Description
I've been going through and playing some of the seemingly endless niche games in my Steam library to get some quick videos in before my move, and I forget how I ever came across some of these titles... "MONOBEHEVO" is a Chinese indie (Tongren) game that left me confused from start to finish and it's a game I can't describe with 100% accuracy. Is it a rail shooter? Is it a walking simulator? Is it an action game? Is it a maze game? Is it gooner bait? Is it an on-rails action gooner maze simulator? I dunno. Its got fliers of the "crying cat meme" hidden around in different areas and the game is described simply as "This is a very tired person after work. He decided to make a game that can pass customs in one night." sooooo yeah. Released back in 2022 by iiloo, is it a good? Uhhhhhh...
Let's start with the story... it's in there somewhere, but I don't really know what the heck is going on, and while the rough translation is one reason, the other is that the plot is sorta nonsensical in its own right. So, you play with the titular "Mono", who looks like some sort of robot-dragon girl who (*checks notes*) is a legendary "Chau Senshi", a mostly mechanized super weapon with roughly 80% of their body replaced with advanced technology. Mono seems to be going to take a test to see how capable she is but also runs into little dragon lizards that help guide her, there's a tattoo of a map on her leg which isn't even really addressed till near the end of the game, various "knights" that want her dead, a mysterious lady whose identity is revealed at the end of the game, a cool little kid we're just "supposed" to care about, and an abstract worldview where the world is mostly abandoned and chill but slightly eerie at the same time. The game has three endings which are "probably" influenced by how many collectible stars you get in the game and paths you take, but after 3hrs~ (~1hr familiarizing myself with the game) and gaining achievements less than 6% of the players have gotten, I couldn't continue... maybe at a later date.
Lets dissect the game's components one by one. Monobehevo allows the player to move on a restricted plane that is generally fixed ahead of you. You can move in 360 degrees within the plane, but you're generally funneled into a narrow corridor with invisible walls. Enemies are constantly coming at you from the front and you must defeat them with your "Ramune Umbrella Sword" to gain score / money, healing items and upgrades for your character; missing too many enemies will decrease your "Mood", which is basically your health, although this only really poses an issue in the very beginning. There are twelve different upgrades that you can find that vary in frequency depending on location but range from things like Meat (which increase your maximum mood), Ramune to add mood healing to attacks, Dragon Tail to increase the range of your strong attack, etc., infusing some mild RPG elements.
Mono has two basic attacks: A strong attack or combo string, and a weak attack or combo string (which varies depending on which costume you pick at the start of the game). In short, you will NEVER need to use the weak attack as it is useless for clearing waves and only helpful in a pinch to briefly stun bigger enemies. Strong attacks are pretty good depending on how many attack upgrades you get, but what you'll REALLY be doing is learning to parry; besides knocking back projectiles, you can immediately follow it up with a weak parry break or strong parry break, and the strong one is game-breaking as it gives you more invincibility frames and is ridiculously strong after some upgrades. I was nearly immortal my entire playthrough once I learned how to trigger it consistently (tap back or away rapidly for better results). At regular junctions, you will be automatically whisked away to another section or given a choice with arrows to go through different routes... some routes just loop, lead to collectible stars or break the game (getting stuck in the geometry) and, while interesting, become monotonous if you can't find your way quickly.
There are also "safe zones" where you can move freely that have notes of game lore, chests that give random items by spending score, and "bath tubs" to save your game or return to previous levels. There is titillating ecchi stuff, but it never crosses the line to nudity. The graphics are decent but Unity is doing most of the heavy lifting in terms of assets and effects and the music is just kinda there. The main character is voiced by a trilingual Youtuber known as "erusha"... she seems like a sweetheart and I hope she gets better gigs, but this game is just a thing that exists. The "knight" makes a cameo in "DOUDINGMAN". It's $7 bucks, so you could do worse. You can get it at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1837130/MONOBEHEVO/
This video shows a little resource grinding and one general playthrough. Enjoy.
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