Midnight Saga: The Monster

I have mixed feelings about this. On one side, it's pretty bad for diverse reasons; on the other, I was hooked enough into the story that I wanted to see the ending. [b]Why do I think it's not a good game ?[/b] Firstly, how it's written. It feels very debutant-like, poor worded phrases, lots of repetitions, a style lacking personality. The dialogues feel unnatural, forced even. People don't talk to each others like that. The options to answer are mid. There's the story itself, it's trying too hard and ends up being almost ridiculous. It's filled with clichés and codes of bad horror movies. The author tried to add subtlety, plot twists and such, but it's clumsy and just spoils the rest of the story. The ending is frustrating, it makes our character feel useless and doesn't leave me with a feeling of satisfaction. [spoiler]These last minute characters showing up and the final fight were just empty, just for show.[/spoiler] Then the characters, one of the most important point in games like this. Once again, pretty cliché, they end up being kinda plain. Come on... twins named "Lea" and "Leo" having polar opposite personalities ? Some of them are just irritating and not interesting to keep around. There's nothing groundbreaking about the romance, it's simple and not really thrilling. [b]So why did I keep reading ?[/b] Curiosity killed the cat, but this time, satisfaction did not bring it back. I wanted to hope for more and be happily surprised. In the end, it's not bad [i]bad[/i], it's bad disappointing. I did like their take on gender identity and the character customisation. The fights have their appeal but are not challenging as there seem to have not much use for the stats. Sure, I can recommand it as if you like mainstream easy horror, you'd probably enjoy it. It's an easy read and in a way, it gets you hooked despite the poor plotline. Get it while it's still on sale.

[h1]Sweet and Short TL;DR: not the best title in the Hosted Games library, but also not the worst. The writing feels amateurish in many places, but shows signs of improvement by the end of the book. There is a good premise, proper lore, interesting concept in general, and a good variety of characters. Recommended for players who are new to the genre; more seasoned fans might get disappointed, though.[/h1] When I saw that [b]Midnight Saga: The Monster[/b] was announced for release on the Choice of Games’ forum, I got quite curious about it. Not to mention that it should be a perfect game for October with its spooky spirit, right? Now, having completed this adventure, I cannot say that I was entirely disappointed by it, but it sure left me wishing for more. And I am not talking just about the sequel now. [h1]Let Me Tell You A Story…[/h1] A story about one person – a boy, a girl or a non-binary – who came to the city of mystery. A city that looks like any other, but hides some dark secrets in the shadows. Monsters come out to hunt during Halloween and only the bravest warriors can defend us against them. But one day, something goes horribly wrong… And so, the night you decide to go trick-or-treating with your nephew, niece and friends (and potential lovers), you all of a sudden find yourself on the other side where all your worst nightmares come to life. With candies in your bag and traditional horror-movie weapons in hand, get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the ancient tale and find out more about your own family. It Is Midnight Kill Time! [h1]Pros:[/h1] [list] [*]Interesting concept. Horrors under the cover of endless nights, mysterious beings, family secrets that live through ages and turn our perception of reality upside down, and a new take on traditional Halloween features; [*]Creative customization that lets you set your character’s appearance in almost any way you like. This includes special names for some…body parts that will be used in more explicit scenes; [*]I liked the characters – some did not get much time in the spotlight sadly [spoiler]Mack in particular, considering that he is one of the love interests[/spoiler]; [*]You can read other characters’ point of view in several scenes – personally, I love this feature in text-based games! [*]Your choices do matter and can [spoiler]lead to someone’s death[/spoiler]; [*]Two options for polyamorous romance, and many options for others too; [*]Replayability. Naturally, you cannot see all events and romance all people in one playthrough – so, get ready to visit the dark dimension more than once; [*]This adventure ends with a promise for an even bigger one, with more candies, attractive allies and dangerous enemies; [*]A lot of achievements, most of them are quite easy to get; [*]You can craft a cool chainsaw! And choose your favorite candy (or invent one with the most cursed brand name in existence). [/list] [h1]In-between [/h1] [list] [*]This is only the first book in the series. What does it mean? That, first, you will need to wait for sequel to see the complete story, and two, some parts are not fully developed yet. Like romance and your powers, for example; [*]Not the best writing style. The author tends to repeat words, a lot. Some sentences are either very simple or not descriptive enough. Also, expect to see many cliches [i](maybe they are part of the general style for this game, though?)[/i]. However, surprisingly, the writing started improving in the second part of the game, which saved it from being a major drawback; [*]The battles are OK. Not too bad, not too good, just OK; [*]Some dialogues feel artificial. I cannot imagine normal people speaking like this – it looked more like a script for a teenage horror movie. On the other hand, this concept is what this game is based on, so…. [/list] [h1]Cons:[/h1] [list] [*]Some parts felt too liner for my liking. I also did not feel that my character’s personality changed much during conversations; [*]An interesting concept that was not fully implemented, sadly. There is so much more that the author could have told us about this world! We do get some basic lore, but, once again, the story ends too soon for us to actually use it. I hope that we get more answers in the future books; [*]Speaking of romance, there was not enough for my big heart. You barely get to catch any feelings before the story actually ends; [*]Occasional typos and coding errors; [*]A major cliffhanger in the end. I know that some people hate them, so, here is your warning. [/list] [h1]I'm Here To Kick Ass And Eat Candies And I Am All Out Of Candies[/h1] [b]Midnight Saga: The Monster[/b] serves as an introduction to the new series, and only time – and the sequel – will tell if it can live to its full potential. So far, there are various flaws, but nothing too big to make you skip the game completely. There are also many good points that can engage you for more than one playthrough. Or just help you get into the spirit of Halloween. Overall, it is a nice medium-length story that you can enjoy for several evenings. Worth the price in general, in particular for players who are new to the genre, but will leave more seasoned readers (like me) wishing for more. I wish the author all the best and hope to see more of their works in the future. [h1][url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/32296668-Casual-Game-Reviews/] More reviews on our Curator Page[/url][/h1]

The first thing I'll say about this game: the bones are there. It's clear the author put some thought into the world-building and the dynamics between the characters. Unfortunately, the cons outweigh the pros. The plot is clunky and relies too heavily on cliches without doing anything interesting with them. The writing is stilted and far too straightforward; it honestly reads more like the outline of a story rather than an actual story. I agree with other reviewers that expecting a professionally made game for $6 is silly, but this is one of the very few games I finished feeling like $6 was too expensive. But it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to completely dismiss something someone has put work into, so I won't say don't buy it, instead I'll say play the demo to see if it's to your taste. I wish I had.

MS:TM has the same gameplay mechanics as the rest of the CoG games: there's a situation, you're given a set of choices, and the story progresses and branches depending on your choices. "Why are you telling me this," I hear you ask, "I'm perfectly capable of reading the store page description and looking at the screenshots." See, you say that, but I've seen takes, man. I've seen TAKES. The story theme starts out as horror and then veers into superpowered horror, but never superpowered enough that I've felt I had the situation well in hand. THE GOOD: + There's a couple of images peppered throughout the game. If you have trouble translating words into images in your head, they help. I found the maps particularly useful for visualisation, even though they have zero effect on the game itself. + Clearly labelled romance options. No "Why is this NPC saying we're in love? All I did was not be a jerk to them in the two instances we interacted" going on here. I REALLY wish more CoG games did this. Know exactly where a romance option is going to lead, so the stuff never makes you feel uncomfortable (unless that's your kink and you do it on purpose, I guess?). + Speaking of stuff, the steamy stuff is steamy. The romantic stuff is romantic. Again, clearly labelled. + End of chapter checkpoints that let you replay them right after you end them. We're never getting a save system for CoG, so this is a way to undo anything you feel like you've recently mucked up. + Like I said, even though you power-up throughout the game, I never felt "oh, this is going to be a piece of cake", so it keeps the danger factor that helps keep up the horror theme. + Your superpowers are powered by CANDY! You never have to share your Halloween candy again, you need it to SAVE THE WORLD! + I really love the action scene writing quality. It moves fast and action-y, while never being vague enough to make you go "wait, I'm not sure what's happening here." + LOTS of customisation. It doesn't really come into play (no, your hair colour isn't going to help you blast monsters), but there's the occasional reference. Also an option to just skip customisation if you don't care about that. + The villain shines. It's internally consistent, it's believable in its motivations and plans, won't hold the idiot ball, and it WILL f*ck you up if you give it half a chance when you confront it. + Three different endings. And because this ISN'T made by the Mass Effect 3 hacks (I miss you, old Bioware), they're relevantly different. THE BAD: - The author is a non-native speaker, and you'll notice it. It's never confusing (you'll never be left in doubt on what's going on), it's not (IMO) jarring, and it never brought me out of the story, but there might be some typos and awkward turns of phrase that make your brain give you a metaphorical nudge. - Exploring the Keeperside town can be a crapshoot, because you aren't given any narrative hints of where to go (and you don't have time to go everywhere). There IS an in-game guide accessible from the stats screen which points you to the right places, and worst comes to worst there's always the checkpoints, but I'd still have preferred some form of in-narrative guidance. For some people this might improve replayability, though, so maybe it's just me. THE [strike] UGLY [/strike] YMMV +- Stats don't really impact the game (except, I'm told, for one of the endings). For some people this will be a plus, so they can focus on the narrative alone. For others, it'll be a negative. Overall, I've found it to be an extremely good entry in the CoG catalog, and I'm eagerly waiting for the next part of the Saga.

<b>The Midnight Saga: The Monster</b> By C.C. Hill <b>"It is said that from October 31 to November 2, The Keeper travels to the world of the living and abducts innocent children.”</b> <b>"So, those of you going trick-or-treating tomorrow with your little cousins, nephews, and nieces, be sure to keep an eye out for The Keeper of Midnight, as you never know who or what is lurking in the dark.”</b> Ghost stories around a campfire are as ‘October’ as Jewel Staite in ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’. Which is odd, because usually fireflies are gone by Fall. This story actually reminds me a lot of those days when you’d finish watching an episode of The Adventures of Pete and Pete, follow it up with Clarissa Explains It All, and end your spooky night (around 830pm) with Are You Afraid of The Dark. I am now realizing I spent a lot of the early 90’s watching people in flannel. So, submitted for the approval of the Midnight Sag… I mean, Midnight Society, I call this review… <b>General Story:</b> You are a young adult who is sent to live with family in the US, bringing seemingly traditional Haitian ghost stories along with you. Turns out, some of those stories might be true and now you have to save those closest to you with powers you didn’t even know you had. You’ll brave the scary stories from your childhood, and try to find your way back to a candy-filled Halloween night. Honestly, the story works pretty well; especially for a first entry in a series. It’s your semi-standard young adult novel romp, with a chosen one and multiple romance interests… Not a live parent in sight. There are some twists and turns, and everything lends itself to the feeling of a sleepy Halloween in a sparse town, even though I’m not sure it’s supposed to be a small population town. The title honestly cribs a lot of themes from Stranger Things and pairs it with your standard Super Sentai. It’s a super powered team mentored by dead papa Zordon, roaming the Upside Down taking on “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” made sentient. <b>Format and Typos:</b> A few typos, grammar, and formatting mistakes. I’ve submitted a few for corrections, and with new release HG titles, this is pretty common as beta testing and proofreading is often crowd-sourced. Nothing egregious, and readability was pretty good. <b>Game Mechanics and Stats:</b> Okay, everything really feels like a false front in the stats screen. So often I had trouble figuring out what choices would affect which stat (except romance option selection, those were marked very well) and reviewing the stats screen never really helped. After reviewing the code, it’s because as of right now; the stats don’t do anything but accumulate. I don’t believe I ever saw a check against the stats. You can fail if you choose the least correct option, but it never really matters if you’ve been focusing on using energy blasts or shields, as it depends more on what choice the author decided was correct. It usually goes like this, you choose the best option you get resources (a weapon, some candy, crafting items). Second best option gets you status quo, no losing anything but potential. Worst option usually results in death or damage, which isn’t normally a permanent failstate but an ever increasing death score. The above isn’t to say that I felt railroaded at any point, but more that I was never really rewarded for focusing on a stat or trying to stay true to the character in my head because there was never any consequence related to the number value of any stat. Tracked resources are a thing however. How many times have you used that meat cleaver? Weapons can break, but I found the usage very forgiving. So, if you can find a weapon even sporadically, you won’t run into much issue. The majority of your actual game mechanics is just making sure you’ve collected as much as possible during the time given to you. <b>Replayability:</b> Replayability is pretty high, and this is because of the romance options. There are quite a few options (some set in stone, others gender variable), and even some polyamory. The title features some (optional) steamy scenes, and they were well written. The majority of your playthroughs will fill the same with only your romance options changing, but there are a few different things you can accomplish in the title that change up major events like whether specific people will survive. <b>Dislikes:</b> - Stats are not really used for anything. You can spend your entire time focusing on being an awesome energy blaster, but if you use shields when the author implies you should, it will always succeed. - Creating the ultimate weapon lacked the fanfare I wanted with it. - The sense of horror and helplessness does not stay at the forefront long enough before you start getting powers more fitting for spandex warriors. <b>Likes:</b> - The romances are the main show here, and work well. - There is a lot of potential in the main villain, and I am super interested to see how the relationship (non-romantic or otherwise) develops with them. So, for those that like enemy-to-lover, there is a good bullet point for you. - “However, the real reason is that Mr. Audbawl is a strange one.” Never would have guessed.

I liked it. It's easy and fun to read. The premise is fun and the story gets some extra interest from showing other characters' perspective at times. Yes, it could use more polish, it feels a bit rushed, especially towards the end. It has a lot of cool systems (like crafting, exploration to gather items, dating) so I would've loved it to be more elaborate and use the systems more. Also, the characters could've used more development, they're quite interesting and I would've liked to get to know them better and interact with the MC more. But overall, a very nice "can't put it down until I finish it" experience.

An exciting and atmospheric Halloween game. The characters in the game are perfectly spelled out and it's interesting to follow them

There is one thing in common with most of these reviews is that once you start your hooked the story just pulls you in and you have to finish. If your coming into this game expecting AAA experience for $5 ... why? lol This is clearly a game made by one person and few contributors (check the patreon out) that put there soul into it. If your looking for a game with heart , soul and passion and it oozes it. Check this game out ASAP!!! Also its less then $10 and theres soo much replayability, you get your moneys worth and then some.

I ignored the negative reviews, and shouldn't have. It has a bunch of flaws, more flaws than positives. Other reviewers have hit upon a number of points, but I want to zero in on one aspect of the story that is illustrative of the problem as a whole. Not too far in, you learn that you have ill-defined powers, and are a "Warden." It's not made clear whether these powers can be used in the real world or only in the "Keeper's timeline." It's also something that is introduced and is immediately accepted and remarked upon, e.g. a character being like "Wow I can't believe you're a Warden," when that character had no idea what the ♥♥♥♥ a Warden was like, yesterday. I'd liken it to if nobody had ever heard of Star Wars, and I told them I am a Jedi. The reactions and process of acceptance should be along the lines of "So you say you're some kind of space wizard? And you have a laser sword?" It shouldn't just be an immediate shift in worldview to accommodate not just concepts of magic and multiple realities and people with powers. It takes time to process, not just as characters but also as a player. First I'm telling scary stories then the scary stories are real then I have powers then I find out every single person I know has powers even though it's been established that they're exceedingly rare then I find out the person I met recently was the villain all along then during the climactic battle we are losing then are saved by some people who were never once even alluded to in the story up to that point. Then it's just "The End: The story will continue in the sequel." Honestly this one started out pretty well. The demo hooked me in. Then it all deteriorated rapidly. I don't want to say this is mediocre, because sometimes mediocre games can still have their charms. This one is bad.

看见推荐说像是青少年奇幻小说就火速购入阅读了！ 喜欢这种能跟多个ROs从头调情到尾的，走个人线也不妨碍MC和其他人说说笑笑，而且这部的ROs确实都好可爱，就是很青少年，刚刚成年情绪饱满活力十足的感觉；我一周目的MC也正好和其中一个RO性格爱好各方面都意外相性很好，攻略起来非常快乐！（以下包括主线部分剧透）[spoiler]顺便感叹下黑幕Zhan这个角色（我选的性别是男性，鉴于其他性别选项外观有差异，这里特指ta的男性人设）也是青少年特色黑幕。本来因为他讲话亲切但手段残忍，我一直脑补的外观是比较成熟又精致的类型，结果最终战刚一拉开，作者的插画跳了出来，怎么是棒球服+破洞牛仔裤啊！！！瞬间从狠戾大反派被打回美式高中生，笑得我紧张心情全无！[/spoiler] 不过对于这种一个大主线贯穿下来的未完结系列作来说，它的悲伤之处就在于经常结束得很突然！后日谈是恋爱当然很好，但我也抓耳挠腮地想知道其他人都怎么样，[spoiler]想知道他们对末章发生的这一系列惊天动地的事情有什么反应，现在就是MC自己的反应是足够的，但缺乏一些群像戏的互动，就导致大家仿佛很普通地回归了平常生活，读起来不免会有点割裂感。[/spoiler] 总之我先去玩玩续作demo解馋.jpg