“Monster Crown: Sin Eater” popped onto my radar a few months ago and immediately caught my eye. After giving it a test drive, I’m glad to say my interest paid off and what’s here is a really cool and deep creature-catching game with a killer Game Boy Color aesthetic.

As you all know, I’m a sucker for retro-style pixel games, see my review of “Neon Inferno” as proof, and I’m in the market for some non-Pokemon creature-catching games, see my latest post on “Pokemon Winds & Waves” as proof of that, too. “Monster Crown: Sin Eater” scratches the “Pokemon” itch while also trying to be something different, which is sorely needed in the genre.

I know this may come off as a criticism, but I promise it’s a major compliment: “Monster Crown: Sin Eater” is like if the people who made those old edgy “Pokemon” bootleg cartridges actually learned how to make a game. There’s a more mature story, there’s complex fusion and breeding elements, the player character has a gun — all the marks of an edgy “Pokemon” ROM hack. But “Monster Crown: Sin Eater” makes them work in a way that doesn’t feel cheesy or cringey.

If you’re feeling defeated by the current state of creature-catching games and don’t feel like dumping 50+ hours into “Digimon Story: Time Stranger,” a game I sorely need to give its flowers, then “Monster Crown: Sin Eater” is for you.

Story

Spoilers ahead – read at your own risk!

“Monster Crown: Sin Eater” is a story of revenge, shattering expectations, and becoming the very best, like no one ever was. You play as Asur, a young man who lives on a farm with his mother and sister, and whose brother is one of the most prolific monster tamers in the kingdom. Asur’s dream is to one day become a tamer, despite his mother’s insistence otherwise.

That all changes when Asur’s brother, Dyeus, is arrested and executed for his crimes against the kingdom. Asur takes on the mantle as the family’s monster tamer, and it’s up to him to get revenge on everyone involved with his brother’s death. Asur vows to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings and become the most powerful monster tamer in the world.

While on his quest, Asur travels to different kingdoms, meets with travelers, fellow Tamers, and average people who need a hand. The game does a great job of giving NPCs unique dialogue, not just unique in the sense that no other character has it, but unique in that antagonistic dialogue isn’t present in many creature-catching games unless you’re dealing with an enemy team. Sometimes, people are just dicks, and it’s nice to see “Monster Crown: Sin Eater” acknowledge that not everyone is friendly and willing to help strangers.

The one thing that threw me off about the story is that Asur gets revenge on his brother’s killer in the first act. The bug lady who slices your brother in half is killed soon after starting your journey. Asur then decides he’s going to go on this grand crusade to change the world, but if you played this strictly as a revenge story, you’d end the game in about three hours. I like it, but it’s just something I thought was funny.

Note: I’m not sure if there’s any carryover between the story of the first game to this one. I’d love to know for certain. Check this space in the future for any followups.

Gameplay

If you’ve played one creature-catching game, you’ve played them all, but “Monster Crown: Sin Eater” does offer some unique features that set it apart from the rest.

The biggest draw is the Monster Fusion feature, where you fuse two monsters together to either empower one of your existing creatures or create a brand new one. There is also a breeding function that allows you to create your own weapon of mass destruction by combining two creatures to give birth to another.

Also new to “Monster Crown” is the Synergy system. As you battle, you’ll gain synergy, measured by an escalating bar above your monster’s health. Gaining Synergy allows you to use Crown Moves, more powerful versions of the moves you already have. Some moves use Synergy as a resource to restore health, others can attack your opponent’s Synergy and keep them from using Crown Moves, and more. It’s a neat little feature that reminds me of “Pokemon Legends: Arceus’” Styles.

Otherwise, it’s business as usual. You’ll travel from kingdom to kingdom, battling and taming wild monsters, defeating other Tamers, and vanquishing the Four Kings as you seek revenge. There are no “badges” or “HMs” per se, but the Four Kings do give you abilities that are required to traverse the landscape and move into the next kingdom.

Unlike “Pokemon” and “Digimon,” there are only five types in this game. There are no elements, just types. Sidenote: since they use the same palette as “Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle” it’s been a bear to remember what is super-effective against what. Luckily, the game comes with a tamer guide to help answer questions you might have throughout the game.

My only two minor gripes with the gameplay are as follows:

1. Once your brother is taken, the game kind of leaves you to fend for yourself before reuniting with him in the first main city of the game. All the NPCs point you to other events happening outside the town, so I spent the better part of two hours doing side quests before pushing the story forward. Once you do this, though, the story definitely starts to roll.
2. The elemental system has one type, Malicious (purple,) that doesn’t have many great moves, so running into Unstable (green) monsters so often feels more challenging than it really needs to be. This is coupled with the fact that so many monsters learn Relentless (orange) moves that are ineffective against Unstable. But it’s nothing brute force can’t handle!

Graphics and Audio

The sprite art is beyond gorgeous. The world is vibrant and full of color, the character models are well-detailed, the monster sprites transport you back to the Game Boy-era “Pokemon” games with their simple-yet-detailed appearances. The monsters themselves are well-designed, none of them made me think of them as “Pokemon” rip-offs like some other creature-catching games.

Compared to the first game’s sprites, “Sin Eater” feels like it was made with alien technology. It’s akin to the jump from those awful “Pokemon Red & Green” sprites to where “Pokemon Crystal” eventually got. Like look at this absolute glowup for Dracoyle AG, probably my favorite monster in the game:

Not to be outdone, the menus are clean and organized. I felt like I could always find what I was looking for while menuing.

Unsurprisingly, the game’s music is also reminiscent of the Game Boy-era “Pokemon” games. It feels like the soundtrack really seems to meet the moments on screen, whether it’s moving into a brand new area, battling one of the Four Kings, or walking around town.

The Verdict: 4.5/5

Buy it. “Monster Crown: Sin Eater” is exactly what I’ve been looking for out of a creature-catching game. It’s different without being unfamiliar and challenging without being unfair. I’m a huge fan of the fusion mechanic, allowing me to use the monsters I enjoy but giving them a boost they wouldn’t have otherwise.

I can’t speak enough about the spritework. Everything from the monsters themselves to the trees and cliffs looks absolutely gorgeous. Every time I boot the game up, I’m transported back to the early 2000s and for that I’m grateful. Like I said in my last review, thing suck right now. It’s nice to escape to better days if only for a few minutes at a time.

On the other side of the same coin, I appreciate the story and the dialogue in-game for the fact that it doesn’t treat the player like a child. It hits on some serious topics and isn’t afraid to muck it up. I know it has a different target audience than other creature-collecting games but it’s refreshing to see a game like this with a story that’s more than “be the best, like no one ever was.”

“Monster Crown: Sin Eater” releases April 30 on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation 5. It is developed and published by Red Art Games in conjunction with Studio Aurum.