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I said GODDAMN. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is the best Metroidvania I've played in years.

J_ToSaveTheDay

J_ToSaveTheDay

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
18,837
USA
Made my top 10 of 2018 -- even went back and edited my original top 10 to include it on the list after giving it a shot. It released so late in the year and then crossed my line of sight after I had written up and submitted my original list to the Era GOTY thread, but I made sure to honor it as I see fit.

It's got an incredibly understated presence, but if you give it a go, I think you'll find a very focused and polished design from top to bottom and a very fun aesthetic that drives the experience to a whole other level.

I'd argue it completely works as a gameplay-driven experience, though, so if anyone is looking through this thread and thinking an involved narrative factors into the overall greatness of the game, just know that it's super light and breezy on that front.
 
Firebrand

Firebrand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,718
Not up there with WB3:TDT and WBiMW imo, but a solid game for the most part. Some nice new musical compositions in there.

Was a bit skeptical of the price first but the game proved to be way longer than I anticipated, so don't regret paying full price for it.
 
Hesemonni

Hesemonni

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,974
Hollow Knight got me back to metroidvanias after a while. Definitely looking forward to the PC version.
 
MetalBoi

MetalBoi

Banned
Dec 21, 2017
3,176
How does this game stack up against the likes of say, Hollow Knight and Ori and the Blind Forest?
 
Klotera

Klotera

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,551
hey it's that dog said:
It's not a remake. It does have some difficult spots but it's not meant to be a brutal game.

A few of the secrets are very obtuse but for the most part it's clear what your overall goals are.
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Yeah, I'd say nothing you need to do to mainline is particularly obtuse, but many of the optional treasures, etc are very much so. Some are quite creative, and you'll figure out if you give it enough time. However, a couple are head-scratchers as to how they expected you to figure that out. I try not to look stuff up, but after I had gotten most things and just had a couple left, I had to break down and after seeing how some of them were supposed to be solved (like the cork thing), I don't feel so bad about looking them up.

I do think it's a great game. Lots of charm, tight gameplay. Has good mechanics for making backtracking less painful than a lot of Metroidvanias. I will say that it does guide you through the mainline a lot more explicitly than most Metroidvanias, so it certainly can feel more linear. However, if you're trying to find all the secrets and such, you get more of the Metroidvanias vibe.

Between Dragon's Trap (which I really loved) and this, I've really gotten an interest in the Wonder Boy/Monster World games. I never played them when I was younger. Might even try out Wonder Boy in Monster World (it's available on PS3 store, I believe).
 
Maffis

Maffis

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,314
I actually double dipped on this one. It's the first time I ever have. It's that good.
 
MetalBoi

MetalBoi

Banned
Dec 21, 2017
3,176
To add to my first question, what makes this game worth the $40 asking price when the games I mentioned are are $15 and $20 respectively?
 

Deleted member 3017

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
17,653
MetalBoi said:
To add to my first question, what makes this game worth the $40 asking price when the games I mentioned are are $15 and $20 respectively?
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This is a significantly bigger game than Ori. I'd say Ori is priced fairly and so is this.

HK is a massive anomaly and is heavily undervalued. I'm not going to expect most games to compete with it in price.
 
denpanosekai

denpanosekai

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,291
MetalBoi said:
To add to my first question, what makes this game worth the $40 asking price when the games I mentioned are are $15 and $20 respectively?
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Mind blowing soundtrack and amazing platforming. Not serviceable or shoehorned. Think about a retro metroidvania but with all the modern bells & whistles you're now used to.

Or you can also just stick to the 15$ games. That's fine too...
 
MetalBoi

MetalBoi

Banned
Dec 21, 2017
3,176
OrbitalBeard said:
This is a significantly bigger game than Ori. I'd say Ori is priced fairly and so is this.

HK is a massive anomaly and is heavily undervalued. I'm not going to expect most games to compete with it in price.
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Yeah HK spoiled me for sure. :) Anyways thanks. Was curios because I just watched a vid for MB and it said it was only 15 hours long.
 
TyrantGuardian

TyrantGuardian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,293
It's alright and super high quality. Unfortunately I don't really feel like ever replaying it? It was extremely directed and there are too few satisfying mysteries around in the end unlike SotN where there's always more obscure bullshit to learn each time you play. That's an important part of these games for me so I was a bit disappointed. Still, until that realization I loved everything else about the game.

Definitely worth a play for those who just want to sit down, finish a game and move on. I'm not one of those people.
 

Deleted member 3017

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
17,653
MetalBoi said:
Yeah HK spoiled me for sure. :) Anyways thanks. Was curios because I just watched a vid for MB and it said it was only 15 hours long.
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You can probably rush through it in 15 hours but I put around 25 hours into it and still had a ways to go to 100% the game.

Most players will complete Ori in 8-10 hours.
 
Armouredpriest

Armouredpriest

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,034
Klotera said:
Yeah, I'd say nothing you need to do to mainline is particularly obtuse, but many of the optional treasures, etc are very much so. Some are quite creative, and you'll figure out if you give it enough time. However, a couple are head-scratchers as to how they expected you to figure that out. I try not to look stuff up, but after I had gotten most things and just had a couple left, I had to break down and after seeing how some of them were supposed to be solved (like the cork thing), I don't feel so bad about looking them up.

I do think it's a great game. Lots of charm, tight gameplay. Has good mechanics for making backtracking less painful than a lot of Metroidvanias. I will say that it does guide you through the mainline a lot more explicitly than most Metroidvanias, so it certainly can feel more linear. However, if you're trying to find all the secrets and such, you get more of the Metroidvanias vibe.

Between Dragon's Trap (which I really loved) and this, I've really gotten an interest in the Wonder Boy/Monster World games. I never played them when I was younger. Might even try out Wonder Boy in Monster World (it's available on PS3 store, I believe).
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Initiating the
Haunted House boss fight with the language settings
is kind of obtuse. That's really the only instance in the mainline quest, though.
 
MrS

MrS

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,085
I really need to pick this up. I know it's bad but I'm waiting for a price drop.
 
lowlifelenny

lowlifelenny

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,408
I bought it day one and I still haven't finished it.

I'm a huge fan of Wonder Boy in Monster Land and Wonder Boy III/IV, but there's numerous aspects of Monster Boy which rub me the wrong way. When it's good though it's pretty good.

FreddeGredde said:
It looks good and has a lot of content, but the gameplay is sub-par, or average at best. The physics are really wonky and glitchy, so usually when I had to redo a room, it was not because the game was challenging or clever, but because it was just wonky and didn't behave as I expected it to.
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I know what you mean. I think the frame windows for certain actions, collisions and states are shorter compared to Sega/Westone's games, leading to a much twitchier, slapdash style of play, and it feels wrong for this kind of game imo. The older Wonder Boy games always felt good, all the time, but there's a bunch of things going on in Monster Boy which feel counter-intuitive at best and sloppy at worst.
 
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Lee Chaolan

Lee Chaolan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,520
haven't heard of this before, but at 39.99 gonna need to watch a lot of videos to sway me.

Has it been on sale yet?
 
hey it's that dog

hey it's that dog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,107
Kind of pathetic that 40 dollars is too much for a 20 hour long, handcrafted, beautiful and clever old-school platform/adventure game.

You can even buy it physical and trade it in when you're done if you want.
 
Artorias

Artorias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,098
hey it's that dog said:
Kind of pathetic that 40 dollars is too much for a 20 hour long, handcrafted, beautiful and clever old-school platform/adventure game.

You can even buy it physical and trade it in when you're done if you want.
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Well you have to take into consideration something like Hollow Knight, that cost 15 dollars and is arguably of similar quality/length.
 
Bumrush

Bumrush

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,770
How's the level design / variety? I actually thought the level design of Hollow Knight was convoluted and too "samey" and I prefer games that mix things up.
 
Bumrush

Bumrush

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Oct 25, 2017
6,770
OrbitalBeard said:
Tons of variety, both in locations and actual level design.
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Thanks for the answer! And difficulty? I don't think Hollow Knight is overly difficult but I play all Switch games in portable mode where the controller accuracy is iffy. A slightly less difficult but still challenging game would be more "fun"
 

Deleted member 3017

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Bumrush said:
Thanks for the answer! And difficulty? I don't think Hollow Knight is overly difficult but I play all Switch games in portable mode where the controller accuracy is iffy. A slightly less difficult but still challenging game would be more "fun"
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The game has a couple large difficulty spikes (two areas in particular), but for the most part, it features a nice, steady difficulty curve. The game isn't nearly as difficult as Hollow Knight, but still offers a rewarding challenge.
 
Psychotron

Psychotron

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,683
Played the demo today and loved it. Then my kids tried it and I noticed something interesting. They died to the demo boss a few times and the game started giving more health items during the fight, so I'm assuming it has adaptive difficulty.

I really wish it wasn't $40, but if there's no sale soon I'll bite. Thanks OP!
 
hey it's that dog

hey it's that dog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,107
Artorias said:
Well you have to take into consideration something like Hollow Knight, that cost 15 dollars and is arguably of similar quality/length.
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Hollow Knight is a ridiculous outlier in terms of value proposition so maybe everyone else should stop taking it into consideration.

The comparisons between these two games (both of which I loved) are not helpful at all. Hollow Knight is a slow paced and methodical experience. A huge world that leverages its lonely emptiness to great effect. Monster Boy is absolutely packed with mechanics and puzzles and keeps presenting new ideas and challenges on every other screen. They're completely different types of games despite sharing a superficial map structure. They're doing completely different things.
 
Freezasaurus

Freezasaurus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,002
hey it's that dog said:
Kind of pathetic that 40 dollars is too much for a 20 hour long, handcrafted, beautiful and clever old-school platform/adventure game.

You can even buy it physical and trade it in when you're done if you want.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Don't hold that against people. There are so many dirt-cheap indy games around that $39.99 will give anyone a bit of sticker shock if you're used to seeing $19.99 and cheaper everywhere you look.
 
eXistor

eXistor

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,304
I've sung its praises a lot by now, but I agree. It's also a game where the relatively long playtime is an actual boon. Games have to be as long as they need to be. Most games have very limited playabilty and overstay their welcome by many hours due to repetition. Monster Boy is a good 25 hours long, but all of it feels earned; there's many different areas that are properly fleshed out, lots of secrets to uncover throughout the adventure and rarely a repeated moment. There's a decent challenge in both action and puzzles, it's really high on my list of best games of the last 10 years, I even bumped DQXI off my number 1 spot of last year for MB. Admittedly least year was really weak in terms of games, but if Monster Boy were released in 2017 it would still be top 5 easily.
 
Braaier

Braaier

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Oct 29, 2017
13,237
Is it better than ori? I've been playing that on game pass and I'm not really liking it.
 
Velocity:Design:Comfort

Velocity:Design:Comfort

Banned
Nov 23, 2017
4,302
Freezasaurus said:
Don't hold that against people. There are so many dirt-cheap indy games around that $39.99 will give anyone a bit of sticker shock if you're used to seeing $19.99 and cheaper everywhere you look.
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Hollow Knight being used to justify this is like saying the fact that there are fast food places with sometimes admittedly good stuff justifies that all food should be that price. But it would be really limiting to expect things to only cost what fast food does nor does anyone actually want to only eat fast food your entire life.
 
ryushe

ryushe

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Oct 27, 2017
4,814
Absolutely loved the demo but I just can't plunk $40 down on it right now.

Definitely in the future though.
 
The Anonymous Wizard

The Anonymous Wizard

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Sep 28, 2018
1,073
My game of the year 2018... Liked it so much after playing the digital version I imported two physical Switch copies - one for my niece and one for myself. And I don't even own a Switch... You like good games? Buy Monster Boy.
 
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