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The main problem with competitors outside of the 2 long standing ones (SMT, Digimon and if it doesn't wear off Yokai) is that like you say the focus in one aspect or, I'd add, too many at the same time and the forcedness is noticable, another important thing is the designs all 4 franchises have distinct enough characters and a defined artstyle: ominuos or eerie mythological creatures, funny stylized Japanese folk ghosts, cyberpunk animals and humanoids and friendly but fierce toyetic animal hybrids and refined haunted objects of some sort.
If you were to ask me a kind of monster design that hasn't been touched too much if not at all and that would fit the target audience left out by all of those are the semi-abstract monsters like pic related but varied, kids want "mature" looking stuff so you have already broaden your customers.
What made the early games feel exciting was the sense of mystery, exploring the unknown ecosystems and visiting interesting locations like lively metropolis, picturesque towns, ancient ruins and such.
Story wise nothing was forced upon the players or at least not to an unbearable extent, freedom of choice is a huge pro in modern gaming not necessarily a completely open world but one without railroads and which helps immersion witch things like seasons, a real time d/n cycle and changing weather.
Make it accessible, almost everyone had a ps2, a GBC or tamagotchi when all 3 main /mon/ games became worldwide phenomenons, now everyone has a phone as powerful as a computer in their pockets, the easy way would be to either be a Pokemon Go rip off or an app store clone of the 2D games, both of them have been proven as failed strategies. Why not incorporate the good parts of things, an actual explorable map and AR battle and collecting mechanics and tie those to future exclusive merchandising like a physical trading card/medal encyclopedia that can be used in and out of the game.
Always prioritize a reasonable quality over quantity.
