Mondealy Switch Review
Controversial opinion, but I never understood Undertale. After months of my friends trying to convince me to try it, I finally caved and I just didn’t get it. I couldn’t connect with the characters, the humour and story didn’t resonate, and the gameplay (to me) seemed… off? What does all this have to do with Mondealy? Well, Mondealy has been touted as heavily inspired by Undertale, and truth be told, I slept on Mondealy for a week or two before I really sunk my teeth into it, and now, I can’t wait to play it again.
As a matter of fact, Mondealy is the first game in a long time I have wanted to complete, and now it’s over… well I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s go back to the start.
Mondealy opens up with a stranger walking into a tavern. Monster people (well, animal people) live peacefully with humans in this fantasy world, but the stranger informs us it wasn’t always this way, and opens up her book to tell the story of how it all came to be just 3 short years ago. So begins the 5-7 hour story of Micheal and how he accidentally stumbles on the monster kingdom below his world called “Dargratt.” During this time, you will tangle with a gang of crocodiles, explore magical forests, and uncover a story full of wonder, charm, and intrigue.
It’s this story that eventually hooked me in, despite my resistance to the game at first. I won’t spoil the story here but after the first hour of playing Mondealy, I simply had to know what happened. There are small choices that aren’t really presented as such, that affect the world and even the outcome of the story. Small things like watering a plant in each chapter, or talking to a random NPC affect the outcome of the game only when the credits roll. I smiled when I saw minor characters of actions being presented in the ending and it made me want to go back and play right away, despite getting a very favorable and balanced outcome.
The game plays like an interactive story with small puzzles to solve and plenty of dialogue options, many of which will affect how the world of Dargratt treats you. You also have the option to romance certain characters, which I didn’t really focus on too much, and I felt like the character Micheal ended up with in my run was a nice, gradual relationship evolution, that finished off my version of the story perfectly. There are some moments where the dialogue seemed slightly off? But that could be the game’s intentional humour, or perhaps some minor localisation issues. Either way, it didn’t really take anything away from my experience, just made me scratch my head for a short minute.
The game is presented with a simple, yet gorgeous pixel art style that is full of charm and wonder. Characters have detailed portraits when speaking, and the palette of the world is bright and vibrant. The environments are really varied and despite the kingdom of Dragratt only realistically being a dozen or so screens big, it never ceases to make you feel like you inhabit a much larger world. Scattered around this world are also many collectibles in the form of cassette tapes (for you younger folks that’s what music used to be played on) and collectible plush dolls to find.
All in all, Mondealy is a wonderful story that didn’t quite hook me from the start, but when it did, I couldn’t put it down. If you are a fan of Deltarune or Undertale, then Mondealy is an essential purchase and a great game in its own right. For the rare few that weren’t sold on those games, Mondealy may be a harder sell, but it is a great story with wonderful characters in a very strange world. I regret not jumping into Mondealy sooner, but I’m very glad I did.
So What’s it Like?
Mondealy is a cross between Monkey Island and Undertale.
Mondealy
A great story that will draw you in