Review: Monstar Train 2

All aboard the rail of fame, as the public opinion shifts towards the mundane Monster Train.

Developed by KShiny Shoe and published by Big Fan Games, Monster Train 2 is a PVP roguelike card battler, the sequel to Monster Train.

I heard a lot of people harping about their love for the original Monster Train, the weight of the sequel giving them life. I never played the original, so this was going to be my first rodeo. A week later, I can safely say, what on earth were these harpers smoking? Luck-based waste of time nonsense!

The Lucky Strategy

I won’t get fancy. I am going to describe the gameplay of Monster Train 2 as simply as I can. You can be the judge.

The game begins with you getting some cards, which are either fighters or effect cards. These cards are randomised, and as the game continues, you get new cards and lose old ones.

When a round begins, you place soldiers on available spots in a 4-story building(on a train). These soldiers are your defenders who must defend a living lifebar that is at the fourth level.

At the start of each round, enemies appear on the 1st floor.

You can attack them using cards and apply debuffs. Any enemy that survives will move to the next floor in the following round. If they reach the final floor, they will attack your health bar, dealing damage with each attack.

To win, you must defeat every enemy in the rounds.

After each battle, you move your train to shops, upgrades, and eventually to the next battle.

As great as this concept sounds, the entire game falls into the shuffle of the cards. It is all about chance. If you get the right cards at the right time, you win. Otherwise, any real skill or strategy be damned, you lose.

Train goes Choo Choo.

In Monster Train 2, you take on the role of a conductor guiding a train through the depths of hell, carrying with you a precious cargo: a living, sentient flame that must be protected at all costs. The world has been overrun by divine forces aiming to snuff out this final ember of infernal power. 

Your mission is to defend the train from waves of invading celestial enemies while collecting and cataloguing every monster you defeat along the way.

Each monster that appears in the game is part of a growing bestiary. As you progress through battles, you encounter new enemies, and once defeated, their data is recorded into a massive living library. This archive serves both as a log of your accomplishments and a comprehensive record of the various fiends and factions that exist within the game’s universe. Over time, you’ll fill this library with detailed entries about each monster’s abilities, traits, and lore.

TrainWreck

In the end, Monster Train 2 is a ride that promises hellfire and havoc but mostly delivers a slot machine in disguise. Beneath the bold aesthetics, catchy animations, and endless streams of demonic jargon lies a game that seems more interested in flipping coins than rewarding planning or skill.

Sure, there are moments when the cards line up, your units hold their ground, and the monster library gets a new dusty entry. Strategy might give you the illusion of control, but don’t be fooled, this train doesn’t run on tactics, it runs on dice rolls.

Maybe that’s enough. Maybe the spectacle, the lore, and the familiar mechanics still hold some spark. But for newcomers like me, Monster Train 2 isn’t a calculated journey through the underworld.

Get off at the next station, if you can. This train doesn’t care who’s driving.