Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX coming to Switch, PC Steam, and iOS on December 9 [Update]
Update: Kazumi Fujita, the executive producer of Koei Tecmo's Monster Rancher series, has officially confirmed through Koei Tecmo America and Europe that Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX will be released simultaneously worldwide on December 9. The English releases of the DX ports will be available on Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam, and iOS mobile devices.
The Monster Rancher games have been well-known for featuring monster creations by loading any other CDs on the PlayStation platforms. As a refresher, these new ports will instead utilize an online CD database where you can look up music albums and game titles. Fujita also promised that the new version will connect players from all around the world, including Japan, through the online versus and tournament features.
Find the official English reveal trailer and screenshots right below. The original Japanese story follows afterwards.
Original: Koei Tecmo will release Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX digitally for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam on December 9 in Japan. These new ports are being made to prepare for the series' 25th anniversary next year in 2022.
The two classic Monster Rancher games were originally released for the first PlayStation in 1997 and 1999, respectively. But recently, Koei Tecmo released ports for both games on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices in December 2019 and September 2020.
The earlier ports were known to receive updates that added new features, not in the original PS1 releases. These new DX versions will add even more:
- All save data slots will be automatically available without any microtransaction
- Frozen monster slots are doubled from 10 to 20
- Activity Memo that will let you keep track of the monster's training regime
- High-Speed mode option that will speed up all gameplay movements
- New ranking leaderboards for online random battles
The DX version of Monster Rancher 2 will have even more additions. It will include monsters that were exclusively added to the English release and an option that lets the player choose between original and remastered music.
It is currently unknown whether owners of the earlier Japanese Switch ports can transfer their save data to DX or not. But if Koei Tecmo's Atelier Mysterious DX Trilogy is of any indication, it is likely that the new Monster Rancher DX versions might also be treated as completely separate titles.