''Monster Rancher 2'', known in Japan as , is a

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developed and published by

Tecmo was a Japanese video game company founded in 1967. It had its headquarters in the Kudankita district of Tokyo. Its subsidiary, Tecmo Inc, was located in Torrance, California. Prior to 1986, Tecmo was formerly known as Tehkan. Tecmo is known for ...

for the

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. It is the second installment in the ''

Monster Rancher ''Monster Rancher'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese media franchise and series of life simulation role-playing video games created by Tecmo (now Koei Tecmo). The series consists of fifteen games across numerous different video game platform ...

'' series. It is the first game in the franchise to be released in Europe and

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region, where it was published in October 2000 under the name ''Monster Rancher''. A port for

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, and Android was released by Tecmo's successor

Koei Tecmo is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship video game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo ...

in Japan on September 17, 2020. An updated version for iOS, Nintendo Switch and

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via

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was released worldwide on December 9, 2021 as part of the compilation titled ''Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX'' along with ''

''.

Gameplay

This game involves raising, fighting, and breeding monsters. The main character is never seen on screen and never talks to anyone directly. Instead, all of the dialog and action is done by the trainer's assistant Colt and her toucan Joy. The player chooses their actions and choices through menu options. Tournaments, from which money, items, and fame can be earned, are held throughout the year. However, only by winning an IMa Official Cup, four of which are held each year, can breeders and monsters earn higher ranks. As a monster's rank increases, it gains access to higher-level tournaments. Monsters begin life knowing a small number of moves that can be used in battle, with more learned through training. To perform a move, a monster must expend some "guts", which regenerate constantly during battle. Each move can only be performed while within a particular range of an opponent, and from close range monsters can knock opponents back. Besides the monster types the player can unlock from the beginning, there are many more which the player can raise. There are three different ways in which to unlock new monster types for raising: plot events, expedition, and errantry. The most common way these new monsters are given to the player is by the gain of an item, which when used to combine monsters, will produce this new type. After that happens, CDs will now be allowed to produce monsters of that type.

Story

The story of ''Monster Rancher 2'' is largely non-linear with story events happening only after certain requirements are met (winning a battle, reaching a certain rank, etc.). The story begins with the main character going to register to become a trainer, it is there when Colt appears as the trainer's new official assistant. The "end" of the game is when a monster is able to beat the Big Four (the four highest-ranked battles in the game); when this happens, a video about the history of the monsters is shown. A monster who has beaten all four of the S class tournaments can then go on to compete in a special match for champion monsters like itself. It is important to note that ''Monster Rancher 2'' happens in close time proximity to ''Monster Rancher 1'', but on a different continent (MR2 being set in the IMa area, and MR1 set in the FIMBA area). As a result of this there is a special battle between the player and the assistant from the first game, Holly. This event takes place every four years, much like the

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, and the player's monster has to be of certain rank to gain entry to. The event is called the IMa vs. FIMBA meet and always takes place in the last week of August. The player must win the preceding entry tournament first, which always takes place in the last week of July, respectively. Defeating the Major 4 tournaments and the Legend Cup does not unlock all of the monsters in the game. There are different steps to take to unlock each main breed monster.

Reception

The game received "generally favorable reviews", albeit slightly less than the original game, according to the

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website

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. In Japan, ''

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'' gave it a score of 32 out of 40.

References

External links

''Monster Farm 2'' at tecmo.co.jp
(Japanese) *
Google Play StoreApple App Store
(Japanese) {{Monster Rancher Series 1999 video games Android (operating system) games Koei Tecmo games IOS games Life simulation games Monster Rancher Multiplayer and single-player video games Music generated games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games Role-playing video games Sony Interactive Entertainment games Tecmo games Video games developed in Japan Video games with gender-selectable protagonists Windows games