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“No two runs are the same” is an oft-spoken line in reference to roguelikes, and it has perhaps never been more true than with Monster Train 2. With five new Clans, new card types, and a side mode of dimensional challenges, every run is distinct, but combat never becomes less satisfying. Despite some cutscenes that leave much to be desired, Shiny Shoe has crafted one of my favorite roguelikes of the year so far, improving on the previous title in every way.

In Monster Train 2, you lead various armies of Hell in a war against the Titans, an old, powerful faction that threatens the existence of your world. To stand up against such an imposing threat, you have control of multiple Clans, unique societies of magical creatures that each have their own playstyles. The angelic Banished Clan focuses on the Valor buff, granting additional armor and damage, while the draconic Pyreborn Clan hoards gold and inflicts pyregel, a debuff that causes enemies to take more damage. Each Clan also has two champions, powerful units you build your runs around, to choose from. When a run starts, you pick a primary Clan and a secondary Clan, and with five to unlock (plus a load of secret ones), the sheer number of combinations is staggering.

Combat takes place aboard the titular locomotive, which has four tiers of train cars – three for your units to battle, and a fourth to hold the Pyre, the train’s lifeblood. If it takes too much damage, it explodes and your run ends, so it’s in your best interest to eliminate enemies as soon as possible. The end result is part deckbuilder, part roguelike, and part tower defense, as you draw cards to place units on each floor and defend the train from waves of attackers. 

Most cards cast spells, dealing damage, healing, inflicting status conditions, and more, but Monster Train 2 introduces two new types of cards: equipment and room cards. Equipment is played on a friendly unit to give them better stats and abilities, while rooms add a modifier to an entire car, like boosting spell potency or granting money when units die. The game also adds unlockable Pyres, which have active or passive abilities to make your runs even more interesting. Each feature brings something new and exciting to the table, entering the gameplay so seamlessly that I often forgot they were absent from the last game.

Each run uses one of two clans, each with two champions and associated starting cards, meaning that if you exclude the game’s secret clans (which increase the total exponentially), there are 80 ways to start a run. While I haven’t played each permutation, every combo I’ve started with so far has been surprisingly exciting, as each cleverly designed Clan synergizes with another in a unique way. It isn’t randomness for the sake of big numbers – each run I’ve played has felt as fun as the one before it, and it’s an impressive feat.

Monster Train 2 also includes a collection of 21 Dimensional Challenges, restricting you to a preset combination of Clans and adding fun mutators to alter the game. For example, “Weapons Make the Warrior” reduces all cards’ upgrade slots to 1, but makes equipment cards twice as powerful and cost less to play. “Twofer” doubles all money earned, status effects inflicted, and makes it so each time you add a card to your deck, you get a copy of it. In contrast to the standard, ultimately customizable base game, it’s a collection of carefully curated rulesets and modifiers. I appreciate that these challenges adjust your strategies and the game’s difficulty beyond simply making it harder. Many roguelikes include unlockable settings or difficulty modes limiting your abilities, but sometimes I want to be challenged in different ways, and Monster Train 2 understands that.

My main issue with the game lies in its story, which is, thankfully, infrequent and easily ignored. Upon completing runs, you’re greeted by cutscenes of conversations between the Clans’ various Champions as they try to figure out what to do next in their battle against the Titans. It feels half-baked, with reused battle models standing against plain backgrounds and turning left or right to indicate which character they’re speaking to. The dialogue is mostly exposition disguised as conversation, and most characters are reduced to their Clans’ most basic traits – dragons are greedy and like gold, while the Lazarus League obsesses over science and experiments. Monster Train 2’s gameplay is inspired and expertly crafted, but its cutscenes are cliché and forgettable.

Still, I didn’t come to Monster Train 2 for an engaging story. I came for tense, strategic combat, hours of upgrading and optimizing spells and units, and that uniquely roguelike power fantasy of starting with scraps and blazing your way to the top. The realm of indie roguelikes is competitive and crowded, but despite years of tough competition, Monster Train 2 has strongly reasserted its series as one of the leaders of the pack. In other words, many games are good; few are as good as Hell.

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