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Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom |OT| A Wonder of 8/16-Bit Style Platforming

xviper

Member
platinumed the game in about 30 hours

amazing game, even though it had some annoying parts (the fucking volcano level), it was still a great experience,

my score is 8.5\10

easily in my top 5 games of this year

i wish if they would have lowered the price to 20$, maybe then the game would have sold a lot
 

Kazza

Member
The PC version finally has a release date: July 25th on Steam and GOG:



They also said that the price will be a little lower than the console versions.
 

Holammer

Member
Good news, backers of the failed Flying Hamster 2 kickstarter should get a free steam code soon then (this was promised a few months ago).
 

Ballthyrm

Member
even though it had some annoying parts (the fucking volcano level),
Same here, i discovered the ice armor after finishing the entire world.
I had to do perfect runs everywhere as you take a ton of damage if you don't have the ice armor -.-
 

The Cockatrice

Gold Member
Waiting for my salary to drop so I can buy it on Friday. Excited, liked the demo and I missed me some good metroidvania. Hows the story?
 

The Snake

Member
I like this game. I backed it on Kickstarter when it was a Flying Hamster sequel, and picked it up on day one for Switch.

I didn't beat it though; there's a mission where you have to find some ingredients for a soup or something, and it wasn't difficult, just insanely boring. Stopped caring at that point.

Don't regret my time with it though.
 

Ballthyrm

Member
Unlocked frame rate too! Rare to see on action platformers. PC is the best version.

I think games that need fast twitch controls tend to frame-lock to optimize the engine and get that sweet 60fps smoothness.
I really don't see the point of going over 60 on a platformer but whatever float your boat i guess.

It is nice to see a unkown dev and publisher doing good stuff like this.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
I think games that need fast twitch controls tend to frame-lock to optimize the engine and get that sweet 60fps smoothness.
I really don't see the point of going over 60 on a platformer but whatever float your boat i guess.

It is nice to see a unkown dev and publisher doing good stuff like this.
you have a couple of 120fps games on the ipad.
it really is much better then 60 man esp for platformers
 

Fuz

Banned
Does anyone know how to get down there?


P.S.
Fuck the volcano.
XgL17oY.jpg
 

Kazza

Member
The developers seem quite happy with the sales performance on PC:

Hi Everyone, the sales are good. It’s actually interesting because PC is about to become #2 platform in sales, on the way to catch up and overtake PS4 in the longterm. Switch remains #1 with a wide margin though, factor 8 is true indeed. In the end it doesn’t matter which platform is #1 or #4, the combined sales and the game having ‚legs‘ and happy players is most important. Game Atelier is working on an all-new game with us but it’s a new IP. We’d love to make MB2 in the future but that depends on SEGA / LAT license situation when we get to do the next project after the current one. ;)
 
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Fuz

Banned
So. I completed the game, here's a very quick review.

Bottom line: I love it, it's amazing and it has great design for the most part. But it has problems, and it can be pointlessly irritating without never really being difficult.
The art style is fantastic. It falls occasionally in the "flash vibe" that I find extremely offputting, but it's very limited and the wonderful art direction and amazing animations completely make up for it. It's really pleasant to the eye, with the detailed characters and vibrant colors, everything is very cohesive and it never go off-theme. Beautiful.
The controls are pretty thight and responsive, you always feel completely in control of your character - except in a few certain particular situations that can lead to frustration (more of this later). Combat is pretty simple, you click and you thrust your sword, plus the various trasformations have puzzle-solving abilities that can also be used in combat. Old school, simple, effective. I like it, but it's probably a matter of taste: my friend found it too simplicistic and didn't like it at all. I put an accent on "thrust" and this is important: since you don't swing the sword (so you don't make an arc) but just hit right in front of you, combat against flying enemies can be pretty annoying. Especially when they decide to hit you going through walls. Quite annoying.
The game starts like a classic platform-metroidvania... but this is somewhat deceiving. The more you progress, the more the accent is put on the puzzles and less on the platforming and exploration. After a certain point, every room is a puzzle room. The game changes A LOT after that certain point. And that point is the volcano. Man, fuck the volcano and whoever designed that shit. Anyway, this big change is the biggest downside in my eyes, since it makes the game kind of stressful and some "easy" connection room would have helped in relieving the stress of the constant puzzles. Let's add that the puzzles are often an exercise on frustration with no real difficulty, just plain "trial and error" that can get extremely annoying without really adding anything worthwile. Examples: as I said before, the controls are thight but not while jumping and "bouncing" on enemies, and there are a few puzzles where you are asked to do just that that quickly lead to frustration: jump, jump, you fall, you go back up, jump, jump, you fall et cetera. Both me and my friend found this really annoying and pointless. And let's not even talk about the puzzle where you have to freeze the fireballs. There's a puzzle where you follow some currents underwater, it's technically quite easy BUT if you are just a pixel too high or too low you get sucked in by another current and dragged all the way to the beginning. Irritating. Sometimes you really feel that the game is trying its best to just irritate you for no reason.
Another little thing that annoyed me quite a lot: you find the last upgrade for the best gear at the very end of the room before the final boss' room. Really, what's the fucking point? This leaves zero space to enjoy that hard-earned gear.
I realize that, me being me, I talked way more about the downsides but overall the game is great fun, it's cheerful and light-hearted, it's most of the time a joy to play and explore and I liked it a lot... just be careful that can sometimes be an irritating chore.

P.S.
Fuck the volcano.
Oh, by the way. My friend left the game at the mansion (the zone just after the volcano) because he was annoyed by the mirror puzzles: in his word that was pointless busywork and he just didn't care anymore.
 
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as a guy who loves metroidvania games but ironically didn't even play SOTN or Super metroid, which should i play first, Monster boy or SOTN ?
I have not played this monster boy game, but I never felt like these games were Metroid (vania). Yes they have exploration, but they are much more like regular action adventure games, with the levels linked by a hub village, which is great.
 

lock2k

Banned
So, I grabbed this game on sale on Xbox Live this week. I had played the demo and I was waiting for a sale. Monster Boy is easily one of the best games I've ever played and I barely scratched the surface. This is a true love letter for people who like the Wonder Boy series and also platforming in general. Every nook and cranny is crafted with care and the level design is godlike. 10/10 for me. Wonderful.
 

Enjay

Banned
Ah so here's where WayForward got the drugs from when they priced river city girls.
 
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SpiceRacz

Member
It's a fantastic game, but I don't think it's quite as good as people make it out to be. The metroidvania genre is full of mediocre games lately (Owl Boy, Iconoclasts, Timespinner, etc.) and this one stands out because of it.
 

LMJ

Member
I completely missed this one! I had the original Sega Wonderboy the Dragon's Trap, and loved the PS4 remake. I need to pick this up!!!


You absolutely do need to Old Retro Old Retro , the game is dripping with love for the original series...

however, the devs realized that certain things need to be updated and have done so fantastically:D

I personally I don't know why so many people hated the volcano It's Tricky but hardly the worst kind of level design I've ever faced lol...
 
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I'm at the Haunted Manor towards the end and I have mixed feelings on this one.

The levels have been getting tedious with self-indulgent, obtuse puzzles, sapping the fun out of the whole thing. The game in general is very well executed, but not as tightly designed as the Dragon's Trap, which makes sense since that game is a remake of a Sega classic reined in by the Master System.

Not sure I'm going to finish this one, but maybe I'll push through. I started both Yakuza 5 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance in the time I've been playing this, so that speaks to my commitment level at present :messenger_winking:
 
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