Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Shadow Fight 3 vs Monster Legends

Shadow Fight 3 4.7★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner Monster Legends
Monster Legends 4.8★ · Free + IAP 70

Monster Legends has a slight edge due to its engaging monster collection and battling, despite both games facing significant criticism for pay-to-win mechanics and excessive ads.

Full reviews: Shadow Fight 3 · Monster Legends

Shadow Fight 3 offers detailed combat and a strong storyline, but is plagued by pay-to-win elements, bugs, and frequent ads. Monster Legends provides a monster collecting and battling experience that many find fun, though it also struggles with pay-to-win accusations and intrusive advertisements.

Head to head

Features and Gameplay edge: Monster LegendsR5R9R15R29
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 is praised for its detailed graphics, unique weapon styles, and engaging combat system that requires timing and precision R5. However, some find the gameplay repetitive and the combat slow R9R29. The game also offers a story mode and various game modes, but the online PvP is considered dead by some R15.
Monster Legends Monster Legends is enjoyed for its monster collecting, breeding, and battling aspects, with many finding it fun and challenging . The game provides a good beginner guide, helping new players understand the mechanics . Some users appreciate the ability to build their own monster world . However, some older players feel the game has changed for the worse, becoming overstimulating with too many pop-ups and side quests .
Ease of Use and Progression tieR1R12R24R27
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3's progression is heavily criticized for being pay-to-win, with many feeling unable to advance or defeat bosses without spending money or enduring extreme grinding R1R27R28R39. Events are often deemed too difficult without paid sets R27. Some users also report issues with controls sticking R12 and the game being too hard R24.
Monster Legends Monster Legends also faces significant criticism for its pay-to-win nature, making it difficult to enjoy or progress without spending money R76. Users report long waiting times for actions like breeding . Earning gems is difficult without paying , and the offerwall for gems has been problematic . Some users also experienced issues with age verification preventing them from playing .
Reliability and Performance edge: Monster LegendsR4R6R10R12
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 users frequently report issues with lag, bugs, and freezes R4R12. Connectivity problems, especially with Wi-Fi, are common, forcing users to rely on unstable mobile data R6R10R18. There are also critical bugs preventing players from opening quest chests .
Monster Legends Monster Legends has some reports of bugs, such as a temple disappearing after leveling up monsters and breeding quests not working . There are also mentions of inventory items disappearing for long-term players .
Price/Value (Free vs. Paid) tieR1R11R12R27
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 is widely criticized as a 'pay-to-win' game, where progression and success in events are heavily reliant on in-app purchases R1R27R28. Many free-to-play users find it extremely difficult or impossible to compete R27. The game is also riddled with excessive and long ads, often appearing after every mission or when backing out of menus R1R11R12.
Monster Legends Monster Legends is also frequently described as 'pay-to-win,' with users feeling compelled to spend money to advance R76. The game has issues with its offerwall for gems and makes it hard to earn gems without paying . Ads are a significant problem, appearing randomly during gameplay and often without an exit option, forcing users to restart the game R69R84R85R117.
Support and Developer Responsiveness tieR4R18R28R76
Shadow Fight 3 Shadow Fight 3 users report that developers do not care about bugs or problems, and support does not help R4. There are complaints about developers not listening to the community R28 and not addressing server connection failures R18.
Monster Legends Monster Legends users claim the developers do not listen to the community R76. There are also reports of moderators on their Discord server not addressing racist and homophobic content .
Pick Shadow Fight 3 if

you enjoy detailed fighting mechanics and a strong storyline, and are willing to tolerate frequent ads and a challenging progression system that may lean towards pay-to-win R5.

Pick Monster Legends if

you prefer monster collecting, breeding, and battling games, and appreciate a good beginner guide, even if it means dealing with pay-to-win elements and intrusive ads .

Evidence note: Both apps have a significant number of negative reviews regarding pay-to-win mechanics and excessive ads, which aligns with the common friction points for free-to-play games with in-app purchases. The lifetime ratings are high for both, suggesting that many users still find enjoyment despite these issues, or that older versions of the games were better received.

Frequently asked

Is Shadow Fight 3 pay-to-win?
Yes, many users describe Shadow Fight 3 as a 'pay-to-win' game, stating that it's difficult to advance, defeat bosses, or succeed in events without spending money or grinding excessively R1R27R28R39.
Does Monster Legends have a lot of ads?
Yes, Monster Legends has a significant problem with ads, with users reporting that they pop up randomly in the middle of gameplay, often without an option to close them, forcing players to restart the game R69R84R85R117.
Are there bugs in Shadow Fight 3?
Yes, Shadow Fight 3 users frequently report issues such as constant lag, various bugs, game freezes, and connectivity problems, particularly with Wi-Fi R4R6R10R12. Some critical bugs prevent players from opening quest chests .

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Shadow Fight 3 5/5 · US THE BEST: THIS IS LIKE THE MOST DETAILED MOBILE GAME IVE EVER PLAYED SO I RECOMMEND THIS
  2. [R9] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US An absolute (NOT) classic.: This game is repetitive, just the same fight over an over spamming the same combo and missing one move and getting pulled into an inescapable combo for the rest of eternity and that makes me want to GENUINELY eat bugs but otherwise it's mid, people who call this classic and say bring back 2017 should realize they were 3 days old in 2017😂
  3. [R15] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Good game but…: I got this game around when it came out and it was absolutely amazing. But now it just so mid. The online pvp is pretty much dead and useless and as someone that complete the story there is quite literally nothing to do. The void battles aren’t worth it cause you have to GRIND to even get good rewards. It’s not worth it. You used to be able to quickly get up to higher ranks in rank
  4. [R29] Shadow Fight 3 4/5 · US Shadow fight 3: The game is good but shadow fight 2 is better the movements are good but the combat is a little slower by the way good designs of armor and weapons and the kusarigama is better weapon in shadow fight 2
  5. [R1] Shadow Fight 3 2/5 · US P2W: Cool game, events seem a bit rigged. Equipment is HELLA important. You could beat a better geared person but that might mean hitting then 5 times as many times before they land a very few good blows. Commercials are like 5 times longer and don’t give the option to exit even when complete.
  6. [R12] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Bugs/button sticks: The “control” button to move around sticks in certain spots. I know for a fact thats been there since 2020…and the fact the game continues to crash. What’re we doing besides adding 60 ads popping up every time you back out of something? Holy smoly jimbo. Worse than youtube and twitch ads brother.
  7. [R24] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Hard: For me it is to hard and im 18
  8. [R27] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Event and new duel: So I love the game it’s great really fun but the only issue is that is not free to play friendly most the stuff you have to spend days grinding for just to have a small chance to get it and most the good stuff are locked behind pay walls and most the hard challenges in events are hard if you don’t have the sets you pay for
  9. [R4] Shadow Fight 3 2/5 · US Lag bugs freezes: This game constantly lags and has tons of bugs. It’s almost impossible to play at times really annoying and the developers really don’t care you tell them that the game has a problem and they don’t help.
  10. [R6] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Internet Connection Error: I cannot play when connected to Wi-Fi. I am forced to use mobile data, but even then, it's very unstable and only works sometimes. This issue needs to be fixed urgently.
  11. [R10] Shadow Fight 3 1/5 · US Không hài lòng: Lúc nào cũng mang yếu dù wifi rất mạnh chả chơi dc
  12. [R11] Shadow Fight 3 4/5 · US Very good GSME: Very fun game with lots of different things to do but has way to many adds.It seams like the more you play the game the more often you get ad at first there were practically never adds but now I get them after every mission.
  13. [R18] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · US Server connection failed issue: Why is this server connection failure happening? Aren't you going to fix it? I just returned and was planning to spend some money to play, but this happened. · translated
  14. [R28] Shadow Fight 3 1/5 · US Worse game in existence: First of all the game experience is so bad everything is pay to win and if I come back to play this game I have to pay to complete any event since my gear isn’t good enough and I am not paying shi for this game that I won’t play in future this game is ruined and this game developer never listened to their community so it would be better if this game shuts down
  15. [R76] Monster Legends 1/5 · US FOR THOSE LOOKING TO DOWNLOAD…: Skip this game. It isn’t worth it. It’s a P2W mess where the developers don’t listen to the community. The game may be fun at first, but you quickly realize that the charm falls off. Every aspect about this game is either about wasting time or hoping that you’re lucky.
  16. [R39] Shadow Fight 3 3/5 · GB Pay to win: The game is good but u can’t defeat the bosses without spending money this game is pay to win.
  17. [R69] Monster Legends 3/5 · US Ads????: This game is good and progression is actually fun!! The pop ups get really annoying fast and I wish there was a way in settings to hide all the extra or unnecessary UI but the reason I’m writing a review is because after the recent update all of a sudden I’m getting ads randomly in the middle of my gameplay. That is so so frustrating and so annoying and if it’s not fixed I will not be kee
  18. [R84] Monster Legends 3/5 · GB Ads: The game is good lots of things to do but it’s annoying when ads come on and theirs no option to cross it off I have to re load the game back up to get off the ad
  19. [R85] Monster Legends 1/5 · US Ads: do not like it when ads pop up out of no where it’s ruined the experience playing the game
  20. [R117] Monster Legends 1/5 · GB Ads: So many ads i hate the game

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store