Monsters 'til Midnight
- May 31, 2023
- Retro Dreamer
- 12h median play time
Get on Steam"Monsters 'til Midnight" is a retro-style, action-packed dungeon crawler game. You play as a monster hunter fighting through hordes of creatures in procedurally generated levels. With pixel art graphics and a chiptune soundtrack, the game offers a nostalgic experience with rogue-like elements and intense boss battles.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Charming art style and whimsical design enhance the overall experience.
- Gameplay is engaging with a variety of characters, weapons, and a solid meta progression system.
- Runs are well-paced, lasting around 20 minutes, making it suitable for quick play sessions.
- Progression can feel slow and grindy, especially in the early stages, leading to frustration.
- Weapons and upgrades often feel weak and lack meaningful impact, diminishing the sense of progression.
- The game suffers from poor hitboxes and control issues, which can hinder the overall gameplay experience.
- graphics18 mentions
- 61 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming and whimsical art style, featuring crisp pixel art and appealing character designs that enhance the overall aesthetic. Players appreciate the smooth gameplay and the game's engaging visuals, which are particularly well-suited for local co-op play and family-friendly settings. The retro 2D graphics and consistent presentation contribute to a delightful experience, making it stand out in the bullet-hell genre.
“Characters and art style are very nice to look at and the gameplay is smooth.”
“Charming art style: cute, Halloween-esque monster designs that are visually appealing.”
“It offers tight frantic gameplay with its superb retro 2D graphics, along with a diverse cast of characters and items to unlock.”
“Monsters feel fresh and not too repetitive (yet anyways), like the art style, can't see my character though when it's crowded.”
“It's challenging, the art style is whimsical, and there is an interesting variety of weapons.”
“I love the artwork; the pixel art and animations are top notch.”
- gameplay11 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its smooth mechanics and engaging design, blending elements from various genres like bullet-hell and roguelite, while introducing unique features such as dodge rolls and a diverse cast of characters. Players appreciate the game's artistic style and local co-op functionality, although some express frustration with the accessibility of weapon selection mechanics. Overall, it offers a fun and frantic experience, with ample content to explore.
“Gameplay feels great.”
“It's a vampire survivors bullet-heaven that genuinely has some Enter the Gungeon vibes with a dodge roll mechanic as most of the cast's starting ability.”
“It offers tight, frantic gameplay with its superb retro 2D graphics, along with a diverse cast of characters and items to unlock.”
“This one does it by almost entirely skirting around the usual gameplay of killing things.”
“In the end, I did manage to get 14 hours of gameplay from it and there's still technically a few things I could still do if I really wanted to, but I don't.”
“Either no re-roll/banish mechanics for weapon selection on level up or re-roll/banish is not easily accessible.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while initial progression can feel slow and tedious, leading to a sense of unfulfillment, the game ultimately rewards persistence with increased engagement and replay value as more content is unlocked. However, the steep scaling for higher levels can make the grind feel less worthwhile.
“Meta progression doesn't feel nearly as impactful as it does in other games, and the requirements have pretty steep scaling for the last level or two, making grinding for them feel not worth it.”
“Although it starts out very slow and grindy, once you unlock more and more within it, the game then truly comes alive.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by pleasing sound design that complements its frantic action and beautiful art. Players appreciate the smooth controls and find the overall ambiance to be both inventive and humorous.
“The audio enhances the game's overall atmosphere with its pleasing sound design.”
“Frantic action, beautiful art, super smooth controls, and a hilarious and inventive atmosphere.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the humor in the game, highlighting its hilarious and inventive atmosphere that complements the frantic action and beautiful art. The smooth controls enhance the overall fun, making for an enjoyable remote play experience.
“Frantic action, beautiful art, super smooth controls, and a hilarious and inventive atmosphere.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the game offers significant replayability, particularly after unlocking various features, which enhances the overall experience despite a slow and grindy start. The art style is appreciated, and some believe that adjustments to game mechanics could further improve its playability.
“I 100%'d the game since it offered a lot of replay value, and although it starts out very slow and grindy, once you unlock more and more within it, the game then truly comes alive.”
“I do however like the art of the game and think with some number changes the game will be a lot more playable.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players have reported occasional stability issues, particularly with glitches that cause boss creatures to become stuck in walls during gameplay.
“My only gripe came during gameplay; I encountered a few glitches where boss creatures got stuck inside walls.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly impossible to progress.”
“I experienced constant lag and frame drops, which ruined the overall experience.”
