Monster Rancher 4

Into Liquid Sky

You'll get out of it what you put in. You can get into the game fairly quickly, but the real rewards come from investing time in the exploration and monster-developing aspects of the game.

GamingTrend

This iteration of the franchise makes a multitude of improvements on an already great formula, and they’ve made gold… Pure gold.

Armchair Empire

RPG fan or not, Monster Rancher 4 gives everybody a little taste of something.

Game Chronicles

The innovative monster-creating facet alone will surely entertain for hours and leave a lasting impression on any newcomers to the series.

Deeko

Though the graphics leave a bit to be desired, the soundtrack is dull beyond belief and the menu systems are a bit difficult to simply pick up and play, the overall game mechanics are rock solid and the advancements made to the series are incredible and well thought out.

IGN

From the enhanced battle system and refined training regiment to an all-out RPG story mode and altered visual approach, it's a much different game than its predecessor. But more importantly, it's a whole lot of fun.

GameZone

The overall element remains intact … train, fight, adventure ... but you can also do more personal area customization and once again cross breed which can add hours and hours to the gameplay.

Game Informer

Holding true to its heritage, Monster Rancher 4 is a wildly addictive game that is capable of sucking away your life in no time flat. [Dec 2003, p.145]

GameNow

The coolest addition is the ability to raise more than one monster at once, adding a level of strategy to picking the monster you enter in a particular competition. [Jan 2004, p.60]

Cheat Code Central

More engaging and just like the monsters that it features, it's an evolution in progress.

GamePro

While the story line is relayed in a disappointing series of 2D images and conversation captions (no animated cut-scenes or voice acting), and even the fights don't push the PS2 to its graphical limit, the interactive gameplay is entertaining enough to make up for it.

PSM Magazine

The best Monster Rancher yet, with more RPG elements. [Holiday 2003, p.40]

GameCritics

I hate Monster Rancher. No other series turns me into such a complete vegetable, helpless to do anything but sit in front of my PlayStation 2 devoting hours upon hours the way this one does.

Game Over Online

The game lacks the necessary bells and whistles that contemporary gamers have come to expect from their digital entertainment but it’s hard not to like MR4’s simplistic, RPG style, monster fighting mechanics nonetheless.

GameSpot

The series is definitely starting to show its age, at this point, and only a fan could overlook some of the game's shortcomings. In the end, however, the formula still works.

GMR Magazine

By upping the number of creatures in a stable, Tecmo has dramatically quickened the game's pace, with only a minimal trade-off in terms of the number of menus a trainer must plod through. [Jan 2004, p.60]

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Although it boasts a host of innovations that are supposed to set it a breed apart from its predecessor, Monster Rancher 4 never captured me in the way MR3 did.

eToychest

A great game that is held back by a few problems, and a training system that will push your average gamer.

GamerFeed

It grew on me! MR4's an addictive battle monster game that's amazingly deep and a lot of fun.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

It's still Monster Rancher, though, and it's still great for fans like me, but it's not the step forward I was craving. [Jan 2004, p.142]

Edge Magazine

With no real sense of connection with your monsters, or of engagement with the clumsily delivered plot, there is little here to help the game overcome its tendency towards charmless, chore-based repetition. [Jan 2004, p.106]