Interesting, back in the days of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, we had troubles beating the bosses at first, then after understanding the patterns, execution was not an issue anymore and so we could beat them at 100% and it sometimes felt a bit boring when replaying the game as we felt no sense of danger. The solution in later games was to make execution much harder and requires better dexterity and timing skills… but I had never thought about going the opposite way, turning a boss battle into a pure puzzle! This way it completely assumes its non-replayability and focuses on problem-solving itself.
I admit I thought there would be 2-3 bosses where you would have to reuse the same skills but they would have different effects, however I understand that it must be complicated to pull that off… In the end, the one-boss experience was still fun!
It’s a lot of trial-and-error and some exotic effects are not predictable, but I like that most of the combinations can be guessed. This way, after 2-3 attempts the solution appears clearly (at the end it was mostly counting the number of turns of delayed effects to get the right timing).
The delayed meteo reminded me of Golden Sun 2’s Dedalus’ missile attack.
One remark on game size though, I’m surprised it’s 1.5 GB unzipped. I thought it’d be because of HD artworks but considering the artifacts and the size of the native window, it shouldn’t be that big/hires… So it must be the number of animation frames then. The monster idle animation seems to move body parts but maybe it’s actually integrated with fullbody frames, making it bigger? I thought flat colors wouldn’t be that big though…
Anyway, congrats, I see you don’t have many games but they seem to be interesting puzzles! I’ll try the other one later!
P.S.: wow, mentioned just below CrossCode on itch recommends? I just saw it was released in 2018!
Wow, thank you Komehara for such a detailed review ! One of the reasons why I didn't do a sequel to this game is because it's taking so much time to animate for so little play time (yes, the size is due to traditional animation...). The second reason is that after you understand that the longest to execute actions are the first you should trigger, the mechanic is spoiled. Even by adding different bosses with different styles and different characters/actions, you would *just* go and defeat the bosses pretty straightforwardly. I didn't know how to renew the puzzle part and didn't want it to just be an animation with some button, so I went into another direction. I would be delighted to have your opinion on my next game Myrtilles if you try it out !
I remember playing Monstruous once about 3 years ago and really enjoyed it, but when I played Myrtilles and learned that it was by the same author, I played it again. I had forgotten how to complete the game, so I was very happy to be able to enjoy this game again! The characters are all animated and lively, and the animation is really good. I especially like the way the robot's body seems to be left behind a little as the crawler part runs ahead of the robot. Thank you very much for this wonderful work!
i would create such game on my own, but i'm programmer and i don't have skills of professional artist, so what i can draw is minimalist art for minimalist games.
The soundtrack and visuals are great, but it can make you feel like a real idiot when you can't figure out such a simple game. I solved it in a lot more time than it should take but I did in the end, be it quite frustrated. Definitely played better with others so they can tell you when you're overlooking something.
Hi Saragraph ! Yes, it's not an easy game and can be frustrating if you're stuck... I'm glad you managed to finish it in the end. My next game should be a bit longer and a bit easier to handle :)
ahha so nice watching you getting more and more involved into the game as you figure out how to get the actions to work together, Alanerd ^^ (I'm so glad I put a fast-forward button !)
This game was actually quite fun. I love how everything is animated as it gives the characters life and actually pretty funny to watch. Although the game is simple, it is pretty interesting seeing what each and every action does and gives hints to the player on how to fix the puzzle. I love it.
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Interesting, back in the days of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, we had troubles beating the bosses at first, then after understanding the patterns, execution was not an issue anymore and so we could beat them at 100% and it sometimes felt a bit boring when replaying the game as we felt no sense of danger. The solution in later games was to make execution much harder and requires better dexterity and timing skills… but I had never thought about going the opposite way, turning a boss battle into a pure puzzle! This way it completely assumes its non-replayability and focuses on problem-solving itself.
I admit I thought there would be 2-3 bosses where you would have to reuse the same skills but they would have different effects, however I understand that it must be complicated to pull that off… In the end, the one-boss experience was still fun!
It’s a lot of trial-and-error and some exotic effects are not predictable, but I like that most of the combinations can be guessed. This way, after 2-3 attempts the solution appears clearly (at the end it was mostly counting the number of turns of delayed effects to get the right timing).
The delayed meteo reminded me of Golden Sun 2’s Dedalus’ missile attack.
One remark on game size though, I’m surprised it’s 1.5 GB unzipped. I thought it’d be because of HD artworks but considering the artifacts and the size of the native window, it shouldn’t be that big/hires… So it must be the number of animation frames then. The monster idle animation seems to move body parts but maybe it’s actually integrated with fullbody frames, making it bigger? I thought flat colors wouldn’t be that big though…
Anyway, congrats, I see you don’t have many games but they seem to be interesting puzzles! I’ll try the other one later!
P.S.: wow, mentioned just below CrossCode on itch recommends? I just saw it was released in 2018!
Wow, thank you Komehara for such a detailed review ! One of the reasons why I didn't do a sequel to this game is because it's taking so much time to animate for so little play time (yes, the size is due to traditional animation...). The second reason is that after you understand that the longest to execute actions are the first you should trigger, the mechanic is spoiled. Even by adding different bosses with different styles and different characters/actions, you would *just* go and defeat the bosses pretty straightforwardly. I didn't know how to renew the puzzle part and didn't want it to just be an animation with some button, so I went into another direction. I would be delighted to have your opinion on my next game Myrtilles if you try it out !
I remember playing Monstruous once about 3 years ago and really enjoyed it, but when I played Myrtilles and learned that it was by the same author, I played it again.
I had forgotten how to complete the game, so I was very happy to be able to enjoy this game again!
The characters are all animated and lively, and the animation is really good.
I especially like the way the robot's body seems to be left behind a little as the crawler part runs ahead of the robot.
Thank you very much for this wonderful work!
Thank you Tsuneko for your great support on both my games ! I really enjoyed animating the robot with the party hat too ^^
Great game, I really liked the art style and puzzle mechanics.
Thanks Zmok ! I'm glad you had a good time ! :)
omg this game was soo fun.
The characters are cute, the animation style is fun and the sounds are a nice cake icing. 10/10 would play a sequel! <3
Thanks Marandal ! I did my best and am so glad to see that it still sparkles joy ! I hope to get a perfect score in your <3 again with my next game :)
interesting game and it would be great to have another one with the same style, because it can be just like Sally Face or Fran Bow. 10/10
Thanks Haskispire ! Although... mine is not quite as horrific XD I can't play horror games, let alone make one :)
i would create such game on my own, but i'm programmer and i don't have skills of professional artist, so what i can draw is minimalist art for minimalist games.
The soundtrack and visuals are great, but it can make you feel like a real idiot when you can't figure out such a simple game. I solved it in a lot more time than it should take but I did in the end, be it quite frustrated. Definitely played better with others so they can tell you when you're overlooking something.
Hi Saragraph ! Yes, it's not an easy game and can be frustrating if you're stuck... I'm glad you managed to finish it in the end. My next game should be a bit longer and a bit easier to handle :)
You're making a new game? Awesome!
haha yes, but it won't be available anytime soon though XD
my new game Myrtilles is available now ^^ https://nonomiyo.itch.io/myrtilles-escape-game it is a bit longer (about 1 hour playthrough) but I'm not sure it is easier :P
I luv the arte and soundtrack! Really immersive experience.
thx Leko <3
Good game! Everything from the visuals to the soundtrack to the attacks were great.
ahha so nice watching you getting more and more involved into the game as you figure out how to get the actions to work together, Alanerd ^^ (I'm so glad I put a fast-forward button !)
This game was actually quite fun. I love how everything is animated as it gives the characters life and actually pretty funny to watch. Although the game is simple, it is pretty interesting seeing what each and every action does and gives hints to the player on how to fix the puzzle. I love it.
Thx Allekid for playing it through, glad you enjoyed it ! :)
Awesome game. really creative! Beautiful art-style. Excellent execution!
Oh wow, what an honor ! :D Thanks Nande !
i loved it :D
Thx Gureenu ! ;)
Felt super satisfying to figure it out what a joy!
Haha, very glad you enjoyed playing and solving it, Prisma ! :)
Really loved this game and only wish there was MORE!!! Great job and I cannot wait to see what comes next
Hi Nugget, thanks for your genuine & funny reactions ! :) Very glad you persevered and finally succeded with the frog prince still living ^_^
Was proud to have beaten it until I read this.. Couldn't figure out how to keep frog prince alive