Mongil: Star Dive preview - "Colourful personalities and fast-paced combat, with a side of monster-taming"
- Memorable personalities and characters
- Gorgeous presentation and fast-paced combat
- Monster-taming is literally an accessory
Let's address the elephant in the room first - Mongil: Star Dive, in my opinion, is not exactly the catchiest title for a game. I personally had a lot of preconceived notions (and a few other people I've talked to agree, not to mention the Reddit community) going into this simply because of how it's named, but despite the unfortunate title, I still found myself thoroughly enjoying every minute of it.
In Mongil: Star Dive, you follow the tale of Cloud and Verna as they climb up the Adventurer ranks while taming monsters along the way. Their quest is expectedly filled with plenty of twists and turns, with one arriving in the form of an odd cat named Nyanners.
Nyanners - aside from being the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my life - has the inexplicable power to tame all manner of creatures in the wild, and it does so in what's also the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my life. Nyanners (which I've nicknamed "Chubbs") can swallow the soul of a monster whole, then poop it out to turn it into a keychain you can hook around your belt to add buffs to your team.
Now, if that sentence sounds absolutely bonkers, that's because it is - and I am all for it.
Adventuring antics and monster mayhem
Yes, taming a monster means having Nyanners poop out a compact version of it, and the more Nyanners does it, the more he levels up. This, in turn, boosts your monster-taming capabilities too, so not only does adding a monster to your roster look nice in your collection, but it also offers buffs like boosted Crit rates and physical attacks to the character you attach it to.If, like me, your initial thought when going on a "monster-taming" adventure is to pit your captured creatures against each other in battle, you might be as disappointed as I am to learn that this simply isn't the case here.
The monsters tamed don't even follow you around as you move through the world around you - they're mere accessories, for lack of a better term, but that doesn't mean the drive to collect them all isn't there.
This is because the creatures are just so darn cute, so they're incredibly hard to resist. I mean, in your home base alone, there's a mushroom-esque Cappy flailing on the ground endlessly because it just can't get up, and if only I could help give it a little nudge in the right direction, I would.
The lovely designs extend to the characters themselves, of course, especially since Cloud and Verna are both incredibly colourful characters on their own. Main protagonists are almost always too vanilla, so it's refreshing to have actual heroes that have real and memorable personalities.
Plus, they can hold their own really well in battle too, so they've managed to get me totally hooked onto their story, so much so that the narrative is what shines to me the most.
A world of wonder
Thanks to the gorgeous visuals, I was all too eager to explore the world around me in Mongil: Star Dive. Everything is crisp, stunning, and action-packed, and I found myself in wide-eyed wonder the whole time I was exploring.The fact that the characters you add to your ragtag party are all memorable and not at all cookie-cutter anime templates makes the narrative even more compelling, and - at least during the CBT - I actually didn't encounter any gacha elements at all.
I do wonder how the monetisation will work here, but at the moment, every character you unlock can be accessed as you progress through the RPG, while the monsters you tame will be available to encounter in the wild.
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Combat is a fast-paced affair that reminds me too much of Zenless Zone Zero, which is not at all a bad thing. You can freely switch between partymates on the fly to unleash devastating (and exhilaratingly flashy) combos against your foes, with different skill animations that will play out depending on your commands.
Even Nyanners - bless his chubby little paws - will join in on the rowdy mayhem from time to time via quick-time events, so if you manage to hit the right buttons at the right time, you can unleash hell on your enemies while looking devastatingly stylish at the same time.
Ready to dive in
Overall, Mongil: Star Dive is a promising new entry into the saturated world of action RPGs on mobile, mainly because of its protagonists' colourful personalities and its added monster-taming feature.
While it's not the monster-versus-monster adventure you might expect, it's still an enjoyable romp thanks to its gorgeous visuals, lovely soundtrack, and exhilarating combat - and I'm definitely looking forward to its official launch so I can be with my beloved Chubbs again.
