Summer is the season of game announcements, which means the months leading up to it become the season of game leaks. ThePersonaandShin Megami Tenseifranchises have managed to go relatively leak-free in 2021, but it seems that another game in development byMegami Tenseiveterans suffered a leak just before it was supposed to be announced. That game isMonark,a previously unannounced title that now has a mysterious teaser website active, as well as official social media accounts. AlthoughMonarkwas apparently intended to get announced on June 10, the trailer for the game briefly appeared a few days early on Japanese game developer and publisher FuRyu’s YouTube channel.
Not much information has been gleaned from the trailers brief appearance, andMonark’s teaser website and Twitter don’t offer specifics either, but evidence suggests that the game will be an RPG pretty similar toShin Megami TenseiandPersona.That particularly stands to reason since theMonarkwebsite reveals a few specific ex-Megami Tenseidevelopers who are now part ofMonark.Althoughthe talent behindMonarkis promising,the premise of the game does need to stand out in one way or another. It needs to lean into some potential unique qualities to really compete with the games that inspired it.
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Monark’s Similarities to Megami Tensei
At the start of June, an issue of Weekly Famitsu revealed that a “new school RPG” would get announced on June 10. All signs now indicate that that game isMonark,especially based on some screenshots that savvy Twitter users got that shows the game’s school themes. One image shows the presumed protagonist ofMonark,a white-haired teenager in a high school uniform. School RPGs are very popular among JRPGs, andPersonain particular has a long history of starring high schoolers as the main characters.Persona’s rising popularity was probably a major contributorto motivatingMonark’s developers to lean into that genre.
Monark’s relationship with the supernatural also sounds a little bit like theMegami Tenseifamily of games. Although strictly speaking any supernatural elements inMonarkhaven’t been revealed, a secret message in the website’s source code mentions the player’s “ego”, which rings faintly of a Persona, and could suggest a summoning mechanic similar toPersona’s lore orShin Megami Tensei’s demon commanding. The aforementioned screenshot also has a headshot of theMonarkprotagonist in a much flashier outfit that might remind some of a Phantom Thief’s transformation inPersona 5’s Metaverse. In spite of a relatively small amount of information aboutMonark,there’s lots of evidence thatMegami Tenseiis a major inspiration here.
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How Monark Can Stand Out
Naturally,Monarkprobably doesn’t want to just copyMegami Tenseiwholesale. It needs unique elements to attract fans, or they’ll just stick to other games. One thingMonarkcould do is explore darker themes thanPersonalargely does without using thepost-apocalyptic conceit thatShin Megami Tenseiis famousfor. A mysterious phone number on theMonarkwebsite gives callers a chance to hear a creepy interaction between two unidentified figures, which makes it clear thatMonark’s tone won’t be light. IfMonarkwalks a middle ground betweenPersona’s tone andShin Megami Tensei’s conventions, it’ll already be exploring something a little newer.
Combat is a major area thatMonarkcan stand out.Shin Megami TenseiandPersonafamously swap a lot of notesin terms of combat, sometimes even sharing ability names and basic mechanics.Monark’s combat has the chance to be completely different from theMegami Tenseigames since it doesn’t have that luxury of sharing mechanics. It could come to the table with totally a totally different spell system, unique weapons and equipment, innovative resource systems, or any other number of innovations.Monarkmight not even be a turn-based game; it could be an action RPG with real-time combat, ultimately playing nothing likePersonaorSMT.
June 10 is already an exciting day for the game industry.Summer Game Fest starts that day, with Geoff Keighley and IGN promising some announcements. Plus, it’s the day before E3, so it’s practically the last chance for major leaks to upheave the industry ahead of the conference.Monarkis one more interesting announcement to add to everything that’s already going on on the 10th. Fans ofShin Megami TenseiandPersonashould probably keep an eye on the game, considering the experience that’s going intoMonark’s development. Once it’s released properly, theMonarktrailer ought to clear up some questions about where the game is going.
Monarkreportedly releases in Japan on Jun 12, 2025 for unspecified platforms.
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