![]() ![]() “This is just how I like to explain it, but it’s the unfiltered philosophy that drives one’s actions and comprises their personal principles that I’d like to call the true ‘Ego,’ Hayashi said. Other games have got that one wrong in the past… hello, Lightning Returns), As Hayashi describes Monark, it is certainly a game with some thinking behind it: While it’s not going to require a degree to understand and therefore appreciate (you would hope. Key to Monark’s success will be how well players engage with its psychological bent. becomes a series, we would like to keep that “gritty” feel for the IP. ![]() “What sets Monark apart is that it was designed with an awareness of the “grittiness” of the past, retaining that “underground” feel that some JRPGs have but which has begun to fade lately as the genre becomes more mainstream. “As a player, I feel that while JRPGs will become a more mature genre, JRPG titles that go on to become part of a series are being geared more and more toward “general” audiences, with lighter and milder forms of expression,” Hayashi said. That’s a similar trend across much of the industry and all other genres, really, but Hayashi wants Monark – and his future work – to be big on impact, even if that puts some people off. Hayashi believes that the JRPG genre, in the way it has matured, has stated to soften some of the stronger messaging that it might have otherwise engaged with. The other benefit to working with FuRyu, Hayashi added, is the freedom to take risks and create games that might not necessarily appeal to the mass audience. “Like Crystar, Monark is merely a work that emerged from my ideological approach of wanting to depict the brilliance of human beings defying the illogical and my desire to move players with the catharsis of a gaming experience.” “At Furyu, each producer and director creates projects according to their own values and preferred aesthetics,” Hayashi said. I do trust FuRyu when it comes to backing intelligent ideas, and I, therefore, trust the publishing team if they’ve decided this “Caligula Effect-like” concept is worth backing yet again. The publisher of Monark is FuRyu, the same publisher as The Caligula Effect, and while Hayashi tells me the games are unrelated and he wasn’t particularly aware of The Caligula Effect, it’s that FuRyu backed such a strikingly-similar vision that I find encouraging. And here’s where the third member in the team behind this game comes in. It’s not just that the concept promises some interesting musings on psychology and philosophy, but it’s also the central concept that we saw in The Caligula Effect and its sequel. It was that last bit, about reality and the self, that particularly caught my attention. ![]() The mysterious worlds you’ll explore are brought to life in a surreal, dark neo-fantasy style, with intricate character designs and evocative settings.” (Emphasis mine) “Dive into a dark realm where reality and the self collide. ![]()
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