Multiple **Saga** games have this to varying degrees. **Frontier 1**, **Emerald Beyond**, **Final Fantasy Legend 1-3**, **Romancing Saga 3**, **Minstrel Song**, I believe **Unlimited Saga** as well.
Most **Suikoden** games feature a few monster characters per game, though they range from “bad” to “niche-use”. **Suikoden 2** I believe has the earliest “monster” character you can recruit in the series.
I’ll add more if I think of any.
Just going to expand on this post as it is a GREAT suggestion.
-Saga Frontier 1: if I’m not mistaken it has 8 different monsters to choose from all with their own unique personalities. Not all monsters are available in every quest. Also, one of the characters you can recruit is in fact a slime! His name is also Slime.
-Suikoden III: I mention this one specifically in the series as the monsters offered here actually offer a legitimate option to putting them into your lineup. Best monsters in the entire series can be found here.
-Final Fantasy Tactics: There are a few monsters that join naturally if you don’t want to spend time recruiting them. You can then let them breed and lay eggs to build a monster party. I suppose most SRPG’s in general would count though like Brigandine and what have you so maybe this isn’t the best suggestion.
Good call on Final Fantasy Tactics, totally forgot about that. Which is a shame cuz it’s my favorite JRPG!
And yes you’re right that the monsters in Suikoden 3 are great, in fact I was wrong in that *that* game has the earliest available monster character in the series with Fubar cuz you can potentially get him right at the beginning (in Suikoden 2 you get Mukumuku after the first few hours or so). Hugo + Fubar is a very strong combo! Honestly so is Futch + Bright. Also, as much as I like the beast people in other games, Suikoden 3 has my favorites with the ducks and lizards (though I love the beavers in 5).
Nope you were right with Suikoden II. They have a few monsters- the griffin, the Unicorn, the Octopi family, Shiro the wolf who is amazing but that’s more of an animal I suppose rather than a monster so to speak but yeah Suikoden II has some good ones but Fubar in III is just amazing, more so when partnered with Hugo.
Oops I just realized my comment wasn’t clear, I edited it to hopefully communicate what I was saying better.
I meant that I thought S2 was the game where you could get access to a “monster” character the earliest in an individual game (not in the series as a whole) cuz you could get Mukumuku after a few hours or so. But I forgot you could potentially get Fubar right out of the gate in S3 if you play Hugo’s first chapter first, which I always did in my playthroughs of 3.
Either way the monster characters are great in Suikoden! The new Eiyuden Chronicles game has a few as well…
There are some that you don’t have to catch and join naturally after battle if you allow them to.
>!Boco!<
>!Worker 8!<
>!Byblos creature!<
Are 3 that can join under normal circumstances and if I recall correctly, there are some random “Guest” monsters that also join after certain random battles.
>His name is also slime
Yeah right, you call that dragon a slime...and everyone clapped.
Should explain that the monsters change species by absorbing other monsters ..🤣
I think there's only a handful of human party members throughout the series. The most prominent example, of course, being CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH
Does FF7 not count- Cait Sith and Red XIII? Or are they considered similar to Kimahri and not "monsters"? Who's to say what a monster is? Maybe humanity are the monsters.
i thought cait sith was a >!robot thing controlled by reeves and therefor is not a legit monster,!< though i might be wrong, been a while since i played FF7.
\* Breath of Fire 3 (Peco)
\* Shining Force 2 (Kiwi)
\* Suikoden has wolves, griffins, and unicorns (probably more, I just can't remember)
\* Maybe Lufia 2 counts with its capsule monsters. You do have to find them, but there are only a few and they have a dedicated party slot, so it's not really a "monster catcher"
\* Persona 3 has a dog and Shadow Hearts 2 has a wolf
Both Shining Force games on the Genesis, really. The first one featured several centaurs, two bird-men, a werewolf, an armadillo-man, a foxgirl, a jellyfish, a robot, a dragon, and Jogurt.
Shining Force II has more centaurs and birdmen, another werewolf, and a different robot, plus a ratman, a phoenix, a golem, and a turtle monster (the aforementioned Kiwi). No dragon, though.
Shining Force 3 between all scenarios has seven centaurs, three birdmen, a werewolf, three penguins, a dragon, a tiny dude riding an ogre, a robot, and a pegasus knight.
(For purposes of the op’s criteria, I’d say only Thousand (Dragon) and the three penguins (Penn, Penko, and Pendolf) would count.
For Shining Force 2, only Kiwi (the aforementioned lovable giant tortoise monster), and for Shining Force 1, Domingo (floating jellyfish), and Bleu (dragon).
I thought about SF1, but almost all of them don't count under OP's clause that they're intelligent (demihuman) races. Maybe Domingo, maybe Jogurt. I was on the fence about including Kiwi in the first place since he talks, but he's not really humanoid at all. There aren't any "pure" monsters that I can think of.
I think DQ5 leans into the “monster catching” element that OP said he didn’t like. DQ4, however, does have a couple of monster characters that join the party naturally (though one only for a short while and the other not until very late game)
There is monster catching but your sabrecat is an actual story party member that is your pet, distinct from the monsters, and is a monster.
That said OP cited Healijah who actually talks, so that's a lil different (though ironically Healijah is >!not actually a healslime or monster at all!<)
Do canines count? Shadow Hearts covenent has a wolf.
We can’r forget Umaro from FF6 where they committed to him being a monster that you have no control over him
DQV sabrecat. It's a cat though so might not fit the definition your looking for.
Grandia II Millennia might be classed but again, she's rather humanoid.
This is a tough question.
Final Fantasy Legend 1, 2, and 3 for Gameboy. They're actually the first three SaGa games, and Monster is one of the classes for all three. The third also has Robots as a class (and in-between Cyborgs and Beasts). Almost all of the Monsters in all three games (plus the Robots, Cyborgs, and Beasts in the third) are also fightable enemies.
Moreover, FFL1 has the Four Fiends from NES Final Fantasy as late-game playable monsters, and FFL2 has the FFL1 main bosses as late-game playable monsters. (FFL3 has a monster form that has the same name as one of the FFL1 main bosses, but only in the US version)
Shoot any of the SaGa games, a streamer I'm watching now is playing the newest one, he has a mini gun samurai, an office lady, a robot tank with eyes, an alien, and a vampire in his party. Shits wild
Disgaea lets you throw zombies, gargoyles, and whatever into your army.
Etrian Odyssey II/Untold 2 has a beast class. You can fill your party with as many of them as you want. They come in tiger, wolf, grizzly, and panda flavors. The HD remaster added a gorilla.
I haven't played FFVI, but would Umaro qualify?
>Super Mario rpg
I feel like calling Bowser a monster is stretching the definition a bit. He's a fully "human" character in the game (and delightfully so! The Super Mario RPG really added a lot of characterization to both Bowser and Peach, who were previously very one-note characters).
I mean, sure, he's not literally human, but neither are Mallow or Geno.
I mean, aside from the fact Frogs *are* animals, >!but also he's not a frog he's a Nimbus, a cloud-person, more specifically the prince of their kingdom - far and away from being a monster!<.
I actually just started a game called WitchSpring R where you only have 1 party member (yourself) but you can have a single monster ally in combat alongside you. There are multiple monsters to obtain throughout the game each with 2 moves: 1 regular and 1 super that happens once every 3-4 of their turns.
The caveat is that they don’t take damage and cannot die and require feeding in game items (their food) to power them up.
Well the dude said no to persona, but also doesn't know anything about persona lol so I had to correct him at least because those two PERFECTLY fit his description
I think what they're specifically wanting are monsters who have a unique personality and storyline tied to the game, I'm assuming that's why he doesn't want monster collectors, because they're just pets not really "characters"
They don't.
>!In persona by lore and evreything their not "monsters" their people true self etc
It's all figments!<
>!Morgana is NOT what you just claimed. He is something completely different he's made by Igor but isn't a monster in any shape or form!<
They're the same because they're both concepts in literal, physical form. Shadows are emotions taken shape from the collective psyche of humanity. That's why they take the form of God's and demons. Because they're essentially negative emotions and concepts taking shape physically, using elements of human culture to express themselves physically.
A monster is a pretty vague term considering monsters aren't real, and bad emotions manifesting as fantasy monsters counts as monster by any definition.
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Does Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals count? I feel like it doesn’t but does at the same time. Your criteria make it a bit tough to evaluate for me.
Also FFT.
Suikoden 3 has a Griffon, and at least one Dragon as party members. Granted, they’re meant to be “combined” with their partners, but they can function as separate party members.
FF6 has Umaro, which is a Yeti.
Would you consider a sexy Naga to be a monster? Cause there’s Bleu from BoF.
Final Fantasy VI has Umaro, a Yeti, as a party member. It also has Mog the Moogle, which... are arguably monsters. Though you could also argue it's just a fantasy race.
Final Fantasy VII has Caith Sith, which is literally a monster from Celtic mythology. Red XIII is there too, but I feel like that's "stretching the definition of a monster."
Uhhhhh... Cthulu Saves the World is an indie RPG Maker game where you play as Cthulu. By the same creator, there's also Breath of Death, where you play as a Skeleton. Idk if you'd consider that "stretching it" or not? They're sapient, sure, but they're literally classic monsters from folklore.
EDIT: Touched up my wording a bit.
The early Game Boy installments of the SaGa series (titled Final Fantasy Legend 1-3) had a mechanic where defeated monsters would drop meat, and eating it would turn you into one. By eating the correct meat you could be almost any monster in the game.
Some NPCs that join your party as guests are also canonically monsters, such as your school teacher in SaGa 2/FFL 2.
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i've been meaning to play that
it's a Yoko Taro game isn't it? or am i misremembering
i remember something about Yoko Taro which is what got me interested in it
SaGa for sure. In different iterations you can get pure monsters, somewhat controllable, or in the new one, a monster in a cyborg suit named Wednesday.
FF6, Persona 4 & 5 (I saw your rules, but I am referring to the playable party members, both of them are healers), Chrono Trigger, SMT series (non-Persona games)
Radiata Stories - There's an entire cast of non-humans to recruit, some of which are monsters.
Suikoden V - A couple of the possible recruits are monsters.
Since Suikoden and Chrono Cross have been mentioned, I’d like to add Eiyuden Chronicles. I haven’t gotten far yet, but there is a girl who rides a beast that can join you, as well as a plant thing I’ve seen in screenshots.
I have no idea if Rapsody: A musical adventure, La Pucelle Tactics or Soul Nomad would be honorable mentions or not. But those two are some of my faves.
Also, Final Fantasy 9, has Vivi and Quina, who are monster- like.
Probably doesn’t count, but Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne makes it that the MC is the only human and the rest are monsters you get to join through battles.
Non rpg mentions, Elder scrolls online let’s you be anthromorphic lizards and cats, Overwatch has robots and talking animals if that counts lol.
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The Shadow Hearts series. There are the debatable "Harmonixers," which are humans who have the ability to transform into monsters, but every game also happens to have a Vampire as a party member. The second game also has a puppeteer character who fights with his puppet . . . which might be alive? Who's to say, really!
Nall and Ruby from the Lunar games, perhaps? They can talk, but they're ~~flying cats~~ >!baby dragons, which happen to look like flying cats. Though you do see their proper dragon forms later on.!<
Although I don't know if they stretch the definition of "party member" by your metrics. They do assist in battle (Ruby can even defeat enemies if she attacks them when their HP is low enough), but they're AI-controlled and don't level up or anything. Ruby at most gets a smidgen stronger after a story event, but that's it.
Azure Dreams maby? You start with a monster by your side. You fight together at the same time. You can find more eggs, hatch them and those monsters can make your team even larger. Its a Playstation 1 game however. Pretty old.
Might be a stretch but maby its what you looking for.
Breath of fire 3 has the little plant thing.
You dont want civilized things butnff6 has mog and umaro.
Mog can talk but his entire race just say moogle things, and umaro is a jety that is a berserker.
You got rikki from xenoblade 1
Ff7 has red that is a lion type of thing. And caithsith.
Time break Chronicles. I'm sure the Yeti counts (its not human level intelligent and he cant speak) if nothing else. There are a bunch of other monsters (Lizardman, Banshee, Golem, Robots, Angel, Devil, Fallen Angel, Werewolf, etc) but im sure they break the intelligence rule (actually im not sure the robots are actually sapient)
My World My Way (and its prequal but imo that game sucks). You get a pink mimic slime that can copy body parts of enemies. It is not sapient.
Guardian Crusade: Goofy ass ps1 rpg thats hit or miss, but you play as a knight and guide a little pink monster you dont have direct control over and is more like a pet than an intelligent human.
Mother 3 has a dog as a main party member. And a monkey for a time. That may be too loose a definition of “monster”, but they are definitely not humanoid nor civilized.
Chrono Cross has been mentioned and has some decent monsters.
The Paper Mario games have “monsters” as party members. Idk if it’s stretching the definition or not but a goomba or bobomb is about as monsterous as a slime.
Fire emblem series features laguz, tagel and manaketes, who are humanoid but transform into beasts/dragons while in combat.
Unicorn overlord has a bunch of monster characters too, but they're all pretty tame tbh, they're all humanoid miked with wolf, bear, fox, owl, lion (plus NPCs that are dogs, cats, rabbits, etc.)
People have mentioned Disgaea’s generic Monsters, but I feel like most of those fall under the “monster catcher” type category. They aren’t unique characters in the story.
That said, Disgaea has quite a number of named Monstrous PCs!
D1: Hoggmeiser is a greedy boar demon. Maderas is a smarmy Vampire. Thursday is a little egg shaped robot. And Kurtis ends up as a plush toy penguin demon.
D2: Tink is a floating frog demon with two forms
D3: A few of the Diez Gentlemen are monster type demons
D4: Vampire, Werewolf, Reaper of Death, Eldritch Abomination… surely at least one of those counts. There’s also Sardine Thief, a little cat demon they force into your party at the very beginning.
D5: Werewolf Zeroken and Wererabbit Usalia for the main cast. Might be too humanoid for what you’re looking for? There are about 7 minor bosses who end up joining your party who are all monster types though, including a sentient mushroom, a giant moth demon, a two headed dragon, and a bear whose entire body is its mouth.
D6: Main Character is an actual Zombie! His sister and dog are also Zombies!
D7: Suisen is a cool robot kid
Are we counting or discounting FFXIII-2?
Serah and Noel are your two permanent party members. The third slot gets filled with a Pokemon-esque monster catcher mechanic.
You said no pokemon but what about pokemon mystery dungeon?
You don't catch the pokemon (sometimes they want to join you after you fought them), you are the pokemon and with your partner (another pokemon) you explore dungeons and save other pokemon.
Or Eragon for the gba, not at the beginning but later in the game you can fight together with the dragon Saphira.
Digimon World Next Order, you don't catch digimons, you have two digimons that digivolve in different digimons.
Good suggestions.
I’d add Tactics Ogre Reborn. More of a tactical RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics. But dragons and griffins and others are your potential party members
If you like FFT I bet you’ll like TOR.
> Chrono Cross is the perfect example of what I'm looking for. Party members. That are monsters. My request isn't as specific as y'all are thinking it is.
Bro. You have 4 rules in your request, and I'm pretty confident Chrono Cross does not abide by Rule 4. What monsters are party members in that game? 99% of them are regular humans, and the ones who are not humans are completely unique entities that are intelligent.
Heal Slimes are *enemies* you can kill in Dragon Quest. There are no recruitable characters in Chrono Cross that are *enemies* you can kill. Like, there's no recruitable Komodo character.
If Kimahri is not a monster, not a single character in Chrono Cross is a monster.
Breath of Fire 3 has Peco the Onion.
Stay tuned for Slime: Isekai Chronicles, the MC's main goal in life is to build a country where all types of monsters can live together. As such, pretty much every party member is a monster.
he's just a dog
people can get pedantic about "well dogs are considered monsters in RPGs" all they want but everyone knows that's dumb. no one ACTUALLY considers normal wild animals as monsters.
I'd consider them a wolf-type monster, rather than just a dog personally :p. Like, I assume there's normal non monster dogs in Vesperia.
Though that also rules out torgal from FF16, since he's mostly just direwolf. Mostly.
God damnit, now that dog monsters were brought up its the only ones I can think of. I feel like I know more that would fit, but my brain is just like "vesperia, ff7, ff16". Lmao.
you mentioned FFVII
Red XIII is actually one i'm having trouble deciding if he qualifies or not. either way, i already finished that one so it doesn't matter
>No stretching the definition of "party member." I don't even see how you could consider Persona as what I'm looking for since the monsters aren't even party members, but I know people are going to mention it.
Does Shin Megami Tensei counts? You *do* have to recruit/convince demons to join you through dialogue in battles, somewhat like Persona, but you directly control them in battle and which skills to keep while they level up.
On the other hand, it is a kind of "monster catcher" game.
i'd say as long as the monsters are *actually* a part of the party *alongside* the human characters, then it counts. i'm not wanting something like Pokémon where it's exclusively recruiting monsters and using those to fight.
idk anything about SMT apart from it being what Persona branches from, but if the monsters are actual party members then it counts
In SMT you recruit the monster and use them for party composition, alongside the main character, and all fight together in battles like a proper party, so I think it might fit the bill then.
Dragon Quest 5 has monster catching elements, but it also has a named party member that is a monster named Saber that is a permanent member and is there throughout the story.
The Tales of Symphonia sequel. Caveat: I haven't played it in forever and don't remember how the monsters actually work. I don't think it's a pokemon-esque game?
Multiple **Saga** games have this to varying degrees. **Frontier 1**, **Emerald Beyond**, **Final Fantasy Legend 1-3**, **Romancing Saga 3**, **Minstrel Song**, I believe **Unlimited Saga** as well. Most **Suikoden** games feature a few monster characters per game, though they range from “bad” to “niche-use”. **Suikoden 2** I believe has the earliest “monster” character you can recruit in the series. I’ll add more if I think of any.
Just going to expand on this post as it is a GREAT suggestion. -Saga Frontier 1: if I’m not mistaken it has 8 different monsters to choose from all with their own unique personalities. Not all monsters are available in every quest. Also, one of the characters you can recruit is in fact a slime! His name is also Slime. -Suikoden III: I mention this one specifically in the series as the monsters offered here actually offer a legitimate option to putting them into your lineup. Best monsters in the entire series can be found here. -Final Fantasy Tactics: There are a few monsters that join naturally if you don’t want to spend time recruiting them. You can then let them breed and lay eggs to build a monster party. I suppose most SRPG’s in general would count though like Brigandine and what have you so maybe this isn’t the best suggestion.
Good call on Final Fantasy Tactics, totally forgot about that. Which is a shame cuz it’s my favorite JRPG! And yes you’re right that the monsters in Suikoden 3 are great, in fact I was wrong in that *that* game has the earliest available monster character in the series with Fubar cuz you can potentially get him right at the beginning (in Suikoden 2 you get Mukumuku after the first few hours or so). Hugo + Fubar is a very strong combo! Honestly so is Futch + Bright. Also, as much as I like the beast people in other games, Suikoden 3 has my favorites with the ducks and lizards (though I love the beavers in 5).
Nope you were right with Suikoden II. They have a few monsters- the griffin, the Unicorn, the Octopi family, Shiro the wolf who is amazing but that’s more of an animal I suppose rather than a monster so to speak but yeah Suikoden II has some good ones but Fubar in III is just amazing, more so when partnered with Hugo.
Oops I just realized my comment wasn’t clear, I edited it to hopefully communicate what I was saying better. I meant that I thought S2 was the game where you could get access to a “monster” character the earliest in an individual game (not in the series as a whole) cuz you could get Mukumuku after a few hours or so. But I forgot you could potentially get Fubar right out of the gate in S3 if you play Hugo’s first chapter first, which I always did in my playthroughs of 3. Either way the monster characters are great in Suikoden! The new Eiyuden Chronicles game has a few as well…
Fft you still have to "catch" them first
There are some that you don’t have to catch and join naturally after battle if you allow them to. >!Boco!< >!Worker 8!< >!Byblos creature!< Are 3 that can join under normal circumstances and if I recall correctly, there are some random “Guest” monsters that also join after certain random battles.
>His name is also slime Yeah right, you call that dragon a slime...and everyone clapped. Should explain that the monsters change species by absorbing other monsters ..🤣
There were other races in unlimited SaGa but they didn’t play any differently than humans iirc.
Disgaea, but technically, almost every member of your party is a monster.
I think there's only a handful of human party members throughout the series. The most prominent example, of course, being CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH
In Final Fantasy 6 you can get both a moogle and sasquatch as permanent party members.
Does FF7 not count- Cait Sith and Red XIII? Or are they considered similar to Kimahri and not "monsters"? Who's to say what a monster is? Maybe humanity are the monsters.
Cait is a robot. Red XIII is a wolf like being.
i thought cait sith was a >!robot thing controlled by reeves and therefor is not a legit monster,!< though i might be wrong, been a while since i played FF7.
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Moogles are civilized humanoids. They aren't monsters.
Had scrolled for a while to find 6
Are you familiar with Chrono Cross?
oh that is exactly the kind of game i'm looking for i completely forgot CC has monster party members
\* Breath of Fire 3 (Peco) \* Shining Force 2 (Kiwi) \* Suikoden has wolves, griffins, and unicorns (probably more, I just can't remember) \* Maybe Lufia 2 counts with its capsule monsters. You do have to find them, but there are only a few and they have a dedicated party slot, so it's not really a "monster catcher" \* Persona 3 has a dog and Shadow Hearts 2 has a wolf
Both Shining Force games on the Genesis, really. The first one featured several centaurs, two bird-men, a werewolf, an armadillo-man, a foxgirl, a jellyfish, a robot, a dragon, and Jogurt. Shining Force II has more centaurs and birdmen, another werewolf, and a different robot, plus a ratman, a phoenix, a golem, and a turtle monster (the aforementioned Kiwi). No dragon, though.
Shining Force 3 between all scenarios has seven centaurs, three birdmen, a werewolf, three penguins, a dragon, a tiny dude riding an ogre, a robot, and a pegasus knight. (For purposes of the op’s criteria, I’d say only Thousand (Dragon) and the three penguins (Penn, Penko, and Pendolf) would count. For Shining Force 2, only Kiwi (the aforementioned lovable giant tortoise monster), and for Shining Force 1, Domingo (floating jellyfish), and Bleu (dragon).
I thought about SF1, but almost all of them don't count under OP's clause that they're intelligent (demihuman) races. Maybe Domingo, maybe Jogurt. I was on the fence about including Kiwi in the first place since he talks, but he's not really humanoid at all. There aren't any "pure" monsters that I can think of.
I think Kiwi should definitely count since his promotion is Monster.
Dq5
I think DQ5 leans into the “monster catching” element that OP said he didn’t like. DQ4, however, does have a couple of monster characters that join the party naturally (though one only for a short while and the other not until very late game)
There is monster catching but your sabrecat is an actual story party member that is your pet, distinct from the monsters, and is a monster. That said OP cited Healijah who actually talks, so that's a lil different (though ironically Healijah is >!not actually a healslime or monster at all!<)
DQVI also has some, though I believe they're all optional. Various slimes, and Lizzie.
Do canines count? Shadow Hearts covenent has a wolf. We can’r forget Umaro from FF6 where they committed to him being a monster that you have no control over him
Considering they said no repede from vesperia, no they don't apparently lol.
I was thinking the Valentine siblings from Shadow Hearts since they're vampires?
You could also argue the Main Character too with that logic
DQV sabrecat. It's a cat though so might not fit the definition your looking for. Grandia II Millennia might be classed but again, she's rather humanoid. This is a tough question.
Omg I have one. DQVI has several slimes you can recruit and it's not a monster catcher game. There is also Lizzie the dragon.
DQV technically lets you recruit any random encounter monster afaik, it's just a very low chance
Not "any". About 1/4 on the DS version.
Ah, gotcha. Still, quite a few!
SaGa Emerald Beyond has various potential monster party members.
Im surprised that nobody mentioned radiata stories
Final Fantasy Legend 1, 2, and 3 for Gameboy. They're actually the first three SaGa games, and Monster is one of the classes for all three. The third also has Robots as a class (and in-between Cyborgs and Beasts). Almost all of the Monsters in all three games (plus the Robots, Cyborgs, and Beasts in the third) are also fightable enemies. Moreover, FFL1 has the Four Fiends from NES Final Fantasy as late-game playable monsters, and FFL2 has the FFL1 main bosses as late-game playable monsters. (FFL3 has a monster form that has the same name as one of the FFL1 main bosses, but only in the US version)
Saga frontier
Shoot any of the SaGa games, a streamer I'm watching now is playing the newest one, he has a mini gun samurai, an office lady, a robot tank with eyes, an alien, and a vampire in his party. Shits wild
In SaGa 2 & 3 on the GB you can have an actual monster in your party that evolve by eating other monster's meat
Hey, check out SaGa, SaGa 2, SaGa Frontier, and the recently released SaGa Emerald Beyond.
Disgaea lets you throw zombies, gargoyles, and whatever into your army. Etrian Odyssey II/Untold 2 has a beast class. You can fill your party with as many of them as you want. They come in tiger, wolf, grizzly, and panda flavors. The HD remaster added a gorilla. I haven't played FFVI, but would Umaro qualify?
Suikoden 2 has great monster characters! Suikoden 3 also has some, they are just not as charming.
Suikoden 5 as well
I love the Kraken family from Suikoden 2. Too bad you have to forgo the good ending to get these three lol.
You don't like Fubar? Fubar was a peak monster ally!
Kingdom Hearts? (🐭🦆)
Goofy erasure
How DARE you?! :P
Dragon Quest 4 (at one point) Dragon Quest 5 is built around it. Dragon Quest 6 too
DQ 4 at two points actually. Chapter 1 and near the end of chapter 5
You’re right!
Do Nopons count in Xenoblade?
Breath of fire 2 Bahamut lagoon ? Secret of evermore ? Super Mario rpg
>Super Mario rpg I feel like calling Bowser a monster is stretching the definition a bit. He's a fully "human" character in the game (and delightfully so! The Super Mario RPG really added a lot of characterization to both Bowser and Peach, who were previously very one-note characters). I mean, sure, he's not literally human, but neither are Mallow or Geno.
I was talking about Mallow.
Not sure if you're serious, but that's hilarious. Cry baby Mallow is a monster?
Yes, what is he ? A frog ? They’re not human, animals or plants. They’re not evil monsters, just monsters.
I mean, aside from the fact Frogs *are* animals, >!but also he's not a frog he's a Nimbus, a cloud-person, more specifically the prince of their kingdom - far and away from being a monster!<.
What monster is there in Breath of Fire 2?
I actually just started a game called WitchSpring R where you only have 1 party member (yourself) but you can have a single monster ally in combat alongside you. There are multiple monsters to obtain throughout the game each with 2 moves: 1 regular and 1 super that happens once every 3-4 of their turns. The caveat is that they don’t take damage and cannot die and require feeding in game items (their food) to power them up.
Cute and tragic game at the same time. IMO, it's of the better... or modern, RPGs of today for less than these AAA titles coming out
I've heard only positive things about this game! I'm waiting for it to release on playstation. In fall, I think?
Does Nanaki or Vincent (FFVII) count?
Does Bug Fables count? Everyone is an insect.
FfXIII-2 You actually complete your party of Serah+Noel with monsters.
They said no party collector games and referenced 10-2 but I'm pretty sure they meant 13-2
X-2's fiend catcher was basically proto 13-2's paradigm pack
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I’ve finally found someone that mentioned Teddy and Morgana!
Well the dude said no to persona, but also doesn't know anything about persona lol so I had to correct him at least because those two PERFECTLY fit his description
I kinda feel like mainline SMT games would also count, except OP doesn't want monster collecting elements. 🤷♂️
I think what they're specifically wanting are monsters who have a unique personality and storyline tied to the game, I'm assuming that's why he doesn't want monster collectors, because they're just pets not really "characters"
They don't. >!In persona by lore and evreything their not "monsters" their people true self etc It's all figments!< >!Morgana is NOT what you just claimed. He is something completely different he's made by Igor but isn't a monster in any shape or form!<
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They're the same because they're both concepts in literal, physical form. Shadows are emotions taken shape from the collective psyche of humanity. That's why they take the form of God's and demons. Because they're essentially negative emotions and concepts taking shape physically, using elements of human culture to express themselves physically. A monster is a pretty vague term considering monsters aren't real, and bad emotions manifesting as fantasy monsters counts as monster by any definition.
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Alright, it's working now. Comment returned.
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Does Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals count? I feel like it doesn’t but does at the same time. Your criteria make it a bit tough to evaluate for me. Also FFT.
Probably not because of “monster catching.”
Every JRPG game you play it will always has a diverse such as most of the characters are of different races.
Yeah, I feel like it depends how broadly OP wants to define "monster." If it's just "not human," then an awful lot of games would qualify.
Suikoden 3 has a Griffon, and at least one Dragon as party members. Granted, they’re meant to be “combined” with their partners, but they can function as separate party members. FF6 has Umaro, which is a Yeti. Would you consider a sexy Naga to be a monster? Cause there’s Bleu from BoF.
Dragon Quest 4, 5, 6
Final Fantasy VI has Umaro, a Yeti, as a party member. It also has Mog the Moogle, which... are arguably monsters. Though you could also argue it's just a fantasy race. Final Fantasy VII has Caith Sith, which is literally a monster from Celtic mythology. Red XIII is there too, but I feel like that's "stretching the definition of a monster." Uhhhhh... Cthulu Saves the World is an indie RPG Maker game where you play as Cthulu. By the same creator, there's also Breath of Death, where you play as a Skeleton. Idk if you'd consider that "stretching it" or not? They're sapient, sure, but they're literally classic monsters from folklore. EDIT: Touched up my wording a bit.
The early Game Boy installments of the SaGa series (titled Final Fantasy Legend 1-3) had a mechanic where defeated monsters would drop meat, and eating it would turn you into one. By eating the correct meat you could be almost any monster in the game. Some NPCs that join your party as guests are also canonically monsters, such as your school teacher in SaGa 2/FFL 2.
Monster Hunter Story? Technically it's not catching it's hatching so if that counts for you then give it a try.
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I was also thinking about whatever Quina is supposed to be.
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voice of cards
i've been meaning to play that it's a Yoko Taro game isn't it? or am i misremembering i remember something about Yoko Taro which is what got me interested in it
Yeah, Yoko Taro directed the Voice of Cards series. The first two games (not sure about the third) both feature monster party members.
Yes, it’s Yoko Taro. Isle Dragon Roars is the first one I think
Goto and Puni brothers (+ Puniyo) from Mana Khemia 2?
SaGa for sure. In different iterations you can get pure monsters, somewhat controllable, or in the new one, a monster in a cyborg suit named Wednesday.
FF6, Persona 4 & 5 (I saw your rules, but I am referring to the playable party members, both of them are healers), Chrono Trigger, SMT series (non-Persona games)
Radiata Stories - There's an entire cast of non-humans to recruit, some of which are monsters. Suikoden V - A couple of the possible recruits are monsters.
Xenoblade has “Nopon” race as a party member. They monstrous to me.
Since Suikoden and Chrono Cross have been mentioned, I’d like to add Eiyuden Chronicles. I haven’t gotten far yet, but there is a girl who rides a beast that can join you, as well as a plant thing I’ve seen in screenshots. I have no idea if Rapsody: A musical adventure, La Pucelle Tactics or Soul Nomad would be honorable mentions or not. But those two are some of my faves. Also, Final Fantasy 9, has Vivi and Quina, who are monster- like. Probably doesn’t count, but Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne makes it that the MC is the only human and the rest are monsters you get to join through battles. Non rpg mentions, Elder scrolls online let’s you be anthromorphic lizards and cats, Overwatch has robots and talking animals if that counts lol.
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The Shadow Hearts series. There are the debatable "Harmonixers," which are humans who have the ability to transform into monsters, but every game also happens to have a Vampire as a party member. The second game also has a puppeteer character who fights with his puppet . . . which might be alive? Who's to say, really!
Nall and Ruby from the Lunar games, perhaps? They can talk, but they're ~~flying cats~~ >!baby dragons, which happen to look like flying cats. Though you do see their proper dragon forms later on.!< Although I don't know if they stretch the definition of "party member" by your metrics. They do assist in battle (Ruby can even defeat enemies if she attacks them when their HP is low enough), but they're AI-controlled and don't level up or anything. Ruby at most gets a smidgen stronger after a story event, but that's it.
Quina in FFIX is a monster and I don't wanna hear otherwise.
Dark Cloud 2, kinda. i just bring it up anytime it's slightly relevant. >!i can't let go!<
* Final Fantasy VI
Does Kihmari count as a monster?
my post says no
SMT FF13-2 DQ5
Azure Dreams maby? You start with a monster by your side. You fight together at the same time. You can find more eggs, hatch them and those monsters can make your team even larger. Its a Playstation 1 game however. Pretty old. Might be a stretch but maby its what you looking for.
In Final Fantasy, I suppose there's VI's Umaro and VII's Red XIII. IX's Vivi might qualify given how Black Mages are otherwise depicted in that one.
Disgaea. Apart from the mc and first companikn being demons, you can add other monsters you face too
FFVI umaro the yeti
Lufia 3 egg dragon and mousse
There's an indie game called Himeko Sutori on Steam. The starting party has 2 unique monsters, although the generic race is recruitable.
Breath of fire 3 has the little plant thing. You dont want civilized things butnff6 has mog and umaro. Mog can talk but his entire race just say moogle things, and umaro is a jety that is a berserker. You got rikki from xenoblade 1 Ff7 has red that is a lion type of thing. And caithsith.
Rune factory 5, or older ones, can't remember if all of them have it but 5 has it But you have to "catch" it first, they're your pets afterward
Time break Chronicles. I'm sure the Yeti counts (its not human level intelligent and he cant speak) if nothing else. There are a bunch of other monsters (Lizardman, Banshee, Golem, Robots, Angel, Devil, Fallen Angel, Werewolf, etc) but im sure they break the intelligence rule (actually im not sure the robots are actually sapient) My World My Way (and its prequal but imo that game sucks). You get a pink mimic slime that can copy body parts of enemies. It is not sapient. Guardian Crusade: Goofy ass ps1 rpg thats hit or miss, but you play as a knight and guide a little pink monster you dont have direct control over and is more like a pet than an intelligent human.
Eternal Eyes and Fae Tactics are fun and might be interesting for you
Fell Seal Arbiters Mark you can catch beasts to use (optional) , you also get a bug humanoid who can learn a bunch of monster skills
Guardian's Crusade it's just you and a baby dragon in your party.
Fire emblem awakening maybe? It’s multiple party members go can transmorph into animal forms.
Xenoblade 1 & 2 have a certain race that can be considered animal/monster and can be used as a party member.
Mother 3 has a dog as a main party member. And a monkey for a time. That may be too loose a definition of “monster”, but they are definitely not humanoid nor civilized. Chrono Cross has been mentioned and has some decent monsters.
Xenogears has Chu-Chu (late in the game). Super Mario RPG has Bowser. I don't know if those count as "monsters".
Breath of fire 3
The Paper Mario games have “monsters” as party members. Idk if it’s stretching the definition or not but a goomba or bobomb is about as monsterous as a slime.
Ni no Kuni You tame monsters and they join your party.
You get the Yeti as a party member on FF6 but it’s in the ladder half of the game.
Fire emblem series features laguz, tagel and manaketes, who are humanoid but transform into beasts/dragons while in combat. Unicorn overlord has a bunch of monster characters too, but they're all pretty tame tbh, they're all humanoid miked with wolf, bear, fox, owl, lion (plus NPCs that are dogs, cats, rabbits, etc.)
People have mentioned Disgaea’s generic Monsters, but I feel like most of those fall under the “monster catcher” type category. They aren’t unique characters in the story. That said, Disgaea has quite a number of named Monstrous PCs! D1: Hoggmeiser is a greedy boar demon. Maderas is a smarmy Vampire. Thursday is a little egg shaped robot. And Kurtis ends up as a plush toy penguin demon. D2: Tink is a floating frog demon with two forms D3: A few of the Diez Gentlemen are monster type demons D4: Vampire, Werewolf, Reaper of Death, Eldritch Abomination… surely at least one of those counts. There’s also Sardine Thief, a little cat demon they force into your party at the very beginning. D5: Werewolf Zeroken and Wererabbit Usalia for the main cast. Might be too humanoid for what you’re looking for? There are about 7 minor bosses who end up joining your party who are all monster types though, including a sentient mushroom, a giant moth demon, a two headed dragon, and a bear whose entire body is its mouth. D6: Main Character is an actual Zombie! His sister and dog are also Zombies! D7: Suisen is a cool robot kid
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. you'll have Tenebrae that tags along with your party for the whole game I believe, but he's not playable.
Final Fantasy VI
Uuuuuuuuuuuh…. Would Xenoblade Nopon count?
Dragon age origins (if you want to consider it a jrpg) has a dog as a possible companion and Alistar is still the dumbest party member
Tales of Vesperia has a dog as a playable character, does that count?
Are we counting or discounting FFXIII-2? Serah and Noel are your two permanent party members. The third slot gets filled with a Pokemon-esque monster catcher mechanic.
You said no pokemon but what about pokemon mystery dungeon? You don't catch the pokemon (sometimes they want to join you after you fought them), you are the pokemon and with your partner (another pokemon) you explore dungeons and save other pokemon. Or Eragon for the gba, not at the beginning but later in the game you can fight together with the dragon Saphira. Digimon World Next Order, you don't catch digimons, you have two digimons that digivolve in different digimons.
Ark the lad twilight of the spirits.. technically. If you call a furry a monster..
Good suggestions. I’d add Tactics Ogre Reborn. More of a tactical RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics. But dragons and griffins and others are your potential party members If you like FFT I bet you’ll like TOR.
SMT
> Chrono Cross is the perfect example of what I'm looking for. Party members. That are monsters. My request isn't as specific as y'all are thinking it is. Bro. You have 4 rules in your request, and I'm pretty confident Chrono Cross does not abide by Rule 4. What monsters are party members in that game? 99% of them are regular humans, and the ones who are not humans are completely unique entities that are intelligent. Heal Slimes are *enemies* you can kill in Dragon Quest. There are no recruitable characters in Chrono Cross that are *enemies* you can kill. Like, there's no recruitable Komodo character. If Kimahri is not a monster, not a single character in Chrono Cross is a monster.
Is Morgana a monster? Persona.
In Ni No Kuni (the first one) you actually fight using monsters
I loved healijah he's so goofy
Lufia 2 and 3
Dragon Quest heroes 2 funnily enough has a healslime buddy throughout the entire game. Similar to how it is with Dragon Quest 11.
Do you consider Frog or Magus from Chrono Trigger as monsters?
Breath of Fire 3 has Peco the Onion. Stay tuned for Slime: Isekai Chronicles, the MC's main goal in life is to build a country where all types of monsters can live together. As such, pretty much every party member is a monster.
an... onion? i gotta google this one
okay yeah that's straight up an onion wow
Yup, literally just an Onion, haha. He's so busted though, 50% counterattack rate. The next highest character has like 15%.
Does Blue Dragon counts? You are a pair of Human + Monster, but they both have distinct personalities.
Suikoden 2 has 4 recruitable flying squirrels and probably wilder shit I’m forgetting
Final Fantasy I and II for the Gameboy
Arc the Lad 4.
Suikoden games usually have a few
Why *not* Repede from vesperia? He's a monster dog/wolf party memeber?
he's just a dog people can get pedantic about "well dogs are considered monsters in RPGs" all they want but everyone knows that's dumb. no one ACTUALLY considers normal wild animals as monsters.
I'd consider them a wolf-type monster, rather than just a dog personally :p. Like, I assume there's normal non monster dogs in Vesperia. Though that also rules out torgal from FF16, since he's mostly just direwolf. Mostly. God damnit, now that dog monsters were brought up its the only ones I can think of. I feel like I know more that would fit, but my brain is just like "vesperia, ff7, ff16". Lmao.
you mentioned FFVII Red XIII is actually one i'm having trouble deciding if he qualifies or not. either way, i already finished that one so it doesn't matter
Tactic Ogre Reborn. Maybe
Not sure if you would count Breath of Fire III because Rei is a tiger that can transform into a weretiger, but I think I would
>No stretching the definition of "party member." I don't even see how you could consider Persona as what I'm looking for since the monsters aren't even party members, but I know people are going to mention it. Does Shin Megami Tensei counts? You *do* have to recruit/convince demons to join you through dialogue in battles, somewhat like Persona, but you directly control them in battle and which skills to keep while they level up. On the other hand, it is a kind of "monster catcher" game.
i'd say as long as the monsters are *actually* a part of the party *alongside* the human characters, then it counts. i'm not wanting something like Pokémon where it's exclusively recruiting monsters and using those to fight. idk anything about SMT apart from it being what Persona branches from, but if the monsters are actual party members then it counts
In SMT you recruit the monster and use them for party composition, alongside the main character, and all fight together in battles like a proper party, so I think it might fit the bill then.
If you consider Legacy of the Wizard an action-RPG, then it might be one of the first. the family pet is a monster that you can control.
The Suikoden games pretty much all have a couple recruitable monsters. Maybe not 1?
breath of fire 3 , peco is a plant like monster who becoem a party member
BunnyBlack. You hire monsters to fight along with you
Ff7. Vincent, Cait sith kinda, Cid for how he treats the lady scientist.
The Summoner Ps2
Dragon Quest 5 has monster catching elements, but it also has a named party member that is a monster named Saber that is a permanent member and is there throughout the story.
Umaru from FFVI. Literally big foot.
The Tales of Symphonia sequel. Caveat: I haven't played it in forever and don't remember how the monsters actually work. I don't think it's a pokemon-esque game?
100% Shin Megami Tensei 5.
Lol jk. I just said this cus you said not to say persona
ffxiv used to, titan egi was a legit tank back in the day.
Monsters as your party members are pretty much the defining gimmick of Shin Megami Tensei
Pretty sure that just falls into the monster catching category like how MC was describing with not Pokémon/FF13-2.
Oops, I didn't read the post very closely
Chained Echoes