Ypp

This game offers a very satisfying gameplay mixing translation and detective work, in gorgeous environments reminiscent of Moebius comics. It is a short and condensed experience (6-10 hours) rich in ah-HA moments where everything clicks and suddenly the whole world starts making sense. Highly recommended to those who enjoyed games such as Return Of The Obra Dinn.

I went into this game thinking it would be a crossover between Phoenix Wright and Sudoku (murder-solving + puzzle-solving). Boy, was I wrong. This game is its own genre. You get a taste of the gameplay from the first bodies you encounter, and as soon as you understand the basics, the game throws you into a spiral of memories that will make you wonder about the fate and motivations of each crew member as well as the ship herself. Graphics serve the purpose of the game perfectly : high contrast and blurred faces force you to make deductions based on assumptions and fragmented information. Making a correct guess is very rewarding, much more than I would have thought from the reviews. The music and the sound design are very engaging (although not to everyone's tastes, I suppose). The little music of confirmation when you guess the fates correctly is a motivation in itself. As a non native English-speaker I can't judge the different accents but the voice acting is very good. Like I saw someone else comment about, my greatest regret is not being able to forget about the story so I can discover it once more...

This game is an absolute masterpiece. From the graphics to the soundtrack, from the animations to the level design, everything adds up to make this game one of the most astounding experiences i've ever had with a game. The game is so clever and subtle in the way it teaches you the basics of gameplay without ever holding your hand, and in the way it distillates small bits of an incredibly intricate background story without ever forcing you to stand and watch big exposition scenes. It is hard, yes, but not once have I felt that the ennemies or the environment were unfair (looking at you, MonsterBoy). When I failed, it was my fault and not the game's. I cannot recommend this game enough. Please play it.

I came in expecting a successor to 'Wonderboy : the dragon's trap' that I enjoyed a lot. And in some aspects this game really delivers : the soundtrack is nice, the character design and animations are flawless. The scenario is pretty conventional and without surprises, and the cutscenes a bit too "talky" to my tastes but still fine. However, when in Wonderboy the level design felt hard but rewarding, there are lots of time where I felt that MonsterBoy was actively punishing me for playing it. From ennemies that remove 2/3 of your life bar in one hit to ennemies that respawn without warning ON THE CHARACTER, there are a lot of times where I was about to throw my console on the ground. Some parts of the game lit a pure and undistilled rage in my heart until I unlocked a specific power, by which time it becomes trivial. In general, past the first dungeon, there's really no in-between in this game : either you die a thousand times on the same screen or it is totally trivial. Most checkpoints don't refill your lifebar, and you restart at the last checkpoint with only a small portion of your hearts, which means most of the time you're chain-dying and reloading only to get one-shot a few screens down the road. I thoroughly enjoyed Hollow Knight and Wonderboy. I can handle a hard game. But *this* is not hard. This is *pain*.

I had great expectations about this game, which ultimately proved underwhelming. The main quest is incredibly quick to complete, and I got no sentiment of progression through collecting the remaining moons. There are truckloads of moons just hanging around, most are not even a challenge to get (2 minutes apiece, tops). I also found the difficulty bar both too low for a seasoned gamer such as myself, and too high for my 5 year-old son to complete, which is the worst of both world. Plus no dubbing means he can't play alone since he can't read yet. This is definitely a good game, but by no means an unforgettable experience.