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jp's Monster Tale (DS)
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| [June 13, 2025 01:57:12 PM]
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Finished it!
I really enjoyed it if, at times, it started to get a bit too grindy/back-tracky, but perhaps the back tracking goes with the territory for the type of game? (what we'd now call a metroidvania).
I've been thinking about it's place in these "top lists" of DS games you never heard about but should play and... well, I don't think the game is "OMG this is the best ever", but I DO think it's a game that deserves more attention than it got. So, in that sense it's place is worthy/meritorious...because, sure - it's a "typical" (which may not have been THAT typical when the game came out) metroidvania in many ways, but the two-screen use, your monster companion is really interesting and novel (then and now). So, mixed feelings - but also, I get the sense that the game aims at a younger demographic... The game isn't THAT hard (by this I mean, I was able to beat it, it took me a few tries in the end, but I would describe it as a high-challenge game) - but that's not a bad thing! (to be fair I did think the difficulty is somewhat uneven).
Super glad I played it and, this is unusual as I make my way through my DS backlog, I stuck all the way to the end.
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| [May 9, 2025 05:47:05 PM]
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I think I first heard about this game from an internet games website "list" article - probably something like "10 best ds games you never heard about" or something like that.
I didn't research it much, and got it as a present for a birthday a few years ago. I've since played it and finished it and really enjoyed it. It's very kid-friendly (the story is even about kids trapped in this other world by themselves and they sort of turn into jerks, but you get them to change their mind) and, surprisingly (to me) is a bonafide metroidvania with all the backtracking that entails. You pick up new abilities that you use to unlock progress on the map, and backtrack as well.
The game's key "gimmick" is the titular monster - a sort of "virtual pet" that accompanies you and can help out during fights and such. Enemies you defeat often drop "loot" that you can send the monster to play with (the monster area is on the bottom screen, which is where the monster also rests to heal up and recharge it's power meter). Over the course of the game you unlock new mutations/variations of the monster and it also grows into "older" forms (think baby, kid, juvenile, etc.) that each have their own mutations.
It's an interesting system but the game isn't hard enough (or wasn't hard enough for me) for it to really matter all that much. There were a few places that had me spend some extra time before I could clear them. But, I didn't mind because the core experience of exploring, dodging enemies and such was engaging enough - especially when I started to more deliberately make use of the creatures powers and abilities.
In keeping with genre canon, the game even has boss fights (each of the kids, they all have monsters that they basically oppress, but when you defeat them they change their mind).
The game came out in 2011 though...does this predate with metroidvania indie game boom? I think so?
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jp's Monster Tale (DS)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 9 April, 2025
GameLog closed on: Friday 13 June, 2025 |
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