Monolith is a sci-fi point and click adventure games by developer Animation Arts. I don’t review many of these for a reason, namely adventure game’s fatal flaw. These games’ flaw is that you have to think like the developer. If you don’t think like normal people aka. autistic me, these game are fiendishly difficult. They often leave me stumped and running for a walkthrough. This one is no different. That said, this a perfectly fine and serviceable point-and-click adventure fans of the genre will enjoy. However, there is another problem with this game, the controls are simply awful and confusing.
The problem with the controls are the they are handled via the right joycon, thumbstick and all. For example To access the inventory, press x. To pick up an object, press ZR. To move the object, move the cursor with the object via the right thumbstick to what you want it to interact with, and release ZR. I found myself fighting the controls more than I would have liked. Better option would be cursor movement with left thumbstick, everything else with the right joycon. You know, like normal games.
Monolith’s story follows Tessa, who is on a ship that crashlands on a seemingly abandoned planet. Her crew mate is missing, and the logs say she is a completely different person. The game start slow in the first of chapters, but does pick up and is pretty good for the most part. Voice acting is alright, though not great. Tessa can ham it up if need be.
How long is Monolith? The eShop page says seven-nine hours That wasn’t true for me because I got stuck a lot. Though, if you do get stuck, you can access a walkthrough that is written in gibberish and hard to follow. Still, this is meaty adventure game and worth it for fans of the genre, controls aside. This gets a Recommended and a seven back-end score.
Overall: Awful controls aside, Monolith is a decent adventure game that genre fans will enjoy.
Verdict: Recommended
| Release Date | 6/13/24 |
| Cost | $14.99 |
| Publisher | Animation Arts |
| ESRB Rating | T |
P.S. Read my Diatribe about Myst!
Game Received for free from the publisher.
