monsia

Came digging for copper, found a weird gem resembling a malachite made out of paper-like substance.

That is perhaps the best short description of monsia I can wrap my head around. Within a lot of RPG Maker games made recently it is hard to find these short, refined, optimised experiences that have a lot of style and substance. monsia succeeds at that in... surreal fashion, perhaps.

The trailer and images may perhaps indicate that the game and it's world are crude and cheap. But monsia isn't crude, it's articulate, auteurish and offers way more content even for the seemingly short amount of time advertised and shown.

The weird, green-and-white large world of monsia, it's inhabitants, and the not-so-large crew of three that you control has a ton of charm and, at the same time, instability - as it should be - within themselves. I found the ramblings of every NPC you encounter, as well as the ramblings of your own team, alongside minor bits of comedy, very immersive and well crafted. I would love to hear a lot more from them, to be honest. And the plot, while somewhat basic - well, it's a 3.5-4 hour adventure, not much to spill anyway - has it's elements of depth and coherency that can keep the player excited for what else is to come.

The visuals and the OST are definitely an acquired taste. They are unique and may, like I've already said, initially deter a player from diving deeper into the game. However, they definitely grow on you and start to fit a lot better the further you go into the game and explore it's atmosphere. Sure, the graphics may blend into themselves, and the OST may have it's highs and lows (I felt this a lot during the FunHouse section), but it overall crafts a unique and deep experience that really allows you to see the depth of the world that monsia has to offer.

Overall I've spent almost 4 hours exploring every nook and cranny of monsia. After fully completing the game, I didn't feel deterred in any way, even thogh I completed the game over the course of two days - not an experience you may want to complete in one go. On the contrary, monsia left me wanting a lot more. A lot more of the adventures of Opso, Rhumb and Spact as they... defeat another robot and a buncha rats or something. It speaks a lot abot the game's quality if it can really make you want more of it. Perhaps the short-ish length of the game is it's only flaw.

monsia was certainly a unique experience I wouldn't recommend anyone to miss out on. Give it a try and see it's depth and creativity. Really excited for the next entry in this saga, whatever it'll be, because I'll definitely be there.

Thanks frogsoop for an absolutely amazing game!