Review of Monkeys!¡

Subject	Monkeys!¡
By	Helpfulness: 2 Vote: 9casualreader on 2021-12-04 last updated on 2021-12-05
Review	"This is a story about a bird and a monkey." At first, it seems to be just another work by Hato. Fun dialogues, interesting writing style, exagerated expressions with that touch of absurdity. Then "Danny boy" starts playing. From one BGM to another, the atmosphere changes and it feels like you are inside a movie now. A few scenes in and you also realized it's not your usual, sequential, standard storytelling style. That's when you know: this also isn't going to be your usual visual novel. What would likely be the biggest hurdle for the game is its trap protagonist. The genre is not uncommon, but you can count in one hand the titles that are actually good works (Otokoi, ruitomo, Tsuriotsu and KoiTate). This is expertly dealt with though, going away from the usual girly/delicate trap protagonist and adding its own spice to the genre. In the end, there's just too much to praise in this excellent piece of work. The unusual comic style presentation of the CGs, the great voice cast that seems to be having the time of their lives, the unusual storytelling style and the BGM production value that puts the right notes in the right places all comes together to complement a scenario that has each heroine's story play in different directions that keeps you wondering what comes next in the other character's story. The final, unlockable arc, gives a nod to Hato's previous works and feels like a grand ending, as it should. if there's one flaw to be mentioned, it's that it's not perfectly paced at all times, but that's a very small misstep compared to what the game has achieved. On a side note, do note that all routes are all very different both in terms of development and romance. I, particularly, feel the order of Mebachi > Yuki > Garasu was enjoyable and had my expectations set at a good level.
	2 points

#1 by danteas 2021-12-04 at 15:51	< report >i think you forgot about its biggest flaw, they botched the romance in most routes, sadly thanks to how they rush through it, specially in mebachi route where pretty much there wasnt any romance at all. besides that i agree with you in almost everything.
#2 by casualreader 2021-12-04 at 21:04	< report >I didn't think romance was much of an issue because, to me at least, it never seemed to be the focus of the VN. This might actually be because I started with Mebachi's route, and as her route feels a lot like Key's VNs, I automatically wasn't expecting much romance development or focus on the other routes (although they do have more of it than Mebachi's).
#3 by kiru 2021-12-04 at 21:26	< report >Honestly, I only saw one crossdressing protag game so far that was kinda okay to me. Ruitomo and Tsuriotsu aren't part of that. Tsuriotsu has okay writing and whatnot, and is a good enough VN, but the fundamental TRAP protagonist has been done really badly, to me at least. Ruitomo has the same issue, and more. If you are going to use a crossdressing protagonist, there are only 2 things to set it apart from something else and are important: -The crossdressing secret. The more people know, the worse. Ideally only supporting characters know. Part of the fun here is seeing how the protag deals with the secret. Minus points if the protag ends up essentially a girl in 99% of lines to the point you wonder why it's not a girl to begin with (i.e. Ruitomo). Also minus points when the protag has to remind the reader that he's a guy in a direct way too often, to the point it feels like someone wants to make DAMN sure that nobody forgets. (i.e. Tsuriotsu). No, you don't forget that. -The crossdressing secret reveal. Ideally the game doesn't act as if it's yuri, because everyone knows it's not and at worst you set up a potentially interesting story that never comes to be. (i.e. Tsuriotsu Luna) The "girl is totally not lesbian, but she could go for MC" trope that ends with her... drumroll "Ha, I'm straight like I thought!" should also be absent. This just feels too much like a very artificial setup. Especially because the closer people get, the more people should realize SOMETHING is going on anyway. And if someone wants to find out, they will. To this day only one crossdressing protag game (... I think) mostly managed to do that, from the ones I know that is. With all the others I can't help but feel like the crossdressing drags down the respective game. To be fair, I may not be that much part of its target group. I dunno. I liked Marco a lot, and will probably check this one out eventually. But especially with Hato already having done a female protagonist one, I'm not too sure if this crossdressing is going to work. Curious I am though.Last modified on 2021-12-04 at 21:28
#4 by casualreader 2021-12-04 at 23:22	< report >Well, I don't know which game is it you found kind of okay, but in the end you'll have to try for yourself. I can assure you though this is different from all the others I mentioned in that sense. I won't mention the reasons why I think so as to not to spoil you. But for one, Sawasawa Sawa does an amazing job and I think it's the only voiced trap protagonist I've played so far that actually sounds like a guy, and not as a girl playing a guy. That's obviously not only due to the voice sound, but also the character lines.
#5 by danteas 2021-12-05 at 02:35	< report >#2 i think my case is the oposite of yours, i began with yuki route that in my opinion, had the best romance of the vn for me (in fact i thought it was one of the best vn romances i have seen thank to the characters dinamics). so when i played the other routes i think you can understand my frustration. #3 can you please tell me of that vn which you said did the trap protagonis troupe right?Last modified on 2021-12-05 at 02:37
#6 by casualreader 2021-12-05 at 21:39	< report >#5 I feel there were different "levels": Yuki had the most adult romance, Garasu had the teen romance and Mebachi more of a "kid" romance. But yeah, I understand that the route order does affect expectations as they are all very different. I'll actually edit the review to suggest that.
#7 by llee10000 2021-12-08 at 22:32	< report >I wouldn't count on finding out which title. I have never seen that user compliment a VN ever.
#8 by Ileca 2024-01-09 at 08:58	< report >Kiru, did you just cockblock us all with your "I know only one game that is doing it right with crossdressing" before proceeding to refuse to tell us which one it is?