If you’re a fan of RPGs, you’ve probably played a school RPG before. Be it Trails in Cold Steel, Persona, Fire Emblem: Three Houses or others, there are plenty of RPGs set in schools nowadays. It’s a setting that is instantly recognisable and familiar for massive parts of the gaming population, while also providing a structure that the rest of the game can be built around. Now, there’s a new School RPG coming in the near future, with MONARK announced.

MONARK is the first game from a new game studio founded by a bunch of developers who have worked on the Shin Megami Tensei series since its earliest entries. That means that there’s plenty of pedigree behind the development team and there are some clearly recognisable elements in the reveal trailer and initial information for the game.

The world has been plunged into madness as a deadly mist has surrounded the Shin Mikado Academy. You’ll need to enter the Otherworld, a Daemon-filled dimension in order to save your friends. While in the Otherworld, you’ll harness your Authority of Vanity and summon Fiends using the power of your Ego. Sounding like an SMT game to you yet? Because it certainly is to me. It sounds like there will be plenty of opportunity to customise your Fiends, with your Ego (which covers the seven sins) helping to alter things as well, while the combat system is a little more freeform than in SMT.

MONARK releases for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in early 2022. For more information, check the official website.