Release Date: 01/08/2017
Played On: Win
Available On: Win
Time Played: 15m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Random Seed Games
Publisher: Random Seed Games
I'm not sure if I've ever come across a Ludum Dare game on Steam before, but I imagine there are some out there. I don't mean a game that was developed from a game jam concept, but an actual entry in all its glory up on Steam for all to access.
The Monster Inside is a free game that was part of Ludum Dare 33: "You Are The Monster". If you haven't heard of Ludum Dare before, it's arguably the highest profile game jam event around. A few times a year, developers from all around the world spent a weekend making an entire game from start to finish with only a theme to guide them.
I love a game jam, as it's like a hot pocket of creativity and can produce some truly inspiring work. There's something about a restricted timeline and an open theme that can really push creativity to a fever pitch. Often the developers taking part in game jams will work with people they haven't worked with before, or have always wanted to work with. Sometimes they will have a crazy idea for a game that they've never been able to make in any other context, but it's perfect to use a game jam to build a prototype. Game jam games are often rough and vary wildly in quality, but there's always something interesting to come from the process, so I love checking them out.
However, usually the games submitted to game jams are only available on the jam's own web site, or through a typically "indie" platform like itch.io - not on the big ugly storefront of Steam!
It's not all that surprising really, as we all know there isn't really a barrier to entry for Steam anymore, based on all the garbage titles that appear in the store. I shouldn't be too surprised to find a competent and polished little game that some genuine developers made amongst the chaff; in fact I think I'm really excited about the whole thing.
There's nothing to really say about The Monster Inside that won't spoil the whole thing, but it's free and short so if you're that bothered, go play it now. You don't even need Steam to play it, just search for the title in your browser and you'll find it ready to play, or available for download.
With that in mind, the basic deal is that The Monster Inside is a noir visual novel short story game with very basic interactivity. The story moves from scene to scene, which is rendered on the screen in a simplistic style that serves the story well. You can see from the screenshots here that each motif is basic, yet stylish and interesting.
The only thing that stops this from being a kinetic visual novel (non-interactive), are a couple of un-skippable points to click on in each location, as well as a handful of dialogue choices. Don't get too excited though, as the story remains the same no matter what choices you pick along the way. It's a nice bit of flavour to add to the story, but doesn't really do a whole lot for the experience. This short story would have been served just as well with the nice art for each scene, but with the interactivity taken out.
I'm always on board for a good visual novel, so I'm not the kind of person who demands interactive gameplay elements to be included in every game. The Monster Inside is trying to do something different by including these parts, but ultimately I think it serves as a good reminder of why they're unnecessary and possibly take away from the experience, rather than add to it. I mean, the story isn't all that complex or mind blowing in itself, so having some banal shoe-horned "mechanics" thrown in does little to service the good parts of the game.
If The Monster Inside wasn't so short, I would want a better story and perhaps some actual branching dialogue choices. It's important to remember that this is a game jam game, so expectations should be low going in no matter what kind of gamer you are. I played it without knowing anything about it, but I'm always wary of having my time wasted by terrible free to play titles that should never see the light of day.
Fortunately The Monster Inside is polished enough to become a fully realised conceptualisation of the style and story-telling methods used. I'd like to see a full-length visual novel with branching paths and perhaps some more scene interactivity in the future, but for now this was a pleasant way to spend fifteen minutes.