I love working daycare. There is just something amazing about watching little babies take their first steps and say their first words to watching them as toddlers figure out how to catch a ball or preschoolers hold a pencil properly. There is just something so magical about seeing the wonder on their faces as they learn a new skill and then want to show it off to everyone.
I guess that might be part of why my favorite games have to do with training and raising monsters. It's almost the same feeling, watching tiny and cute critters grow and change into powerful beasts. All because I nurtured them and helped them grow. If I was into psychology, I would probably refer to some study about it firing off similar parts of the brain or something.
But I do realize that in some of these games, the acquisition of monsters can be a tad... questionable. Some might say inhumane. And I felt like it was time to take a look at five of the more popular raising games and look at the acquisition of monsters in a more analytical lens. The series I will be looking over consist of:
Pokemon: When people think “monster raising”, they usually think pokemon. This juggernaut of a franchise just celebrated 20 years and is still going strong. It was my, as well as many other people's, introduction to the genre. Honestly, no in-depth description is needed.
Digimon: In some ways the Luigi to Pokemon's Mario, Digimon has been around almost as long but always overshadowed. Please keep your torches and pitchforks at bay, but I always preferred the crazier and more complex designs of Digimon. The fact they are able to go balls to the wall insane, put guns on a wolf, call it “Zeedgarurumon” and call it a day. For this list, I am specifically looking at the newer and most popular game- Digimon Cyber Sleuth, which if you have a PS4 and haven't played it yet, I highly recommend it.
EDIT: Since I wrote this list, new Digimon games have been announced. This list will not put those into consideration, as I have not played them yet.
Dragon Quest Monsters: This game came out almost the same time as Pokemon, but because it was made for a niche genre in America (Dragon Quest fans), it didn't have much staying power. It did, however, have triple battles as a core part of its gameplay TWELVE YEARS before Pokemon considered it. I will be focusing specifically on the Joker series for the DS and most recently the 3DS with Joker 3.
Monster Rancher: Now unlike all the others where I feature more modern games, in this one I will be discussing older entrants in the series because there is rarely new Monster Rancher games. I really like Monster Rancher because there is more an aspect on the raising than the battle system, which is a very unique take as opposed to the rest of the series on this list.
Monster Hunter Stories: This is the newest game on the list, only coming out two years ago, and it has really made an impression on me. The idea of training and riding the enormous scary monsters that you initially had to go out and kill in previous games, and the fact that even in plot the riders recognize themselves as a rarity, is amazingly unique. I really hope more comes from this sub-franchise than one game- mostly because I want to be able to train my mystical soap dragon.
UPDATE: Monster Hunter Stories 2 was released very recently, and my mystical soap dragon is one of the monsters you can acquire! I do not have it yet, but I’m looking forward to the point in which I can.
Now, how am I defining “humane” for the sake of this ranking? Well, let's look at the first two definitions according to dictionary.com:
Humane is: (1)- Characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially the suffering or distressed, and (2)- Acting in a manner that causes the least harm to people and animals.
According to these two definitions, I'm looking at the games in a way that causes the least cruelty and distress to the animals you are raising. This distress can come from injury or removing a creature from their natural habitat.
Now that the players have been introduced and rules have been laid down, how about we get on to the meaty part of this article? I will be going in order from most humane to least humane.
5
Digimon Cyber Sleuth
Cyber Sleuth has a weird advantage because all the monsters are Digital, and not flesh-and-blood monsters like the other games in the series. Because of this, the method in which you get the monsters is by “Scanning” them. Once you enter a battle, the digimon you are battling is scanned and that is shown with a little percentage bar at the top. Once you scan a Digmon to 100%, you can go to the lab and use the data to create a brand new Digimon. The best part? You don't have to beat the digimon to get the scan data. You can just run around an area, scanning Digimon and running away from battles. No harm, no foul. And no tearing creatures from their native landscapes. All in all, it's a win-win.
4
Monster Rancher
The Monster Rancher series has been amazing for keeping the same acquisition technique through multiple games with multiple technologies. On the Playstation games, you acquire monsters by putting different CDs into your system while playing the game and each CD will generate a different monster. On the Gameboy Advance game I am used to, you write words on a tablet that generate random monsters depending on the words. It's super fun to write the names of your friends on the tablets and see what monsters they are. And because of this, you also have a non-combat system of acquisition where you utilize an alternate method of getting the monsters that you raise. The only reason this is higher up than Cyber Sleuth is because some monsters can only be found in rare discs that you may not have a chance of ever acquiring, making completion a very difficult task.
3
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
In all honesty, this is probably my favorite method of monster acquisition in any game because it shows a true unity and respect between trainer and monster. Once you enter a battle, you have the option to “Scout” an enemy monster on the field. Instead of doing any damage, when you scout your monsters show off displays of strength to try and impress the monsters to join your side. If the display is impressive enough to the enemy, they join you. Now you might be saying “That sounds like a pretty combat-free method of acquiring monsters! Why wasn't this a lower spot?” Well, monsters are easier to scout when they are alone, so if they show up in a party of two or three then you have to pick off the other monsters before you scout the one you want. And some monsters need to be wounded a little before scouting. So combat is still needed to scout, but the method is less of a capture and more of a mutual bond.
2
Monster Hunter Stories
Now we start to truly get into the sketchy acquisitions of monsters. In Monster Hunter Stories, you find Monster Dens all over the world, and in these dens are Egg Nests. You steal the eggs and take them back to your little farm area to hatch them into the monsters that are inside, shown through the pattern and color of the egg (by the way, the cutscene eggs resemble no eggs in the game, so I can't tell you what monster our intro hero will hatch). Now, baby theft is usually a HUGE no-no, but what makes this worse is that sometimes a full-grown monster is prowling the den, and you have to get rid of them before you take the egg, leaving an entire nest alone and unable to protect itself. Because this is a situation that only happens sometimes, it stays at a number 2 spot, because hatching and raising the monster has no real harm on the creature that you have raised, but think of the parent you just stole from.
1
Pokemon
I think everyone was expecting this, honestly. Pokemon may be the most popular of the monster raising games, but it is the cruelest in a way. You go to a pokemon's home, beat them within an inch of their life, and then chuck a ball at them, making them yours. Pokemon are easier to catch if you make them fall asleep or paralyze them, adding additional injury.
Think of this from the wild pokemon's perspective: you are doing your thing- running around in the grass, eating nuts and berries, when suddenly you are startled by a trainer. After trying to defend yourself, you are beaten up by another pokemon and a strange object is thrown at you and you are engulfed. You struggle to release yourself, but you are too weak. You resign to your fate. Your life is changed forever. Yes, you grow to bond with your captor and eventually become their ally and friend, but the initial experience was traumatizing.
Yes, there is the argument some make that the pokemon seek you out and battle you to test your strength, but by the definition I am using as my basis, it is still an inhumane method of acquisition.
So there you have it! Now you know- if you want to play a Monster Raising game but want to play in a way that considers the well-being of your digital creature in mind, Digimon games are the most guilt-free monster raising games out there, and Pokemon is one of the worst. Don't get me wrong- I love all these games equally and pitting them against each other is like making my own children fight. But this was a lot of fun to overthink in the way Nerds tend to do that.
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