Title: Monster Tale
Publisher: Majesco Enertainment
Developer: DreamRift
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Platform Adventure & Pet Sim
Release Date: March 15, 2010
Price: $29.99
Rating: E
As the box so eagerly points out, according to Nintendo Power, Monster Tale is the “Next Great DS Game”. That is a very bold statement to make for a game that probably is flying under the radar of most DS players out there. However given that it is brought to you by the same team that made “Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure” they are not unfamiliar with being at team that creates “sleeper” hits.
Monster Tale starts out with a girl, Ellie, as she stumbles into a strange world filled with stranger monsters. Ellie immediately discovers a large egg, which then hatches, and from it emerges a monster that quickly befriends her. She names the monster Chomp, and sets out on an adventure to find her way back home. What Ellie doesn’t know, but is soon to find out, is that this world has been taken over by other children. These children have their own monsters not unlike Chomp. As Ellie progresses through the world she encounters more kids that have taken advantage of their own monsters for their own selfish desires.
Monster Tale is a mix of several genres, but manages to meld them all together to make a really enjoyable cohesive title. It’s one part platformer, one part “Metroidvania” adventure game, and one part Pokemon.
The various worlds of Monster Tale each have their own distinct and refreshingly different aesthetics. You will explore tree houses, ancient ruins, a demon train, even a monster night club. Much in the vein of a Metroid title, you will more often than not, need to seek out new and different powers and abilities in order to access each world. These could be something as simple as a “triangle jump” or more elaborate like the jump power shot.
As you progress, you will also come across new monsters that require you to think and change your attack methods in order to beat. For instance; crabs have a hard shell on them which is impervious to regular attacks. Defeating them will require you to somehow take that shell off in order to find their weak points. Ellie finds runes around the world that she is able to learn new abilities from to exploit the monsters weaknesses as well as unlock new sections of the world. Inevitably the newest power or ability in her arsenal will be the one needed to take down the boss found at the end of the stage.
Let’s talk about Chomp, Ellie’s monster companion and his role in the game. Chomp, much like Ellie, is able to learn and acquire new abilities. Not only does chomp earn experience by defeating or helping to defeat enemies, but he can also use dropped items to further his levels. Some enemies will drop items such as a cookie, a magic top hat, or even things like cameras, bicycles, and remote control cars. These items upon pick up are sent to the bottom screen of the DS. Here the items are stored until Ellie sends Chomp to learn or use them. Chomp also has a health bar that will deplete over time if he is out of the bottom screen. Every once in a while it is a good idea to just send him back down to regain his strength. Should his energy be drained completely, he will be knocked out and will remain incapacitated in the lower screen until his energy recovers fully.
Much like Henry Hatsworth, Monster Tale requires you to keep an eye on both screens of your Nintendo DS. However, unlike Hatsworth, keeping track of the bottom screen in Monster Tale is a much less stressful task. Though there are certain enemies that will attack from the bottom portion of your DS, the vast majority of the action is relegated to the top, making it quite a bit easier on the player. The bottom screen is used mostly for just holding onto the items that enemies drop for use later or for Chomp to gain EXP from.
Chomp doesn’t just gain levels from his toys and defeated enemies, once he reaches a certain level he also gets the use of different forms. These new forms also bring with them new abilities as well as a different elemental base. Fighting as a water based Chomp against fire enemies is much easier and safer than fighting as an earth elemental. Chomp also actually can “age” in the game. After some boss fights, Chomp will appear to be getting older. He starts out as a child but soon grown into an teenager, and so on. It adds a greater depth to the game that isn’t really seen in most adventure titles of the like.
Finally, Chomp will have to work together with, and sometimes for Ellie, in order to traverse through the maps. At certain times there will be an obstacle that blocks Ellie’s path that only Chomp can get around, or sometimes they will appear in the lower half of the DS that only Chomp has access to. This plays a particularly important role in most boss fights where the enemy is either in the lower screen or has some sort of trap set up there.
Even with the multitasking element added into the mix, I still didn’t find it hard to manage both top and bottom screens at once. Actually there were times where I would neglect the bottom screen so much that it was almost full of items by the time I remembered.
One thing that Monster Tale does, and does really well, is reward the player the entire way through. With all the different forms for Chomp to unlock (30 in all), all the abilities for Ellie to learn, and new items to find, you are constantly being given some sort of prize for your hard work. It creates a weird feeling of that “one more time” gameplay that keeps players going.
Monster Tale is a very different game from Henry Hatsworth in most respects but you can see the influence that it’s success had. The things that bothered me about Hatsworth (Economy, divided attention) were both fixed in this title. Is it the “Next Great DS Game”? Quite possibly. For gamers looking to scratch that “MetroidVania” itch, it is definitely not a title to be over looked because of it’s childlike aesthetics. Don’t let the line “Pet Raising Sim” fool you, this is not a one trick pony. It’s a game that borrows from several other established genres, but manages to make them all feel like it’s own all the while giving the player a fun and engaging experience.
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