Re: Return to the world of Manamon in Manamon 2: The Eternal Requiem
This is an excellent question.
First of all, I wouldn't really classify Crazy Party as pure strategy, as there's a ton of randomness in it. You can get hosed simply because you don't draw the right cards at the right time. That said, there are some really good decks and strats that work, so I'll take your point, sort of.
Now, Manamon 2 is sort of tricky in this regard. Generally you will be fine with attacking, but that is by no means true everywhere. There's a complex type effectiveness matrix which means your type matters. If you're a sound type using a sound move on a stone type, great. If you're using a sound type move on an undead type...maybe not so great. So if you try to bulrush the game, you will reach certain points where you get steamrolled. Bullrushing is easier in the first little while than later on.
I personally find in big fights that having the appropriate damage is important, and will do you better than complex setup strategies. Most of the bigger stadium fights, I just go in and sweep, because that's what the stadiums tend to do. Some boss fights, however, are much, much different, and you'll have to think on your feet. Gimicks are everywhere (that's a good thing, not a bad thing) so you'll have to be able to adapt to situations you haven't seen before.
Complex stall and setup strategies are more supported than they used to be, but do not appear to be fully fleshed out yet. Some examples of where this could be improved:
1. Hibernate heals all your HP, but you sleep for three turns. Two turns would be better, since three turns is usually more than long enough to take a pounding while you rest off.
2. Full-Moon Blessing, again, heals all your HP, but I think both defense and special defense drop by three stages, each. This is absolutely crushing. Now suddenly, moves that were doing meh damage to you will do enormous damage to you instead because of your lowered defenses. I think lowering both defenses by 2 for the next round only would be a fair trade-off (i.e., you risk taking one huge hit) would be fair.
3. Stat boosts are not quite as big as they are in the pokemon franchise, so buffing isn't a terrible idea but it's not quite as central to battle.
4. To my knowledge, there are no instant weather-setting abilities, and weather only lasts four turns instead of five. Maybe there is equipment which increases this, but if so, I've yet to find it.
5. Adrenaline Rush and Miracle Adrenaline are too costly. They max your attack/special attack, respectively. That's awesome. Then you start taking increasing damage and you'll die in like 3 turns. If you're using that skill, you're probably going to be using attacks that are super-effective on the enemy, so they're likely to die or be seriously hurt anyway. I'd rather attack four times and take no damage than set up, attack three times and die. The reason I'm wasting a turn setting up is so that I -don't die. Take a cue from Bellydrum in the pokemon franchise, which despite halving your HP and maximizing your attack, is not utterly overused. And there are ways around it. Lots of them.
6. Teachable moves. They aren't a thing, so your options are limited. There are a ton more options now, and manamon all have abilities, so there's variety, for sure, but for instance, any pokemon can do a toxic+protect combo, pretty much; in manamon, pollution solution is only usable by certain manamon, which greatly narrows the effect of this strategy.
All this is to say that yes, Manamon has quite a bit of strategy. I'd place it considerably above the first game, and considerably below the pokemon metagame, though that metagame has something like 2.5x as many creatures, more than double the amount of moves, and has been in development for over two decades now. This game definitely represents a huge step forward, and if you want strategy, you won't be disappointed.
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