Mon Amor is the most recent game released by Onion Games (the folks who made Dandy Dungeon), and it went on HUGE discount very shortly after release (down from like $10 to around $3), so I figured why not pick it up. Even if I don't enjoy playing them as much as I did Dandy Dungeon, the sheer power of the aesthetics alone generally justify an Onion Games purchase on sale for me. It took me around 3 hours to complete all of the game's content in the English version.
Mon Amor has very little text outside of its menus, and it's story is pretty light as well. A guy is getting married, but just as he's saying "I do", his bride to be as well as all the guests get spirited away by three witches. He then sets off to rescue all of the beautiful lady guests as well as his lady love so they can actually get married. In between game overs (as this game is designed around having many runs), you get more vignettes of him running into small buildings/vehicles/whathaveyou and getting swarmed by all the ladies (before shouting "Mon Amor!") with his lady love sometimes being shown his actions by the witches who kidnapped her. There seems to be a tilt towards the surreal in its presentation and a general theme of the protagonist of a game not being such a good guy just because he's the protagonist, but it's a very light theme and ultimately not all that important.
Though on one final note, I did enjoy how this game has (intentionally or not) a very pro-self-description view on gender. Even girls you save who have conventionally masculine characteristics (such as facial hair) are still called "girls" in the points wrap-up screen, which I thought was neat (though upon reflection could be another element pointing towards how the protagonist just views everyone he saves as identical, no matter who they are on the inside).
The more important thing to Mon Amor is the gameplay, as it's much more of a "phone game" than Dandy Dungeon was in terms of the depth of its content. I had first heard Mon Amor described to me as a "Flappy Bird Clone", and that's really not too far from the truth. The little man flies from left to right, trying to rescue the girl on the right side of the screen, and you hold A to make him rise and let go of A to make him fall. If you take a hit from the walls, you die unless you have a girl in tow, in which case she'll drop off and you'll need to play the stage again to rescue her. The only way to see the credits is to properly rescue every girl, which means ferrying her from the stage you rescued her in all the way to the next factor of 10 stage in the line, and especially in the last 10 stages this can be pretty damn tough. Thankfully, you can pick a stage to start from on the main menu (even if you failed to save that girl, you can still start right from there, which is a very nice feature).
What sets this apart from normal Flappy Bird is that instead of dodging through gaps of oncoming pipes or whatever, you're effectively going across the same screen every time, but every time you complete a stage little buildings and blocks rise more and more from the top and bottom of the screen, and touching them means death. Your means of combating these encroaching walls are gotten by saving the girls, as once you save them, a burst of hearts spring forth in the direction you saved them from, and as hearts accumulate on screen, they collect into bigger hearts. Touching these big hearts (or the fruit which are also spawned by the stages or the girls) pushes back the walls, and bigger hearts also give bigger point totals, so there's a fair amount of skill involved in collecting the girl from the right location to try and get hearts in the right place so you can push those walls back. There are also boss stages (ones with actual non-wall obstacles) every 9th stage, and each of the five worlds takes from a respective pool of six possible stages for this one. This is a bit of a bugger, as trying to get a girl you haven't rescued yet from one of these stage-9 random stages can be a real pain if the RNG gods decide to show you spite. It's ultimately pretty light on the bones as far as content goes, but if you like a score attack game, this is a pretty darn solidly put together experience.
The presentation, as assumed, absolutely does not disappoint. The graphics are simple, but very charmingly presented 2D sprites, and the colors and stage effects are really eclectic and eccentric too, particularly in the boss stages. There aren't a ton of songs in the game, and in fact the same short song plays in just about every stage, but it's a good track, and it not only grows more and more layers depending on which world you're in, but the boss stages also get their own unique versions of it.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. The hesitation on this recommendation doesn't really come from the quality of the game so much as from it's price tag. While Mon Amor is a really solid product for what it is, I think most Switch owners are gonna have a tough time paying $10 for what's here given just how light the content is. This is a game that's probably much more enjoyable to play on a phone, given the gameplay style, and only the most dedicated of score attack fans are going to get $10 out of this game, particularly on a console.
Mon Amor has very little text outside of its menus, and it's story is pretty light as well. A guy is getting married, but just as he's saying "I do", his bride to be as well as all the guests get spirited away by three witches. He then sets off to rescue all of the beautiful lady guests as well as his lady love so they can actually get married. In between game overs (as this game is designed around having many runs), you get more vignettes of him running into small buildings/vehicles/whathaveyou and getting swarmed by all the ladies (before shouting "Mon Amor!") with his lady love sometimes being shown his actions by the witches who kidnapped her. There seems to be a tilt towards the surreal in its presentation and a general theme of the protagonist of a game not being such a good guy just because he's the protagonist, but it's a very light theme and ultimately not all that important.
Though on one final note, I did enjoy how this game has (intentionally or not) a very pro-self-description view on gender. Even girls you save who have conventionally masculine characteristics (such as facial hair) are still called "girls" in the points wrap-up screen, which I thought was neat (though upon reflection could be another element pointing towards how the protagonist just views everyone he saves as identical, no matter who they are on the inside).
The more important thing to Mon Amor is the gameplay, as it's much more of a "phone game" than Dandy Dungeon was in terms of the depth of its content. I had first heard Mon Amor described to me as a "Flappy Bird Clone", and that's really not too far from the truth. The little man flies from left to right, trying to rescue the girl on the right side of the screen, and you hold A to make him rise and let go of A to make him fall. If you take a hit from the walls, you die unless you have a girl in tow, in which case she'll drop off and you'll need to play the stage again to rescue her. The only way to see the credits is to properly rescue every girl, which means ferrying her from the stage you rescued her in all the way to the next factor of 10 stage in the line, and especially in the last 10 stages this can be pretty damn tough. Thankfully, you can pick a stage to start from on the main menu (even if you failed to save that girl, you can still start right from there, which is a very nice feature).
What sets this apart from normal Flappy Bird is that instead of dodging through gaps of oncoming pipes or whatever, you're effectively going across the same screen every time, but every time you complete a stage little buildings and blocks rise more and more from the top and bottom of the screen, and touching them means death. Your means of combating these encroaching walls are gotten by saving the girls, as once you save them, a burst of hearts spring forth in the direction you saved them from, and as hearts accumulate on screen, they collect into bigger hearts. Touching these big hearts (or the fruit which are also spawned by the stages or the girls) pushes back the walls, and bigger hearts also give bigger point totals, so there's a fair amount of skill involved in collecting the girl from the right location to try and get hearts in the right place so you can push those walls back. There are also boss stages (ones with actual non-wall obstacles) every 9th stage, and each of the five worlds takes from a respective pool of six possible stages for this one. This is a bit of a bugger, as trying to get a girl you haven't rescued yet from one of these stage-9 random stages can be a real pain if the RNG gods decide to show you spite. It's ultimately pretty light on the bones as far as content goes, but if you like a score attack game, this is a pretty darn solidly put together experience.
The presentation, as assumed, absolutely does not disappoint. The graphics are simple, but very charmingly presented 2D sprites, and the colors and stage effects are really eclectic and eccentric too, particularly in the boss stages. There aren't a ton of songs in the game, and in fact the same short song plays in just about every stage, but it's a good track, and it not only grows more and more layers depending on which world you're in, but the boss stages also get their own unique versions of it.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. The hesitation on this recommendation doesn't really come from the quality of the game so much as from it's price tag. While Mon Amor is a really solid product for what it is, I think most Switch owners are gonna have a tough time paying $10 for what's here given just how light the content is. This is a game that's probably much more enjoyable to play on a phone, given the gameplay style, and only the most dedicated of score attack fans are going to get $10 out of this game, particularly on a console.
Mon Amour is a shocking little gem from Onion Games that I had no expectations of. During the pre-release period, I had only seen screenshots of it and thought it was shoot'em up of some kind, it was only a few days prior to release that I learned that this was effectively a spiritual successor to the moon RPG minigame "Xingiskhan". And, while Xinghiskhan was not the worst part from moon, I was still not the biggest fan of it. Still, the charming visuals carried through for me and I bought the game.
And then I couldn't stop playing it.
And then I 100%'ed it in like a day.
Oddly enough, this game works so much better than Xinghiskhan on a base level. Between the supremely loveable presentation (including a wonderfully unique soundtrack from Thelonious Monkees' hands) and MUCH tighter level design/concept, it makes the still difficult and at times frustrating gameplay much more tolerable.
It's not for the faint of heart, but if you want a challenge and a laugh, this game will handle both of those for you without an issue.
And then I couldn't stop playing it.
And then I 100%'ed it in like a day.
Oddly enough, this game works so much better than Xinghiskhan on a base level. Between the supremely loveable presentation (including a wonderfully unique soundtrack from Thelonious Monkees' hands) and MUCH tighter level design/concept, it makes the still difficult and at times frustrating gameplay much more tolerable.
It's not for the faint of heart, but if you want a challenge and a laugh, this game will handle both of those for you without an issue.
Onion and everything they've been affiliated with in microcosm, down to being an expanded version of a side mode in Moon. The bones of something truly excellent that stands along the best of their work is here, but there's no meat for me to sink my teeth into beyond getting the highest score you can, and I don't think this game is all that great at continuous grinding for that typa thing. Still, I think worth a playthru to the true ending to get a tantalizing whiff of that Oniony goodness. It's been years since I played Dandy Dungeon, but from what I remember I'd show that to someone fully unaware of the pedigree of these guys before this.
たった一つのアイデアなんだけど難しいし面白いしお値段もお手軽だからやってみてほしい。美術がいいし。
Cute little game and I like the way it plays. Addicting in that aspect, although I don't think it's very deep like people say. It's fun as an arcade type game though.
Had a lot of fun with this one and love the “onion games” aesthetic, but the “hidden depths” here are mainly to do with high score chasing, and i found the central game too slow-moving to get into in that way. I think I’ll enjoy the other “onion games” more but this was still an absurd, entertaining diversion with great music.
Despite the deceiptively simple premise, Mon Amour hides a lot of clever depth behind its single button framework, especially if you're interested in chasing a high score (which you probably will, because it's just crazy addictive like that).
Easy to grasp, but hard (and extremely fun) to master, Mon Amour offers endless hours of fun with tons of humor and charm as you'd come to expect from an Onion Games joint.
More than worth the price of admission. And if you've played previous games by them, even stuff like moon, then look forward to a handful of cute easter eggs here and there.
One of my favorite games of 2021 for sure.
Easy to grasp, but hard (and extremely fun) to master, Mon Amour offers endless hours of fun with tons of humor and charm as you'd come to expect from an Onion Games joint.
More than worth the price of admission. And if you've played previous games by them, even stuff like moon, then look forward to a handful of cute easter eggs here and there.
One of my favorite games of 2021 for sure.
A genialidade de Mon Amour mora em sua despretensiosidade. Ele é um "flappylike" que vai adicionando pequenos twists com o passar do tempo, enriquecendo a experiência sem mexer na fórmula. Foram 4 fracassos iniciais até pegar o controle e não conseguir mais parar, quase 2 horas subindo e descendo na tela sem me cansar. As fases de chefões, sempre as antepenúltimas de um mundo, trazem obstáculos bem peculiares (no bom sentido). Seus visuais são bem fofos, ele é super bem-humorado, a música é divertida e seu sistema de pontuação é viciante. Faltaram 7 cidadãos para salvar, o que me convida a voltar futuramente e pegar o final bom.
that dumbass game from moon that i hate
2005 pixel art indie looking little game, plays like the bad minigame from moon, racist character
arcade game enjoyers might like this, i dont care
arcade game enjoyers might like this, i dont care
Way too simple, yet still a fun time I come back to now and again
It's a very simple game, but it's also a little deep.
The gameplay is well designed and it's visually interesting.
I like an arcade game with a short story and one that ends.
I also like short games that are designed to be played to full completion.
The gameplay is well designed and it's visually interesting.
I like an arcade game with a short story and one that ends.
I also like short games that are designed to be played to full completion.
I mean, it's a nicely designed game that'd be worth a little of your time, WERE IT NOT for the incredibly racist stereotype that is one of the kissable characters. Mon Amours conception of love is also a strange one, stating "love is diversity" at every corner but only actively committing to referencing romantic or sexual relationships when they fit into the heteronormative narrative. Even the references to polyamory are completely discarded for the "true ending" which could not be more boring and generic. Which is quite sad, the fun gameplay loop kept me engaged for about two hours. Everything around that is honestly just irritatingly bad at the worst of times and agressively boring at the best of times.
XINGISKAN II (if you know, you know)
...And for everyone else, a wonderful little arcade style game that's easy to pick up and smooch your way through. Unlocking the 'true ending' is a little tedious, due to RNG, but that same RNG is what helps keep the game entertaining on regular playthroughs, so it's not thaaat big an issue. Not with such a such a charming, cheeky presentation! The music in particular's gonna be stuck in my head for months to come, I just know it...
Overall, it's an easy recommendation for those who want to play something simple & sweet (yet slightly saucy) between larger games. Another Onion Games classic!
...And for everyone else, a wonderful little arcade style game that's easy to pick up and smooch your way through. Unlocking the 'true ending' is a little tedious, due to RNG, but that same RNG is what helps keep the game entertaining on regular playthroughs, so it's not thaaat big an issue. Not with such a such a charming, cheeky presentation! The music in particular's gonna be stuck in my head for months to come, I just know it...
Overall, it's an easy recommendation for those who want to play something simple & sweet (yet slightly saucy) between larger games. Another Onion Games classic!