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I don't have much to say about Fortnite, but I'm here  in this thread because I ACTUALLY FINISHED AN ENTIRE GAME THAT I ACTUALLY LIKED ACTUALLY




'Platformer-Metroidvania?' I hear you cry (in my head in the version where you're all engaged with my posts #foreveralone).  'Balla the Metroidvania is a platformer sub-genre anyway, you're typing nonsense-speak again.'  Well, yes - and no.  The focus for me of a Metroidvania is discovery, unlocking using items, and exploration - and Monster Boy does have that.  It's just, a lot of the time it feels like it would rather be sticking you in front of a one-room platforming challenge and having done with it.  That's not necessarily a negative: I like hard 2D platformers!  It's not what I expected is all.

That said, Monster Boy does have a fair chunk of that 'unlocking to discover' element.  It's a spiritual successor to the Wonder Boy games (and when I say 'spiritual successor', I mean 'direct references and lifting the beach music outright'), which means that you gain the ability to morph into different animals and use their powers.  While the first two are rather irritating, the latter three* give you new movement abilities and they're really satisfying to use.  Jin goes from a weedy fellow with a kinda annoying jump to somebody who's a pleasure to control over the first half or so of the game.  They boost the exploration too.  

This is all backed up by high production values and a soundtrack so good I'll still be humming it weeks later, both of which combine for an anime-style intro. that's pure Balla-bait.  It's a chunky game too, weighing in at 15-20h; and it's filled with nice set-pieces, fun moments, and interesting uses for your abilities, like the bit where it randomly becomes a shmup for a while.  In short, it does very little wrong.

So why don't I love it more?  There was a point, round about where I unlocked the third transformation, that I thought I would; but it died off some time afterwards.  I think the biggest part of that is that it feels like several platforming levels sewn together, rather than a cohesive world.  Part of that is the level themes being videogame tropes (beach sewers forest ice sky fire), and the enemy designs are the tropes that fit those tropes.  It's not Hollow Knight, dripping ambience and with a distinct feel, and has very little plot (either explicit or hinted at).  That's probably why I found it difficult to finish, letting it lie for a good long time when I reached the generic-as-heck haunted mansion with the generic-as-heck ghosties.  In slightly less short, it does very little wrong, but also doesn't feel like it was pushed to do a lot right.  

Oh: and the ending, against a very generic final boss, is really abrupt.  

That doesn't mean it's not great: it just feels like with a bit more imagination, it could have been something truly special.  Instead, it sits alongside Luigi's Mansion 3 at the bottom of my Top Ten Switch Games, as another really good game that didn't quite fulfil its potential.  I'd say it would suit those who want a fun cheery adventure that's more old-school 2D platformer than Metroidvania, but has a bit of the latter.  Oh: and anyone who played and enjoyed the Wonder Boy games, presumably.