[h1]Sights & Sounds[/h1]
[h3]A Monster's Crossing[/h3]
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[*] With the amount of latitude available when designing a puzzle game, it's always interesting to see which direction a developer will take. Will it be as spartan and barebones as [i]Baba Is You[/i], as maximalist and showy as [i]Gorogoa[/i], or something in between?
[*] Both [i]A Monster's Expedition[/i] and developers Draknek & Friends' previous release, [i]Cosmic Express[/i], take that middle path. The visuals of each are fairly simplistic, featuring grid-based levels with a cutesy veneer plastered over everything. The uncomplicated geometry and colorful environments lull you into a cozy false sense of security before bending your brain with difficult solutions
[*] The design conceit for [i]A Monster's Expedition[/i] is an archipelago of variously themed islands forming a sort of post-apocalypse museum for the monsters who inherited the world. Humanity is gone now, and they're curious about the artifacts we've left behind. That leisurely, vacation-y feel hammers home the coziness
[*] Despite the setup, the cute design, random household objects lying around, and islands composed of rounded right angles make it feel instead like you're traversing the ruins of a bunch of [i]Animal Crossing[/i] islands
[*] The OST fits the theme well. It's primarily a collection of easy-listening tunes featuring acoustic guitar, piano, soft percussion, and a little synth here and there to tie it all together. Thematically appropriate and good for background noise while you're doing some mental heavy lifting, but it's otherwise nothing you're going to feel like humming along to
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[h1]Story & Vibes[/h1]
[h3]Left behind[/h3]
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[*] It's a puzzle game, so there's not much to discuss in terms of story. You're a little candy corn shaped monster with a backpack who has decided to visit a large outdoor museum dedicated to humanity and the things we left
[*] Where did humanity go? [i]A Monster's Expedition[/i] doesn't say. Given the fractured nature of the landscape, however, my wager is on a destructive apocalypse of some sort. Regardless, it's up to you to travel from island to island to look at exhibits
[*] There is a little light humor to be found on the placards placed next to the exhibits, but nothing outrageously funny. Just some humorous observations and speculation on how things like sinks, roller coasters, and sofas were used. Somehow, they still know what a zoetrope is, though, which feels a little odd
[*] Beyond that, there's not much to comment on. Just enjoy perusing the museum and figure out the surprisingly complicated means of finding the exit
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[h1]Playability & Replayability[/h1]
[h3]Keep going[/h3]
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[*] No matter how you look at it, [i]A Monster's Expedition[/i] falls squarely (lol) into the camp of block-pushing puzzle game. Except rather than pushing boxes or blocks, you'll primarily be pushing around logs. Most islands you encounter have a tree or two on them, and they're your only means of navigation and transportation around the museum
[*] The simplest solutions usually involve creating bridges. You'll knock down a tree, navigate it around various obstacles, and push it into the water to create a link to the next island. Just note that logs will roll until they hit an object or splash into the water, so be careful with your positioning
[*] More complex solutions will require you to position two logs parallel to each other in the water to create rafts, which can be used to traverse longer distances. After a while, you'll begin to recognize when this is the likely solution. Just keep your eyes open for suspiciously raft-shaped gaps in the beach positioned near rocks or other geometry that'll give you a surface to push off of
[*] As you might expect, some islands can be pretty tricky. You'll be doing a lot of guessing and checking. Thankfully, you have an island reset button available to you at any time should you wish to return the island to its initial state. Just keep in mind that the reset button can occasionally be part of the solution with puzzles involving more than one island at a time
[*] In all, I think you really have to tip your cap to the gigantic size of the environment, especially when you take a look at the map and see how dense it is with islands (726 in total). For a puzzle paradigm as simple as block pushing, it's remarkable that the devs were able to generate and implement so many
[*] Of course, as you're exploring this huge space, you may find yourself diverting from the direction you were intending to go. Or maybe you've followed a long path to a puzzle you can't figure out and want to try a different area. Thankfully, you'll occasionally find islands with postboxes on them that can be used for fast travel to make retreading your steps less time consuming
[*] That's about it for the gameplay. Hard to write too much about block-pushing. In terms of replayability, I'd say it's pretty good. There's so many puzzles that you'd never be able to remember them all, and there are so many secret paths and alternate solutions that it's unlikely that you'll see them all without following a walkthrough. I know I certainly didn't. I may revisit this one down the road if I'm in need of a relaxing puzzle experience and don't have any left on my backlog
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[h1]Overall Impressions & Performance[/h1]
[h3]Exit through the gift shop[/h3]
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[*] It's always interesting to see how a small dev who focuses on a single genre grows and evolves over time. In terms of scope, ambition, and creativity, [i]A Monster's Expeidition[/i] shows how they've grown in spite of the visual similarities of the two titles
[*] At some point, I'm interested to see how they've evolved the ideas in these two games in the two titles they released last year, [i]The Electrifying Incident[/i] and [i]Spooky Express[/i]. Though, I have to admit I'm anticipating their upcoming 1st-person puzzler, [i]He Who Watches[/i]
[*] With the simple controls, lack of intense action, and slow pace, this is an excellent Steam Deck experience, though you could probably run this well enough on other handheld platforms. I'd be interested to see if it'd run on an AYN Thor, for example
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[h1]Final Verdict[/h1]
[b]7.0[/b]/10. If you're looking for a meaty puzzle experience that makes full use of a single mechanic, this is a great title to keep in mind. Just note that the constant log-pushing will get old if you're only an occasional puzzle gamer or don't have the patience to work through this many puzzles without a story or mystery to pass the time
