Systems: Windows
Release Date: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Random Seed Games
Developer: Random Seed Games
Time Spent: 15 Minutes
The Monster Inside is a free-to-play visual and audio novel told with simple isometric diorama visuals. The story told is straight out of the 1950s-style film-noir detective genre complete with a daytime whiskey-drinking pill-popping private investigator, femme fatale, and multiple murders. Because this is a visual novel, you are primarily reading the events as they unfold before you, although there are several instances where you are given a choice as to what question to ask or how you want to respond. From what I could tell, the responses might differ a little but have no effect on how the events actually unfold.
There are a total of seven chapters in this short story, some lasting longer than others (as in they might be three minutes instead of two). Some of the chapters involve investigating the crime scenes which include simple point-and-click mechanics, in that you literally point at an area in the diorama that highlights with a circle that you click on to investigate. From what I could tell the two times I played, there do not appear to be more objects to click on than chances you have. For example, in the park diorama, there are only two objects to click on, not that there are three objects and you have to decide which two you interact with and which one you skip. It just adds a little bit of interactivity that I really appreciate within the visual novel genre instead of just clicking your way through to the end of the story.
As for the story itself, I really enjoyed the glimpse into this world that was more than a simple Phillip Marlowe mystery. And even though the game is only 15 minutes, it managed to capture my interest and I would love to explore this world more than what is given here. Had this been a demo for a longer game, be it a first/third-person adventure game a la LA Noire, a choose your own adventure akin to TellTale Games, or just more of the visual/audio novel that was presented here, I would more than likely purchase the full game to do a deeper dive into this world. I liked the visual style, I liked the writing, I liked the music, and I like the lore of the world that you are briefly able to sample. Sadly it does not appear that Random Seed Games has anything similar like this, but maybe sometime in the future.
~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
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