Monster Rancher EVO

It’s a refreshing change of direction for the series, and the biggest makeover I’ve ever seen a series undergo without jumping up to a next-generation platform. Well done!

What we have here is a game that tries to hit all of the bases and instead misses every last one. It doesn't measure up as a Monster Rancher game, it doesn't measure up as a standalone RPG, and it doesn't measure up as a worthwhile PlayStation 2 title so far into the system's run.

Trying to grow the concept of the Monster Rancher series is a fine idea, but an unbalanced system of monster upgrades, minimizing the core franchise concept of tournaments and skewing the difficulty level thanks to the "RPG-like" adventure stages isn't the best way to do it.

Neat ability to create monsters from discs, but repetitive gameplay will please only its hardcore fans.

It offered up an RPG element, a deeper plotline and the chance to take monsters on more interesting adventures; however, it didn't do any of these things WELL and worse than that, it seemed to remove many of the elements that made the originals so damn fun to play.

Even training monsters has become a total chore; you have to set each task manually, instead of being able to set long-term training schedules. This is a de-evolution at best.

The critical requirements of a Monster Rancher title, that monster-raising be streamlined and rewarding, and the RPG sections be challenging and playable, are miserably out of reach for Monster Rancher EVO, with almost every part of the title a confusing, tedious mess that should make the average player ill with boredom.