welcome improvements to the standard Monster Rancher formula, then completely destroys the fun with its drawbacks.

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JustLikeHeaven
Posts: 333
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 9:35 am

Re: Monster Rancher 3 (PS2)

Postby JustLikeHeaven » September 19th, 2018, 4:52 pm

I'm a huge fan of the Monster Rancher series (wish it would make a comeback), and I remember sinking dozens of hours into MR3. It's been years since I've touched the game, but I was immediately reminded of its flaws as I read your complaints. In many ways it seemed like a huge step forward, but the realization is that MR3 is one of the weaker entries in the franchise.

I always get an inch to go back and replay these games, but I almost never reach for MR3. It's always 1 or 2 that I end up booting up and playing for a few months. Thanks for taking the time to post your detailed thoughts on a fairly obscure game.

For those that have never experienced a Monster Rancher game, it's sort of like Pokemon...but way better! Just kidding. It's a completely different beast from Nintendo's franchise. There's more emphasis on the personal care and training of a single monster. In some ways it almost feels like a fully fleshed out tamagotchi pet simulator. It's incredibly unique. Don't go in expecting a ton of action, but rather lots of RPG-eque menu driven content. If the game manages to charm you, it will be an addiction that is hard to shake.

Alucard1191
Posts: 476
Joined: November 16th, 2016, 12:55 pm

Re: Monster Rancher 3 (PS2)

Postby Alucard1191 » October 5th, 2018, 9:34 pm

I played some MR2, a year and a half of gameplay on my pixie/durahan. Lived 5 years 7 months without any peaches. 999 intelligence, 750 skill and 800 speed, and a very mighty 350 life and 450 defense. Beat the major 4 and the white suezo. I stuck her in my freezer for safe keeping, I wish the game had more space on the record board (only has 3 spots) and in the freezer. (I only have 4 spaces left...) but then again, my game is in the year 1227, so I've clearly played this a lot.


And yes, it is way, way better than number 3. The battles are loads of fun, training is fun... the game is just tons and tons of fun!

I'm now raising the special ghost, "Chef" now, probably been in the freezer for something like 12 years. (real time)


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