At times, choosing to say something even when it makes little sense for it to be a choice somehow makes me feel more immersed in the main characterвЂ™s plight, like itвЂ™s me saying the line and not just the character. The option you choose rarely matters, and the game reinforces this by often presenting a single option, multiple options that are basically the same, or multiple options that are the exact same. During these conversations, the dialogue choices you can make areвЂ¦ odd.

Most of the conversations and development happen within the main story. DonвЂ™t go in expecting Persona-style bonding events or social link/confidant ranks, though. In particular, the four companions who can join you in battle develop during the course of the game and make many discoveries in understanding themselves and the world around them. While Monark makes use of many proper nouns, the core of its story is the students and how they handle this impossible situation. This eerie alliterating stuffed rabbit is the daemon you make a pact with. I smell a mystery! To save the school, lift the barrier, and uncover some answers, you must shatter the other PactbearerвЂ™s Ideals, breaking their Pacts and clearing the Mist, which is a consequence of them using their powers, known as Authorities. Your powers, however, are linked to the concept of Vanity instead of one of the standard seven. It turns out the other people who have gained powers are also Pactbearers, each tied to one of the seven deadly sins. Pactbearers are people with a strong Ego who have made a deal with a Daemon for the power to achieve their most fundamental wish. There, you are granted the powers of a Pactbearer to protect your little sister. To make matters worse, you and your sister are pulled into the mysterious Otherworld where Daemons dwell. Naturally, all these phenomena lead to widespread murder and mayhem. An impenetrable barrier has been erected around campus, a madness-inducing Mist spreads through the grounds, and strange powers have started manifesting amongst the students and staff. In Monark, players take on the role of an amnesiac highschooler on the worst possible day of high school. They have succeeded in some respects, but the result is a very uneven experience that may have more lows than highs. Lancarse and FuRyu (the tag-team behind Monark) hope some of their leads, who were behind seminal school RPG and Persona precursor, Shin Megami Tensei IfвЂ¦, can make the game stand out from the pack. RPGs set in and around schools are a trend these days, and with the popularity of Persona in particular, I canвЂ™t see them going anywhere. Content Warning: Mentions of transphobic content.

Monark demo