• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is top 5 metroidvania ever - Have you played it?

Have you played Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom?

  • Yes

    Votes: 406 53.2%

  • No

    Votes: 261 34.2%

  • Thanks for reminding me I’ll do it now!

    Votes: 96 12.6%
  • Total voters
    763
Keits

Keits

Designer at Iron Galaxy Studios
Verified
Oct 29, 2017
124
Orlando, FL
I saw tons of super strong recommendations for this game and got it. I finished it because I spent so much cash on it, but I other than the visuals, I was not impressed with pretty much anything. I wouldn't put it in the top 5 or even top 30 metroidvanias.
 
Easy_D

Easy_D

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,275
Fucking loved it, after how super short Dragon's Trap was this felt like a nice meaty adventure. Everything about it is great, especially the soundtrack
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

Member
Oct 27, 2017
17,769
I'd need a complete list to come to a conclusion, but it's certainly a top 10 for me. Gave it a 9.5/10 on my own tracking doc in 2018, and it ended up just behind Celeste, Astro Bot, and DQ11, so yeah, it was great!

It also has one of the best map systems for this type of game. Clear, helpful, nice to look at.
 
Kitty Paws

Kitty Paws

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 21, 2019
380
I have yet to finish it. Love the art style and how bright and colorful everything looks. I stopped playing at the thief's lair/mansion because I was burnt out on the game and wasn't in the mood for more puzzles. I do want to go back and finish it someday.
 
Raggen

Raggen

Member
Oct 7, 2019
598
Fantastic game, makes me feel nostalgic for the old games while feeling like a modern game. It really shows how ambitious the old games were.
 
OP
OP

Fredrik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,003
sir_crocodile said:
Game is great, but be warned the drop rates are pretty bad. Lot of end game grinding if you want to get all the weapons & souls.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
12% in already, it's fantastic so far!
Only thing I don't like is how powerful the slow weapons with good range are. Makes me use a slow axe over a fast sword all the time. Makes the game feel slow. Are there fast and powerful weapons to be found later on?
 
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,505
Fredrik said:
12% in already, it's fantastic so far!
Only thing I don't like is how powerful the slow weapons with good range are. Makes me use a slow axe over a fast sword all the time. Makes the game feel slow. Are there fast and powerful weapons to be found later on?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The game pretty much always wants you to make the tradeoff between slow/powerful and quick/weaker. Though the gloves hit so many times that they almost make up for it, but you have to be skillful as they're so short range (and thus in some situations aren't really useable.

I tend to use the greatsword type weapon for most of the game, though the final standard sized sword is the best weapon in the game imo.
 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,152
is The Dragon's Trap really that bad? ... like, if you're generally down with games of that era.

only asking because it's sitting idle in my twitch prime library
 
OneThirtyEight

OneThirtyEight

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
5,663
This franchise is so confusing with the naming of the games. But i am positive i played one of theese on the Master System. If that counts as something close to playing this game.
 
TheBryanJZX90

TheBryanJZX90

Member
Nov 29, 2017
3,017
Currently I'm the haunted mansion and the game has been pretty great up to here but damn this is a slog now. Currently trying to figure out how to get to a dining room...
 
Adulfzen

Adulfzen

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,606
Keits said:
I saw tons of super strong recommendations for this game and got it. I finished it because I spent so much cash on it, but I other than the visuals, I was not impressed with pretty much anything. I wouldn't put it in the top 5 or even top 30 metroidvanias.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Agreed, the forced stealth sections nearly made me wanna drop it.
 
CrabDust

CrabDust

Member
Nov 16, 2017
1,257
Count me as absolutely loving the first 2/3. Thought the level design of the haunted mansion and on was tedious and the difficulty spike too abrupt. Lost interest in finishing once the fun stopped.
 
TheBryanJZX90

TheBryanJZX90

Member
Nov 29, 2017
3,017
So far I think this game peaks at the crystal caverns and lost temple. It's a slow buildup for the first forced transformation and then the second one you get, both with quite limited mobility and combat options.

But then you get your transformation in the crystal caves and for a while it's just constant firing on all cylinders get a new equipment drop or a new ability or an equipment upgrade and just an avalanche of oh I can go here now, smart ways to use those new abilities and get rewarded almost immediately.

After that though it starts trending down in the volcano and now the haunted mansion. Hopefully it picks up again somehow. There aren't many spaces left for more upgrades so it will have to be something else that's hopefully not more sprawling multiscreen puzzles...
 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,152
Firebrand said:
Bad? Dragon's Trap is one of the GOATs and better than Monster Boy (in my opinion, goes without saying).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

i remember it being received ok then it gets constantly shat on.

a little confused but i got it "free" so aside from storage and like 15-30 mins of my time i've no excuse not to check it out

been wanting to get into the series for three decades now though, i just don't want to "spoil" it for myself
 
Krooner

Krooner

Member
Oct 27, 2017
669
TheBryanJZX90 said:
So far I think this game peaks at the crystal caverns and lost temple. It's a slow buildup for the first forced transformation and then the second one you get, both with quite limited mobility and combat options.

But then you get your transformation in the crystal caves and for a while it's just constant firing on all cylinders get a new equipment drop or a new ability or an equipment upgrade and just an avalanche of oh I can go here now, smart ways to use those new abilities and get rewarded almost immediately.

After that though it starts trending down in the volcano and now the haunted mansion. Hopefully it picks up again somehow. There aren't many spaces left for more upgrades so it will have to be something else that's hopefully not more sprawling multiscreen puzzles...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Haunted mansion feels like a real misstep. all the other levels are meticulously neat about how they loop into themselves when new abilities are available. The Haunted Mension never clicks in that way. I was glad to be past the level, 100%'d it asap and never went back.
 
Sesha

Sesha

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,824
Negative. The art style doesn't appeal to me. Even if it did, I don't really like this style of Metroidvania. I was about to call it the Alex Kidd style of Metroidvania, but apparently Wonder Boy predates Alex Kidd by 7 months.
 
natanqb

natanqb

Member
Oct 27, 2017
360
On the first 2/3 of the game i was loving it, top 5 metroidvania material. But the last 1/3 was much worse for me.
 
Nabbit

Nabbit

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,422
The game is currently on sale, at least on the eShop, for $10. Bargain of the year IMO. It's an amazing game.
 
Oneself

Oneself

#TeamThierry
Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,774
Montréal, Québec, Canada
It's so full of potential and it looks amazing but the lack of difficulty options coupled with difficulty spikes made the (too long) experience frustrating for me. Also, playing the kid at first is superb but then being stuck as a pig and a boring snake etc. for a while felt like such a bore.
 
EntelechyFuff

EntelechyFuff

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Nov 19, 2019
10,181
I like it but I think calling it a metroidvania kinda sets it up for disappointment. I mean, structurally sure, everything is there. But--like Dragon's Trap before it--if you squint it easily could be seen as a linear set of stages.

The game is phenomenal though. I personally loved how every "screen" had new challenges. The game demanded a high level of attention and engagement that is increasingly rare for single-player.
 
scare_crow

scare_crow

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,309
I've played a bit of it, but the super anime song to kick things off immediately soured me. And the style just isn't my thing. It felt weirdly... mobile game for some reason.
 
Davey Cakes

Davey Cakes

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,688
Massachusetts
I've played it for a couple hours. Up to getting the Frog transformation I believe. Fell off kind of hard though. The start is a bit brutal in terms of pacing. Giving you the Pig transformation first was a huge mistake as it's just cumbersome to use.

It's NOT the same as Symphony of the Night where you have your equipment stripped away. Being at a disadvantage and working your way back to being powerful is fun because the gameplay is good. Monster Boy is a legit slog.

That said, I'm working on my Switch backlog and will probably try Monster Boy out again once I finish Steamworld Dig 2.
 
Last edited:
DominicanGlory

DominicanGlory

Member
Jul 26, 2018
4,683
I've posted in this thread somewhere, but ive seen the blasphemy again and can't contain myself. He'll naw at the thread title.
 
Firima

Firima

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,474
Really good game, but it's all over the place in terms of area design.

The second to last area is a fucking slog. Some cool mechanics in play but holy hell
 
andymcc

andymcc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,306
Columbus, OH
Davey Cakes said:
It's NOT the same as Symphony of the Night where you have your equipment stripped away. Being at a disadvantage and working your way back to being powerful is fun because the gameplay is good. Monster Boy is a legit slog.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

really not much different than dragon's trap in this regard.

DominicanGlory said:
I've posted in this thread somewhere, but ive seen the blasphemy again and can't contain myself. He'll naw at the thread title.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

i think hollow knight is one of the worst in the genre i've played speaking of slogs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.