LA Monsters

About

LA Monsters is a single player action game with horror, mystery, thriller and science fiction themes. It was developed by ben lunato and was released on October 29, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Travel through the LA wasteland with Josh and Sid in this atmospheric interactive video novel.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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79%

Audience ScoreBased on 28 reviews

story7 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

The game features a unique art style and vibrant visuals that enhance the overall experience.
The narration and soundtrack are engaging, adding to the atmosphere and enjoyment of the game.
The story is creative and offers an interesting take on the themes presented, making it a worthwhile experience for players.

The gameplay is minimal, often feeling more like a visual novel than an interactive game, which may disappoint players seeking more engagement.
There are performance issues, with lag and synchronization problems that detract from the overall experience.
The voice acting can be overly exaggerated and off-putting, negatively impacting the enjoyment of the story.

story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
44%
17%
The story has received mixed reviews, with some praising its creativity and atmospheric elements, while others criticize it for being poorly written and confusing. Despite its unique art style and engaging narration, many players found the narrative lacking coherence and depth, leading to a frustrating experience overall. However, some still appreciate the storytelling as a worthwhile aspect of the game, highlighting its potential for interactive storytelling.
- “It comes together to create an interesting piece of interactive storytelling, full of atmosphere.”
- “Great and atmospheric short story, hope to see more games from this great author!”
- “Beautiful artwork, soundtrack, and storytelling.”
- “This shit is so random, the story sounds like it was written by a child, the visuals are cool af, and the guy narrating is just a goofy ass fella.”
- “It's a badly written story about two brothers who traverse the 'wasteland' of Los Angeles.”
- “And while the story was definitely creative, I do regret the time I spent reading and listening to it.”
graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
43%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the unique and beautiful art style that evokes nostalgia for retro visuals, while others criticize the use of distracting filters and technical issues that detract from the experience. Overall, the visuals are described as cool and fascinating, contributing positively to the storytelling despite some performance concerns.
- “A nice piece of weird fiction with some incredible visuals.”
- “It does have a good story, and the art style is very unique.”
- “Beautiful artwork, soundtrack, and storytelling.”
- “The bad graphics are made even worse with the help of some annoying hipster filters.”
- “Coming into LA Monsters, one could easily be reminded of a nineties point and click game with its retro visuals and soundtrack.”
- “I was utterly baffled by the story and fascinated by the art style, but the visual novel format made my gaming PC lag, even though it doesn't lag when playing Cyberpunk 2077 on its highest settings.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality, with standout original soundtracks and good voice acting enhancing the experience. However, some users noted that the limited variety of tracks can lead to repetitiveness, detracting from the overall enjoyment. The retro-inspired soundtrack evokes nostalgia, reminiscent of classic point-and-click games.
- “A really cute visual novel with no interaction but a great OST and good voice acting.”
- “Coming into LA Monsters, one could easily be reminded of a nineties point and click game with its retro visuals and soundtrack.”
- “Beautiful artwork, soundtrack, and storytelling.”
- “Even the music, which is by far my favorite part of the game, isn’t extensive enough, with the same few tracks looping for all 39 frames.”
- “Coming into LA Monsters, one could easily be reminded of a nineties point-and-click game with its retro visuals and soundtrack.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect of visual novels and e-books tedious, likening the experience to a frustratingly slow reading process where each sentence requires a click to advance, detracting from the enjoyment of the narrative.
- “Visual novels and e-books can be tedious at best. Imagine the best novel you've ever read, whether it's 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', '2001: A Space Odyssey', or even 'Twilight' (if you have terrible taste in literature). Now, translate that into a format where the words dribble out, and you have to click your mouse every time you want to read the next sentence, instead of just turning the pages.”
- “Grinding in this game feels like an endless loop of repetitive tasks that drain the enjoyment out of the experience. It often feels more like a chore than a game.”
- “The amount of grinding required to progress is overwhelming. It turns what could be an engaging experience into a monotonous slog.”
gameplay
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The gameplay in this visual/interactive novel is minimal, primarily consisting of clicking through poorly written dialogue, which detracts from the overall experience. With little to no engaging gameplay mechanics, the focus shifts entirely to the story, raising concerns about the quality of the writing.
- “As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay; it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print. This raises the question, 'How did something this badly written end up on Steam?'”
- “However, when there's no real gameplay to speak of, all you have is story.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting its engaging and immersive storytelling that enhances the overall experience. Many express a desire for more works from the author, indicating a strong connection to the game's atmospheric qualities.
- “It comes together to create an interesting piece of interactive storytelling, full of atmosphere.”
- “Great and atmospheric short story; hope to see more games from this great author!”