FuRyu announces school-themed RPG Monark, set to release for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on October 14 in Japan
Following a teaser last week, publisher FuRyu and developer Lancarse have officially announced Monark, a school-themed RPG set to release for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on October 14 in Japan. As previously reported, the game staff includes some key members behind the classic Shin Megami Tensei series.
The debut trailer can be found below, and the official website is here.
According to Gematsu, Clouded Leopard Entertainment has announced that English text and voice-over will be added to the game with a free update in the future, indicating an English localization is already planned.
Update: NIS America has announced that Monark will launch in the West in Early 2022, including a PC release. You can check out full details here.
This week's issue of Famitsu magazine offers first details on the new title.
The Shin Mikado Academy establishes a True Student Council to solve mysterious phenomena. The game's protagonist becomes the council's vice president, and he must choose from four Buddy candidates. Each buddy will lead to a different branch & ending. On subsequent playthroughs, the game will let you skip the common route at the start and go straight to another Buddy's route.
Monark's battle system will have turn-based commands with a positioning element, and the player's party can have up to 6 members. There is a Madness gauge that can be raised to launch powerful moves. However, if the gauge is raised too much to the max, the character can go berserk, where they'll attack any enemies & allies randomly for a few turns, and then finally kill themself.
The player will have Ego parameters based on the seven sins: Pride, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, & Greed. Choices made in the game will alter these parameters as well the roster of demons called Followers that can be employed. You can customize the looks and voices of your Followers, with available enhancements also determined by the Ego parameters.
As hinted by the phone teaser last week, phone calls will play a role in connecting the protagonist to a phenomenon beyond a mist that ruins people's minds. You will explore the area and reach the destination by solving gimmicks like password keys, while avoiding irregulars and being wary of the mist, which can also raise the Madness gauge.
In an interview with Famitsu magazine, producers Fuyuki Hayashi and Mitsuhiro Hoshino state that Monark is heavily inspired by 1994 SFC title Shin Megami Tensei If.
Characters
Protagonist - Hero (voiced by Gakuto Kajiwara): The player avatar will be a high school 2nd year (11th grade) student boy. You will wake up in an academy disconnected from the outer world while losing your memory. With a younger sister-like girl named Chiyo, you will earn demonic power that allows you to meet demons coming from another world.
Vanitas - Vanity (voiced by Shigeru Chiba): A black rabbit plush that appears and disappears randomly with a quirky laugh. He will appear before the protagonist and help you. He is also on good terms with Chiyo
The Four Buddy Candidates
Nozomi Hinata - Hope (voiced by Honoka Kuroki): An elegant high school 3rd year (12th grade) student girl. She was the student council president in the old organization before she moved to the new one formed after the incident, with the same position. She is popular due to her honest and friendly personality.
Shinya Yuda - Faith (voiced by Yuuki Sakakihara): A cool middle school 2nd year (8th grade) student boy. As a child and heir to the academy principal, he is being taught various things. He hates people who make pacts, including the protagonist.
Kokoro Surugadai - Sloth (voiced by Kotori Koiwai): A mysterious high school 1st year (10th grade) student girl. Gifted with a high IQ, she secludes herself inside the library. She also has the Pact of Sloth. She prefers safety and security. She hates both hurting and getting hurt
Ryotaro Date - Greed (voiced by Taito Ban): An arrogant high school 2nd year (11th grade) student guy. He is famous in the academy for having a lot of unprecedented heroic stories, and he also has the Pact of Greed. He is the son of a family that owned a conglomerate company.
Sub Characters
Chiyo Aikawa (voiced by Madoka Asahina): A middle school 1st year (7th grade) student who is also a member of the newspaper club. She calls the amnesiac protagonist "big brother". She has a weak bronchial tube, so the mist ruins her body.
Kakeru Hasegawa (voiced by Wataru Hatano): The academy's doctor. He is poor at physical activities, keeping things tidy, and remembering people's names. Although he's so sloppy, he can still get his job done.
Sora Jingu (voiced by Suzuko Mimori): The academy principal. She knows well about the demons and the other world. She will support the protagonist and your party by telling you methods to beat the incident sources and the Contractors.
Yugo Jingu (voiced by Shinichiro Kamio): The academy's steward. Shinya treats him like a martial arts teacher. Although he is Sora's husband, she doesn't tell him about the demons and the other world.
Neiko Yasuragi (voiced by Satomi Akesaka): The beautiful insurance doctor. She is liked by everyone for her friendly personality. She prefers to be called Shironeko (white cat). She is tasked to watch over the sloppy doctor Hasegawa.
Kurama Hitotsubashi (voiced by Shinichiro Miki): A stern high school 3rd year (12th grade) student guy. He becomes the student council president in the original organization after the incident. After calming down students from the phenomenon, he cuts off ties between schoolhouses and makes sure other students don't get into Mist areas.
Hayate Tsumabuki (voiced by Ryusei Nakao): A teacher in the academy. He is yearned by students for his thoughtful and gentle personality. A well-known teacher who used to work as a principal in another school and even received a medal from the country. He is also an old acquaintance of Ryotaro Date's grandfather.
Subaru Ikariya (voiced by Atsushi Tamaru): An eerie high school 1st year (10th grade) student boy. This occult mania goes to the library after school to read documents about black magic alone every day. His personality always leads him to fights, even teachers are putting him on the watch list. He threatens other students by saying he himself is the source of the phenomenon.
Akane Tono (voiced by Mikoi Sasaki): The elder sister of the twins in the high school 2nd year (11th grade). She is called "Shin Mikado's Cinderella" for having beautiful looks and a warm, immaculate personality. She has a strong fantasy and delusion to life and romance. Akane just made her first boyfriend when the story starts.
Sumire Tono (voiced by Mikoi Sasaki): The younger sister of Akane. She also looks beautiful just like her twin sister, but she is called "Shin Mikado's Little Devil" for her wiles against guys. She repeatedly changes her lover. Sumire never falls deep in love nor depends on guys. She has recently made another new boyfriend.
Yoru (voiced by Ayasa Ito): A mysterious woman who appears in the protagonist's dreams. The things she said would be part of the reason of this phenomenon.
Key Staff
Publisher: FuRyu
Developer: Lancarse
Planning, Produce, Direction: Fuyuki Hayashi (Crystar), Mitsuhiro Hoshino
Scenario: Fuyuki Hayashi, Ryutaro Ito
Scenario supervision: Kazunari Suzuki, Aya Nishitani
BGM composer: Tsukasa Masuko (worked on about 40 tracks for this game)
Character designer: so-bin
