Info about Monster Sanctuary - Monster Journal:

Official game description:
Delve even deeper into the world of Monster Sanctuary, learn of the mysteries and secrets which permeate from every corner of the map! With art and lore for all 101 in game monsters and tales from the old world, the journal will take you through an in-depth journey through the game!

Release date: Dec 8, 2020

Categories: Monster Collecting, Monster Breeding, Turn-based RPG, Metroidvania, Team-based Combat, Art Book, Support the Developers


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: N/A
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The reviews only describe the DLC as an external PDF monster journal and express disappointment that it is not integrated in-game. No review reports time to complete the game, story completion time, typical session length, or endgame playtime for Monster Sanctuary - Monster Journal, so all playtime metrics are null.
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Supports the Developers (weight 0.64): Many reviewers appreciate the product as a way to support the developers beyond the initial purchase. They describe it as a good and lovely way to show support.
- Detailed Monster Encyclopedia (weight 0.56): The product provides comprehensive monster information including bio/history, strengths/weaknesses, explore abilities, and possible loot. It covers all monsters obtainable by capturing.
- Detailed and Better Than Journal (weight 0.32): The content is detailed and considered better than the in-game journal, which is also described as extremely content-rich.
- Combat and Team Tips (weight 0.31): Includes tips on how to fight monsters, team composition, mechanics, and base team-building knowledge.
- Fun and Good Game (weight 0.3): Reviewers find the game fun and very good. This general positive sentiment appears repeatedly.
- Better Than Wiki (weight 0.19): Reviewers find it a better reference guide than the wiki due to its intuitive formatting.
- Saves Time for Team Building (weight 0.19): It saves time when building a monster party for trials by clearly showing skills, variant differences, habitats, and histories at a glance.
- High-Quality Character Art (weight 0.18): The artbook shows a lot of love and care in the character designs.
- Fills in as You Obtain (weight 0.18): Blank pages fill in as you obtain the corresponding monster, helping track collection progress.
- Helps with Achievement (weight 0.18): It helps with completing the 'Gotta Hatch 'em All!' achievement by showing which pages are unfilled.
- Exclusive World Lore (weight 0.18): Provides lore about the world that is not in the game.
- Bypasses Ownership Requirement (weight 0.17): Bypasses the need to own a monster to learn all its information.
- Updated with Latest Monster (weight 0.16): The encyclopedia is updated to include the latest monster number 111, Bard.
- Copyable Text for Translation (weight 0.16): Text can be selected and copied, allowing pasting into a translator.
- Nice Book (weight 0.14): The book is simply described as nice.

Common complaints:
- English-only PDF guide (weight 0.97): Reviewers report that the PDF guide is available only in English, preventing German, French, and Russian speakers from understanding it despite store page language claims.
- DLC not in game (weight 0.76): Players expect the DLC content to be integrated into the game but find it only as a separate PDF that must be opened externally from the download folder.
- Guide lacks explanatory content (weight 0.42): The book includes pictures of skill tree abilities and light/dark changes but does not explain them, and it omits out-of-combat monster abilities.
- Guide unrelated to base game (weight 0.38): Some reviewers feel the e-book is just a sprite introduction with little relevance to the base game, and one could not locate the illustrated journal.
- Information available free online (weight 0.3): Reviewers note that the same information is or will be available for free online, and future balance changes may make the paid guide outdated.

Gameplay feedback:
- Monster info via capture (weight 0.52): Players learn monster information by capturing them, similar to a Pokédex system. The journal starts with blank pages that fill in as monsters are obtained.
- Team-based combat (weight 0.17): Combat involves team composition and mechanics, requiring players to strategically assemble their monster teams. This adds depth to battles beyond simple capturing.
- Collection achievement (weight 0.16): The 'Gotta Hatch 'em All!' achievement is tied to collecting monsters. This encourages players to capture and hatch a variety of creatures.

Performance notes:
No performancepoints

Recommendations:
- Positive lore-focused recommendation (weight 0.14): One reviewer recommends the content for players interested in the game's lore. The feedback is brief and offers no further detail.
- Support-only purchase advice (weight 0.14): A reviewer says to buy only to support the game, stating it is unnecessary for those who just play. This is a purchase-value opinion rather than gameplay feedback.
- Worth the money (weight 0.14): One short review states the content is worth the money. It provides no specific justification for the recommendation.
- Not recommended to purchase (weight 0.14): A single reviewer advises against buying the content without giving specific reasons. The feedback is minimal and offers no actionable detail.

Other player notes:
- Located in game folder (weight 0.91): The PDF is found in the game's installation directory, such as SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Monster Sanctuary/MonsterJournal_2022.pdf. It is not accessible in-game.
- DLC is a PDF file (weight 0.86): Multiple clusters confirm the DLC is delivered as a PDF file, typically located in the game's install directory. It requires a PDF viewer to access.
- Monster encyclopedia with lore (weight 0.52): The PDF serves as a monster encyclopedia containing bio/history, strengths/weaknesses, explore abilities, possible loot, tips, and world lore not in the game's story.
- Compared to wiki (weight 0.28): Users compare the PDF to the wiki, noting it is formatted more intuitively but the wiki has more information. The same information is also available for free online.
- Artbook and sprite book (weight 0.26): Some describe the PDF as an artbook with character designs or an e-book introducing game sprites.
- Included in deluxe edition (weight 0.14): The PDF is included with the deluxe edition of the game.
- Still being updated (weight 0.14): The PDF is still being updated, indicating ongoing support.

Emotions:
- Disappointment (weight 0.33): Users are disappointed because the PDF does not match the advertised languages, such as French or Russian, despite store page claims. The DLC also lacks detailed information for planning ahead, falling short of expectations.
- Confusion (weight 0.27): Buyers are confused about how to access or view the guide after purchasing the DLC, as the content does not appear in the game. The PDF being in English also causes confusion for non-English speakers, and some cannot locate the journal mentioned by others.
- Frustration (weight 0.2): Frustration arises from the inability to display the PDF in German despite trying tips, and the DLC being a hidden PDF in the download folder rather than viewable in-game. Additionally, the content is not game content and refunds have been refused, intensifying frustration.
- Appreciation (weight 0.13): Users appreciate the DLC as a nice way to support the developers and as a lovely companion to the game. The detailed content is better than the in-game journal and saves time on team building.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.07): Satisfaction comes from the feeling of helping support the developers of a game that users consider awesome.}