Monark apple full#

Art skills are physical in nature and take a chunk off of your health when used, while Authorities are magical and sap your sanity, increasing your Madness meter. There were very few times where this happened in the more than 40 hours my playthrough took, and the big risk is that you must become Mad first to achieve it – but when the stars align, it’s a good feeling.Īll of Monark’s overlapping systems frequently gave me reason to pause and think about every action I took during combat, because everything you do comes with a cost. It is a rarity, but you can also become Enlightened – when you become Mad and Awakened at the same time – allowing you to deal even greater damage without losing control. Alternatively, each party member is able to defer their turn over to another character who has already gone, allowing them to act again – but in doing so their Madness increases more every time they are given an extra turn, which is a good way of limiting this powerful mechanic from being abused.

Getting my Awakened meter up never felt like a priority, but if there is a round where you can’t hit an enemy it feels good that you can dedicate your turn to that instead of wasting it. This power is obtained by using the Resolve skill or by being damaged in battle.

Monark apple full#

On the opposite side of the spectrum is becoming Awakened, a state where you gain the same kind of power as in Madness but maintain full control of your actions. The level of repetition and lack of variety in Monark’s level design is what eventually made it feel more like a chore than a pleasure. These are generally solved by looking through documents or student profiles on your phone, and that kind of sleuthing never felt satisfying. Most of the time this involves solving mundane puzzles to find a key to unlock the room that contains the Ideal, and that involves either a combination safe, a computer login, or hints that are too vague to be useful.

All three of the Ideals for each Pactbearer are based in the same building, so your goal is usually to reach the roof, clearing out an Ideal on each floor one at a time. These Ideals are located in the Otherworld, a grim plane inhabited by daemons and where all of Monark’s battles take place. Each section of the story is built around a different party member, but their objectives are always the same: find all three of a Pactbearer’s Ideals (giant crystals that make up their inner self) and destroy them. But even with those personal touches, Monark’s greatest sin is repetition.