Monster Prom 4: Monster Con Feels Made for Existing Fans

Monster Prom is one of those series where I feel certain entries are catering to different types of possible players. I always felt the first two games were best for newcomers to the concept. With Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip, I felt like it was more for those familiar due to character decisions and gameplay concepts. Now that Monster Prom 4: Monster Con is here I still think the series is as entertaining as ever, but it might not be best for newcomers.

You’re a monster. You’re trying to find someone to love. Fortunately, you and your six friends April, Doug, Liam, Nico, Omen, and Zoe are headed to a con. As you work on your own comic and attend activities and events, there will be opportunities to work on yourself and connect with them. Maybe you’ll even find love! However, you’re not the only person attending, as potentially other people could be playing with you and even pursuing the same love interest as you. 

So the Monster Prom series are basically visual novel dating sims with stat management and calling dibs on events determining if you’re lucky enough to win a love interest. As such, the writing is a really important part. While I really loved the scripts in the first three games, I’m disappointed in this one. Yes, Beautiful Glitch absolutely embraces the con experience. However, I feel like that overwhelms the charm typically found in the series. Because all of the interactions with the love interests focuses on activities at a con or fandom, I felt there were times when they sometimes came across more as caricatures of certain types of fans than more nuanced personalities. 

This isn’t as much of an issue for established characters like Liam and Zoe, who are still great, but I think the reason I did connect with them more despite loving the designs of newcomers is because we got to know them in the original game and follow-ups. Like I really wanted to see more of April’s depths, due to her background. And while Omen and Nico have fantastic designs, there were runs where I came away with the feeling that Omen is there to be the “chaotic” and “dark” choice and Nico was an excuse for a bunch of costumes. I really felt like past games offered a bit more range and insight into who characters were, leaving me feeling like I “knew” who they were after a few runs. I didn’t get that here. It’s enjoyable in its way, and I think Monster Prom fans will like it, but the decision make me wonder if it’d turn off those more unfamiliar with the series.

But in general, the Monster Prom 4: Monster Con gameplay is as tight as usual. Gameplay is divided into a sequence where you visit a few spots at the con to build stats, seeing a scene with some of the love interests where you can make decisions after each one. After that, you’ll get opportunities to work on your comic by choosing from certain prompts to Mad Lib your way to a finished work at the end. There will also be times when you can sit with one of the love options at a table to try and make an impression and connect. When you reach the end, your stats and actions influence the relationship with a possible person in your group and you see what your finished work looks like. Depending on the option you select at the outset and how many players appear, you could end up spending two hours or more searching for love.

So while the writing is clever and often funny in Monster Prom 4: Monster Con, I also feel like the execution of the story and direction may not be as good of an introduction to the series. Like the original Monster Prom and Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp strike me as being better examples of the narrative work and characterizations Beautiful Glitch is capable of, while offering solid gameplay. The general gameplay loop and experience in Monster Prom 4: Monster Con is great, the characterization decisions and some narrative choices for events make me feel like it’s better as a follow up once someone’s familiar with what the team and series is capable of, rather than a first introduction.

Monster Prom 4: Monster Con is available for PCs. 

The post Monster Prom 4: Monster Con Feels Made for Existing Fans appeared first on Siliconera.