Monarchy Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

by Jim Smale · December 12, 2024

Monarchy Review, Unleash your strategic brilliance in this 2D side-scrolling strategy game, where you must build a base, manage resources, explore the mysterious forest, and conquer your enemies. Place down your buildings anywhere you want using a dynamic building system to create a vibrant base! Explore the numerous caves throughout the forest to find treasures, enemies, and unexpected surprises!

Monarchy Review Pros:

Nice cartoon graphics.
954MB download size.
Game settings – lighting VFX, and screenshake.
2D game world with 3D backgrounds.
Four stages/events to play through – Bandit land, the Siege, Winter Knight, and Safe Lands.
Introduction level that is mandatory.
Three game difficulties – Easy, normal, and expert.
Male or female character choice.
You play as a king or Queen and build structures to create money, recruit party members, and then go out on adventures.
Use coins to recruit and create, you can earn them by finding coins, looting chests, killing enemies,s, etc.
Command your troops, click trees to have your axe men harvest them for resources, archers can take out animals for food, etc.
Day and night cycle.
To finish a level you have to raise the flag once you find it, the amount of coins varies.
Local multiplayer support.
Attacking enemies and animals is automatic for the archers and swordsmen.
You can watch the game play out, buildings being constructed, etc.
There is an element of being able to play how you want.
Your character is very weak.
It does have some chill-out effect to it but only after you’ve put the work in to protect yourself.
Great looking locations.
Find and encounter other settlements or people.
A person will randomly come to your settlement and may have rewards but also sell people.
The enemy can break down structures and if they break your tent down it’s instant game over.
Find and explore hidden caves and underground locations.

Monarchy Review Cons:

The tutorial is fine but it doesn’t spell anything out, it’s all images and it does a bad job of telling you that interactions are holding down the button rather than just pressing and how to actually end the tutorial.
Slow pacing and your character is slow even when you hold run down.
You have to do the tutorial in order to unlock the main game. This is only an issue if you are buying the game again.
The amount of coins you can carry is limited and earning any more will cause you to lose those coins forever.
Every time you load into a level it’s just slow and repetitive as you try and learn the lay of the land and where you can build.
None of the characters change their facial expressions.
Huge difficulty spikes constantly.
Getting killed is an instant game over and back to the title screen with no save or checkpoint.
It’s a game that is not ideal for playing when on the go as it doesn’t have a good save system.
There is no progress overall, each location/event is self-contained and you cannot unlock anything from progress.