MONOLITH

Animation Arts is a fairly familiar development team to those actively involved in the adventure genre. The German-born company became widely known with the release of the remarkable Secret Files: Tunguska, circa the mid-'00s, but the truth is that, apart from the equally interesting Lost Horizon, their other productions were not of the same caliber. And their latest effort, 2016's episodic Preston Sterling, was left unfinished, which made for rather dire predictions for their own future. However, that changed this year, unexpectedly we might say, with the release of Monolith, their first adventure in seven long years.

Admittedly, we had heard almost nothing about its upcoming release and its existence was, for me at least, a pleasant surprise that became even more pleasant when completing Monolith, proved to be an equally excellent adventure experience. I could argue that, without of course being the best adventure of all time, it is perhaps the strongest production Animation Arts has given us to date.  

And I mention this, having played several representatives of the genre in recent years, where we may not have had a big release this year, but 2024 is expected to be very "hot". Therefore, Monolith is the right game to quench your thirst for adventures, at least for 2023.

The reason for that is its very interesting and, above all, subversive story. At first glance, it may not seem original at all, transferring us to a sci-fi setting where we watch space explorer Tessa Carter's ship crash into a barren planet. Waking up from the cryo-chamber stupor she was in, Tessa remembers almost nothing. Neither what her mission was, nor what went wrong and the ship crashed. What's worse, her co-passenger, Mark, is nowhere to be found, and the damage to the spacecraft is so severe that it's impossible to send out a distress signal.

Alone and deserted, with no other options left, but with the help of a hovering AI robot named CORE, which was among her "luggage", she begins a titanic effort to explore the planet. On the one hand to find some way to alert the company she works for (Intergalactic Mining Corporation) of the accident, and on the other hand to track down Mark's trail, where he disappeared as if swallowed by a black hole. Her search indeed does have an effect, but what she discovers there has nothing to do with the idea she has formed in her mind, both about the planet she is in and about herself.

Of course, I won't go into further revelations of the script, but I have to mention that it's hard to predict the development of the plot, even if it's clear, from the very first minutes of the game, that nothing is as it seems. The protagonist Tessa Carter is a sympathetic character, perfectly earthy in her reactions and without undue excesses, with a solid writing as an ally, which does not ramble and is always "to-the-point". The duo composing with CORE is equally entertaining, with the jokes that the clash of an android's cold logic and a human's emotionalism inevitably creates never becoming lame or extremely frequent.

Admittedly, very good work, which extends to the puzzle aspect. In the absence of any characters other than CORE (partly understandable, since we're on a barren planet), for the vast majority of the game, its puzzles are mostly environmental and heavily inventory-based. Aided by excellent controls that include everything (one-click gameplay, appearance of hotspots, journal, quick screen-to-screen transitions, and even the ability to run), their difficulty level hovers around moderate levels, with the solution being obvious most of the time and no moon-logic situations anywhere. However, there are a few puzzles that can keep one busy for quite some time, such as the one with the coloured insects in the forest or the synthesis of an antidote.

The positive thing is that the game often gives us several hints, either through Tessa's own comments or CORE's advice, which more or less frame the way we should proceed. And later on in the game, CORE is able to show some holograms, which besides shedding light on darker aspects of the story, provide very important information in solving certain puzzles (such as the one with the ores). But if you still find them too hard, there is a built-in walkthrough, although I personally didn't use it at all.

Apart from the puzzles, there are also several mini-games, which are generally not difficult, but if for any reason we feel we're being overwhelmed, there is a skip button, in a prominent place. Remarkably, these mini-games are never repeated and are highly relevant to the issue at hand at the time, so their existence is not at all considered a cop-out or an artificial obstacle set up to extend the length of the game.

A length that reaches seven to eight hours, depending of course on how much you get stuck or not in certain parts of the game. Particularly if you plan on getting all the achievements, then you won't have to skip any mini-games, so you'll probably need a little more time to see the game's finale. A finale that, personally, I quite enjoyed, because it completely departs from the picture I had for the game after the first few minutes of engagement with it, while artfully avoiding to not "blackmail" the player emotionally, which is not easy considering the issue it raises.

As we said, however, I will not go into more detail, except to mention the technical aspect of Monolith. The truth is that, when it comes to character design, Animation Arts has lagged behind and, especially in close-ups, you'd think they were playing a 2008 adventure game. From what the company says, this was done by choice, however I feel that something of better quality and comparable to the images of the environment, which is clearly more beautiful, should have been done. However, you certainly don't call it visually bad. As for the soundtrack, the atmospheric melodies, full of ambient touches, is excellent and contributes greatly to the very apt sense of "loneliness" it implements. The voice-overs are equally satisfying, nothing spectacular, but undoubtedly a far cry from some of the cringe-worthy samples we've experienced in similar indie productions.

In short, Monolith is recommended to all adventure fans, as it is a well-crafted production, made with love and care by its developers. Something that is rare these days.

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