Recent reviews by MeowMixMasterMike

Harry Potter as an immersive sim works fantastic

The only real "negative" (not actually a negative, more a word of warning) I can give to Monster Train 2 is that it is notably more complex than the first game so you should really have a solid mastery of Monster Train 1 beforehand.

Otherwise, my only real notes are some QoL stuff that could easily be updated like better indicators that you have active abilities available.

My biggest note is not to think of the game (at least in it's current state, maybe it will grow in this direction later) as more than an arcade game. You shouldn't come in expecting to put in Luck Be A Landlord hours. It is a very well made loop in the same way that old arcade games were very fun loops that you aren't really meant to stare at for hours. It wouldn't shock me at all if in the future the game gets much more meat on its bones to encourage longer play, but right now it does an excellent job of getting across a short loop.

The handling is back to normal.
They changed it back so that all classes are unlocked in free play.

I could complain about some actively being developed balance issues, but this is explicitly a demo for a game that likely isnt releasing for at least six more months. I think the new roguelite framing is a solid choice, though one that will definitely need polish and additions to make feel more impactful and directed than it currently is.

There are some small complaints I have (mainly things like mixing taking too long/too much inventory space), but it's a very solid time. The Among Us esque physics based tasks make things feel a lot less basic than they otherwise would.

Would I recommend buying it at early access launch? Not necessarily, but I also wouldn't have recommended the early access launch of Wreckfest 1 which launched very similarly to this. This launch is very early, but so was the first game and the first game is now my favorite racing game of all time and this game still has the fantastic driving, physics, and AI that made me fall in love with the first entry.

This has honestly launched quite a bit earlier than it should have, but it's stable and the driving loop is all there. The best thing I can say for it is that even after removing all the bells and whistles (and I do mean all), Wreckfest's driving still feels exceptional. Even in this extremely raw state, the driving is still easily some of the best in business.

Do I wish they waited a little longer so that there would be more to it? Yeah for sure.
Does the very small bit that is there feel excellent? Absolutely.

It's very blatantly ripping most of its base systems from Balatro, but it is a legitimately solid, balanced game in its own right. It's not like it just copied Balatro and didn't bother to try anything further, there's quite a bit going on here.

I am pretty amazed that this game's writing can actually hold up quite well against Disco Elysium. It's not trying to do near as much deep introspection, but it's nailing what it is trying to do.
Now easily one of my most anticipated games.

My only major complaint is that the combat phase isn't especially well explained

You're never gonna guess what you do in this one.