Montague's Mount
- November 18, 2013
- PolyPusher Studios
- 4h median play time
Montague's Mount needs more than a killer atmosphere to make up for its shortcomings
Get on Steam"Montague's Mount" is a first-person exploration and adventure game set in the mysterious and eerie Irish isles. Players uncover the dark secrets of a troubled protagonist, delving into a narrative filled with suspense and intrigue. Interact with the environment to solve puzzles, unearth hidden objects, and experience a compelling psychological journey.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
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Reviews
- The game has a great atmosphere and unique setting, immersing players in a bleak, melancholic world.
- The voice acting is superb, adding depth to the story and enhancing the overall experience.
- The puzzles, while sometimes frustrating, provide a decent challenge and encourage exploration.
- The movement is painfully slow, making backtracking tedious and frustrating for players.
- The game suffers from numerous technical issues, including glitches, poor lighting, and unresponsive controls.
- The story feels incomplete and lacks clarity, leaving players with many unanswered questions by the end.
- story236 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of the game is described as a melancholic journey that intertwines themes of isolation, mental illness, and historical tragedy, set against a dark and atmospheric backdrop. While some players found the narrative engaging and appreciated the exploration of deeper themes, others criticized its delivery through tedious notes and a lack of clarity, leading to a sense of incompleteness. Overall, the story is seen as decent but often overshadowed by gameplay mechanics and pacing issues, leaving players divided on its effectiveness and emotional impact.
“I just genuinely felt bought into the story, the mystery, the world, and that was what kept me playing.”
“Having completed the main story over the course of roughly 4 hours, this is an excellent bite-sized morsel of oppressive misery, isolation, and mental illness.”
“The story of Montague's Mount could be described as a melancholic journey where the player attempts to piece together the events that have transpired to himself, his family, and the inhabitants of the small Irish community scattered across a small, wind and rain battered island in the Atlantic Sea.”
“Thus you, the player, are left with only half a story.”
“The plot delivery system through notes is tedious, slow, and not interesting.”
“The story is left open-ended and felt incomplete to me, especially since there was little build-up for the conclusion.”
- atmosphere91 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of Montague's Mount is widely praised for its bleak, melancholic tone and immersive design, effectively capturing the essence of a remote Irish island. While many reviewers commend the game's attention to detail, sound design, and voice acting, some criticize the overly dark visuals and lack of clarity in gameplay, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the game's atmospheric elements remain its standout feature, appealing to fans of story-driven and puzzle games.
“Montague's Mount is a deeply atmospheric puzzle game that explores a remote island off the coast of Ireland and the shattering personal tragedy of the protagonist.”
“This game is primarily about atmospheric immersion, fostered by excellent graphics, sound, color, and lighting design, especially for weather.”
“Overall, I really enjoyed this game, mostly because the atmosphere was so well done.”
“Game does not have a menu to adjust brightness and the game is too dark, making item finding and navigation needlessly difficult without adding atmosphere.”
“However, the game was overall very gray and lacking in color which, while lending itself to the isolated atmosphere, made it difficult to see in darker parts of the game like the inside of sheds and buildings.”
“But this is another kind of catch-22 situation as the atmosphere and presentation of the game clash with actually operating within the world.”
- gameplay54 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Montague's Mount is characterized by a minimalistic approach focused on exploration and puzzle-solving, but it suffers from frustrating mechanics and slow pacing that detract from the overall experience. While the atmospheric visuals and audio elements are praised, many players find the puzzles tedious and the gameplay clunky, leading to a mixed reception. Overall, it appeals primarily to fans of the genre who appreciate story-driven experiences, despite its shortcomings.
“There's a good 3-4 hours worth of gameplay here, depending on how quick you are to figure out the puzzles.”
“Gameplay itself is more about having a keen eye and a sharp mind as you track down items and follow clues to figure out how to complete puzzles.”
“Its dark and dreary and particularly foreboding atmosphere, however, coupled with its story, revealed through amnesia-style notes read in a wonderful Irish accent, combine with the mechanics seamlessly to make this a humble yet very enjoyable experience; and I can highly recommend it to anyone who liked adventure games, puzzle solving, or story-driven games in general.”
“Mechanical puzzles are frustrating; easter eggs bring nothing to the experience.”
“But it’s hard to enjoy the story when annoying puzzles, busywork, and odd gameplay mechanics make this a chore to play.”
“Some of the mechanics are clunky, the lighting and color made some things hard to make out at times, and the worst part is how slow things are.”
- graphics48 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the atmospheric immersion and detailed visuals, while others criticize the film grain effect and poor lighting that detract from the overall experience. Many noted issues with graphical bugs and low detail, especially in comparison to higher-quality titles, leading to frustration in gameplay. Overall, while there are moments of visual appeal, the graphics are often seen as a weak point, overshadowed by gameplay difficulties and design flaws.
“This game is primarily about atmospheric immersion, fostered by excellent graphics, sound, color, and lighting design, especially for weather.”
“For the visual junkies, the graphics are rather lovely, but I had to turn it way down in order to run the game without serious lag...so I couldn't enjoy that aspect.”
“I had a wonderful atmosphere, great visuals, and brilliant voice acting.”
“The film grain effect gave the visuals a cheap, dated look.”
“The graphics are very plain and the lighting is terrible.”
“It's a cheap trick to put a simple film grain over everything to cover up a lack of graphical design.”
- music42 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received high praise for its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance the overall experience, with many reviewers noting its beautiful and fitting score that complements the game's setting. While some found the music to be limited or bland, the majority appreciated its emotional depth and relaxing nature, contributing significantly to the game's tone. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong point, though a few users expressed a desire for a more extensive collection of tracks.
“The music score is fantastic (a real credit to Andrea Baroni) and melds perfectly with the environment.”
“The atmosphere and the setup and the voice acting, music, and sound effects do a good job of setting the tone.”
“Very atmospheric, loved the soundtrack, storyline, and Celtic influence.”
“The game itself is short, linear, and the music is limited yet pleasing to the ears.”
“I was initially impressed with the music and the stormy seascape atmosphere, but I need a little more than that from a video game to call it worthwhile.”
“Above all this, the ending (I assume it was the ending - I didn't bother sitting through the montage of scenes of the island with heavy-handed sad piano music in the background to find out if there was any more) is disappointing and confusing.”
- grinding16 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a significant issue with grinding in the game, describing it as slow, glitchy, and tedious, particularly criticizing the poorly designed puzzles and plot delivery system. While some players appreciated the atmosphere and story focus, many found the gameplay frustrating and lacking in engagement, leading to an overall negative perception of the grinding experience.
“Slow, glitchy, tedious to play, and the plinth puzzle is one of the most badly designed things I've ever seen.”
“What could have been a gripping, atmospheric, puzzle game instead felt tedious and frustrating.”
“The puzzles in this game are not hard, but rather tedious, as in one which requires a frame rate to solve - something this game lacks.”
- stability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game experiences various stability issues, particularly with buggy physics and inconsistent performance on Linux. While some players noted a lack of glitches initially, there are concerns about ongoing problems, although a recent patch may have addressed some of these issues.
“My only real complaint is that the physics are a bit buggy.”
“[edit: I'm told the devs released a patch which updated the Unity3D, fixing the mouse issue among other things, but I haven't verified this.] Linux support is very buggy.”
“Boring, confusing, but no glitches for the first 10 minutes.”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely criticized for being poorly executed, with many finding the repeated laugh track jarring and out of context. While some players appreciate the unintentional humor from bugs, such as being flung into the sky by an electrical pylon, the overall comedic elements feel drab and overdone, with excessive and pointless easter eggs.
“You see the game contains a funny bug where if you scrape yourself at the side of an electrical pylon you will be flung up into the sky, giving you enough time and distance to either land in the ocean and swim around or get flung on top of the mount to explore all those areas you’re not supposed to go since the game is only half finished.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is noted for its deep and powerful emotional impact, particularly as it progresses, pushing boundaries that many other titles do not explore. While some scenes may initially seem brief and straightforward, they evolve into a more intense experience, making it a unique and hard-hitting psychological thriller for players willing to engage with its dark themes.
“They get deeper and more powerful the further the game goes, and as far as video games go in general, there are such emotional and psychological barriers this game goes past that other games simply haven't gone near.”
“But if you can live with that, and want a dark, intense, psychological thriller with emotionally powerful overtones and disturbing themes, this is unique and hard-hitting.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game appears to be lacking, as users note that they only discovered it through a coupon on Steam, indicating ineffective advertising efforts.
“The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
“I find the in-game purchases to be overpriced and not worth the value they provide.”
“The constant push for microtransactions detracts from the overall gaming experience.”
