It feels like deck builder roguelikes are all the rage these days in indie games, but it isn’t every day we get a sequel to a game that felt near perfect or provided hundreds if not thousands of hours of gameplay. Yet, Shiny Shoe showed up and said, “we’re not done yet.”
For those who are unaware, Monster Train, the original Monster Train came out in May 2020 and has over 18,900 reviews on Steam, with 96% of those being positive. Five years later, Shiny Shoe is looking to repeat their success. The question is, will this be another successful run?
Collaborations
Before jumping into the game play, let’s discuss some of the collaborations that Monster Train 2 has premiered with. Earlier this year we mentioned that Monster Train 2 would be having a collaboration with Cult of the Lamb. They weren’t stopping there. As you progress through the game and visit Celestial Alcoves, you may see some familiar faces from other games.
Inscryption isn’t the only collaboration you’ll find within Monster Train 2. In addition to Inscryption, MT2 boasts a collaboration with Richard Garfield who many may know as the creator of a small collectible card game called Magic: The Gathering. You’ll also be able to catch glances of another Shiny Shoe game, Inkbound, if you look close enough. If that isn’t enough, everyone’s current favorite jokers make an appearance as well. Is Jimbo’s appearance a blessing or a curse?
Game Play
If you haven’t played the first one, we’ll give you some insight into how this genius roguelike moves forward. Before your run begins you’ll pick your primary clan which will also be where you champion comes from as well as an allied clan. While you only begin with two of the five available clan options, the rest will become available as you play through. This is a roguelike game after all, the more you play, and maybe even lose, the more you’ll unlock for more combinations. To add to this level of combinations, each clan has two champion options. For example, you can have Talos or Fel on your journey if your main clan is the Banished. Each champion comes with a different set of starter cards so try out many different combinations.
Champions and clans are not your own combination options. In time, you’ll also unlock different Pyre Hearts which will power your train along the way. Want even more of a challenge? Choose mutators to modify your run. This isn’t exactly recommended at the start and if choosing too many mutators seems daunting, don’t worry, once you unlock dimension portals, you’ll find challenges preset for you. If you need some motivation, review your past successes or failures in the library before clicking that depart button.
Once you depart the station, you’ll be on the way to taking down the Titans. Of course, not everyone will be so glad to let you pass. Leave limbo after some upgrades and find your way to your first fight. If you’re looking for even more rewards, add a trial onto your combat round. You’ll get this option before you officially start your battle. Choose to increase the difficulty by providing the enemies with some sort of buff such as “enemies appear on every floor”. Choosing these will also show a potential reward such as “additional 75 gold” at the end of the fight. Weigh out your options as some will take the difficulty from a 3 to an 8 fairly quickly if you let it.
You get one turn of preparation to lay your fighters out. Your champion will always be a free card but the rest of your warriors will vary in costs. Don’t worry, while these are starters, the further you go, the more options you’ll get to start your train ride. Use your ember to place the fighters along the three different levels of the train to prepare for battle.
That’s right, three layers of the train. You’re not defending the first level, but you’ll also have to plan how your levels above will go. The first wave of enemies will typically begin at the lowest level, but after each round, they’ll move a level closer and closer to the pyre. While your pyre does have some defenses, once it hits 0 hit points, your run is over.
Assuming that you keep your pyre alive after the first fight you’ll be presented with the two different paths. Each side will present you with different options to upgrade your cards, your hero, acquire additional cards, or visit the Celestial Alcove and come across new scenarios. If your pyre has taken damage, there will occasionally be opportunities to heal the pyre but don’t rely on this as you progress through your journey. What you can usually rely on is that there will be stores somewhere on your journey run by some of the cutest creatures you’ll ever see. Yes, it’s because they look like cute furry animals that may or may not resemble cats.
New to Monster Train 2 are two types of cards you can acquire as battle rewards or on your journeys. Room cards will allow you to add boosts to your train on each level. This could be adding additional damage to your units or increasing how your spells work to name a few. There are also equipment cards, some will be more ally focused while others you may want to equip on an enemy. Personally having an enemy take 30 damage each time they move a level was a bit of a buff in harder fights. Choose your cards wisely because don’t forget while getting additional cards is always fun, it does mean the card you want may be buried under 30+ cards in your deck. Having a well crafted deck will be important as you move up the map.
When you get to a more challenge boss battle, you’ll notice the options for a trial are not there. Instead, you’ll see which trait the boss battle appears with. Arkion will push attacked units to the back of the line meaning your most shielded character may not be in a position to save those behind them. Plan accordingly with your lineup when you see the stats and abilities of the bosses. They won’t all be easy. Keep going until you reach heaven, win the battle, and see how the story unravels. While it may seem like it should be an ending, don’t worry, there will always be more to unravel.
Whether you win or lose, you’ll be given a run summary that will tell you your score, how many battles you survived and how close you are to unlocking other aspects of the game. Each clan will also have their own numbers for you to view. The higher you rank up your clans, the more cards you’ll unlock to add more variety to your deck. Monster Train 2 provides you with so many unlocks, so many combinations, it truly feels like no single run will ever be the same. And if you’re up for the challenge, try endless mode. The community requested it and the team at Shiny Shoe has delivered!
Story
Monster Train 2 drops you into the story that picks up not too long after the first game. However, you don’t need to have played the first game in order to follow along with the story. The basic premise is that there are uneasy alliances occurring between five clans that you’ll command. These clans cover everyone from angels to demons, humans, and everything in between. Each has their reason to take part in this larger battle. However, what is quite fun, is seeing the interaction between the characters in short cut scenes that occur at the end of a run or as you progress further on your run.
Scenes show you how uneasy the alliance is and even at times how loyalty can be called into question. Whether its a scene of Fel trying to keep soldiers in line or groovy musicians naming their band, so many characters within the game have their own reason and motivations for being part of this war. The way the scenes play out, not in animated cut scenes but in mostly still images with text. It feels like taking a page out of a visual novel to convey the overall story in smaller digestible bites.
Characters such as Herzal and Heph from the first Monster Train will make appearances along the way. They may not be playable but they will be integral to the overall story and referred to along the way. Maybe you’ll learn the details of the first game in a scene with characters chatting together. Of course, you’ll have to play the game to find out. Don’t worry, it’s addictive so you’ll have your first 10-15 hours in faster than you can say Monster Train 2.
The positive thing is that appearances by characters such as these are more of nice little easter eggs and not important to understanding the game. The story at times will feel more like flavor text if you are all about the game play and combinations. Those who want the story will feel satisfied seeing so many segments after a run or two. Will they all be key to the main story? Not necessarily, but they are entertaining as hell.
Art & Music
While the overall art style has not changed too much since Monster Train 1, the colors do feel like they pop much more than before. Character models are still recognizable from the first game and the overall layout remains mostly in tact. Your pyre health and damage dealing will be at the top left along with your gold, the number of cards in your deck overall, and your artifacts along the top. This helps the game feel familiar and not all too different as some sequels are want to do.
What is extremely impressive and really felt like it set the tone was the music. If the gameplay isn’t enough to keep you coming back, the music will be. Even after spending hours playing the game for review, I found myself humming the music when not playing. Something about “The Fallen Angel” anthem just stuck with me. Arkion’s song was enough to set the mood for a battle against a frenzied flying creature. There’s something about the music that always feels right but also feel nostalgic in a way I didn’t realize I was missing. The atmospheric rock is a tasteful cherry on top and I hope to see some of this music be accessible even when I’m not playing the game. Give me the link to the limited press vinyl I’m in.
Final Thoughts
When I first played the demo a few weeks back, I wasn’t sure if they were showing the best at the start just to build the hype. After getting a hands on chance to play at PAX East and see more progress within the game, I began to feel the excitement for it’s release. Now having had my hands on it, I can confirm, this is worth the wait.
Monster Train 2 is everything you love about the initial game and more. The longer your on this train, you’ll find yourself going through a variety of emotions. At times, you’ll feel frustrated with the silly mistake you made that lost the run. Other times you’ll find yourself smirking (or maybe even a small laugh) at the interactions between demons and fallen angels. Occasionally, you might find yourself even feeling bad for the circumstances these characters all find themselves in.
Monster Train 2 meets if not exceeds the bar that they had previously set with the initial Monster Train. For newcomers, perhaps it will feel like option overload even if you choose the easier play style. So for those who need a bit more of an entry point, be patient. For those who want an excellent roguelike experience and hundreds if not thousands of hours, Monster Train 2 is for you.
Monster Train 2 is available starting May 21, 2025 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Thank you to the development team of Shiny Shoe and the publishers at Big Fan Games (a Devolver Digital publishing label) for the review code.
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