News

Monster Prom: Choose Your Own Monstrous Dating Adventure

Published

6 years ago

May 9, 2018

Think your high school experience was rough? Well, it prolly was but going to school with a bunch of actual monsters is seriously tough. Monster Prom gives us a look at exactly that monster-filled life. Get ready go to high school with a bunch of monsters, to make your way through teen politics and to inevitably go to the big high school prom that will either make or break your popularity.

In a recent string of “datespoliation” dating sims, folks have been tasked with making decisions based on finding the affection of your fellow date. The devs over at Beautiful Glitch and Those Awesome Guys take the dating sim thing and mixes it up by adding monsters to the mix with some varied results.

To begin your time at Spooky High, you choose from 4 different takes on classic monsters re-imagined as younger teen versions of themselves. You are then prompted to take a quiz that determines your personality type and feels out what kind of monster you are. These choices weigh heavy, almost too heavy, on the gameplay from here on out.

It’s kind of a bummer that there was no option to create a custom monster. A bit of customization would have lent to player personalization and further immersion. With a game that is so about choice, it’s a shame it didn’t allow players to at least choose what their character looked like.

Monster Prom is played out over the course of a few weeks, wherein you make decisions on who to hang with, who to flirt with and to forge enough cool points to get a successful date to the prom.

Each school day you can choose where you spend your time during the morning, afternoon and evening. Fancy a hang in the library? The gym? Actually, go to class? You can earn specialized bonus points and items for each place you choose spend your time. You are also able to choose who to hang out with and who to appease in the popularity spectrum.

Well, kinda. Every choice you make is still heavily predicated on the survey you took at the beginning of the game, leading a lot of the game to feel disingenuous to actual free will or at least the illusion of choice.

The game culminates with the big Monster Prom, that allows you to choose who you want to take, and depending on your choices throughout the game earns you a number of different possible endings. According to Beautiful Glitch there are over a thousand outcomes based on your approach. So, there is replay value involved if you want to see how different choices would play out.

I enjoy the character designs and the vibrant colors that make up this Anime inspired competative dating sim, but there just wasn’t enough for me to sink my teeth into with this one. Some dating sims go more in-depth with their character development and their gameplay mechanics to lure you back in to replay them. Monster Prom may have a lot of endings and plenty of possible situations, but the game doesn’t really give you enough reason to revisit it. I played through twice, and received very different experiences, but both suffered from the same impersonalized outcome.

The dialogue is very adult and doesn’t talk down to its audience but sometimes it comes out so harshly that it’s easy for it to alienate players. The comedy is iffy at times, reaching for some alternative comedy bits that don’t always stick the landing and can be all out cringe-worthy.

Ultimately, I came here for the monsters. And they are here. It’s dating sim lite, that has its moments. The games tagline is even “Be Your Worst Self” and that is exactly what you are doing here. Going to Spooky High is tough but not half as tough as rejection at Prom.

Further personalization could have really helped out, but for $11.99, the experience isn’t terrible. If you like dating sims and monsters, this might be worth checking out.

Monster Prom is out now on Steam.

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Related Topics:Beautiful Glitch Monster Prom monsters

Editorial

Yay or Nay: What’s Good and Bad in Horror This Week

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Welcome to Yay or Nay a weekly mini post about what I think is good and bad news in the horror community written in bite-sized chunks.

Yay:

Mike Flanagan talking about directing the next chapter in the Exorcist trilogy. That might mean he saw the last one and realized there were two left and if he does anything well it’s draw out a story.

Yay:

To the announcement of a new IP-based film Mickey Vs Winnie. It’s fun to read comical hot takes from people who haven’t even seen the movie yet.

Nay:

The new Faces of Death reboot gets an R rating. It’s not really fair — Gen-Z should get an unrated version like past generations so they can question their mortality the same as the rest of us did.

Yay:

Russell Crowe is doing another possession movie. He’s quickly becoming another Nic Cage by saying yes to every script, bringing the magic back to B-movies, and more money into VOD.

Nay:

Putting The Crow back in theaters for its 30th anniversary. Re-releasing classic movies at the cinema to celebrate a milestone is perfectly fine, but doing so when the lead actor in that film was killed on set due to neglect is a cash grab of the worst kind.

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Lists

The Top-Searched Free Horror/Action Movies on Tubi This Week

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The free streaming service Tubi is a great place to scroll when you’re unsure what to watch. They are not sponsored or affiliated with iHorror. Still, we really appreciate their library because it’s so robust and has many obscure horror movies so rare you can’t find them anywhere in the wild except, if you’re lucky, in a moist cardboard box at a yard sale. Other than Tubi, where else are you going to find Nightwish (1990), Spookies (1986), or The Power (1984)?

We take a look at the most searched horror titles on the platform this week, hopefully, to save you some time in your endeavor to find something free to watch on Tubi.

Interestingly at the top of the list is one of the most polarizing sequels ever made, the female-led Ghostbusters reboot from 2016. Perhaps viewers have seen the latest sequel Frozen Empire and are curious about this franchise anomaly. They will be happy to know it’s not as bad as some think and is genuinely funny in spots.

So take a look at the list below and tell us if you are interested in any of them this weekend.

1. Ghostbusters (2016)

Ghostbusters (2016)

An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.

2. Rampage

When a group of animals becomes vicious after a genetic experiment goes awry, a primatologist must find an antidote to avert a global catastrophe.

3. The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren uncover an occult conspiracy as they help a defendant argue that a demon forced him to commit murder.

4. Terrifier 2

After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County, where his next victims, a teenage girl and her brother, await.

5. Don’t Breathe

A group of teens breaks into a blind man’s home, thinking they’ll get away with the perfect crime but get more than they bargained for once inside.

6. The Conjuring 2

In one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations, Lorraine and Ed Warren help a single mother of four in a house plagued by sinister spirits.

7. Child’s Play (1988)

A dying serial killer uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a Chucky doll which winds up in the hands of a boy who may be the doll’s next victim.

8. Jeepers Creepers 2

When their bus breaks down on a deserted road, a team of high school athletes discovers an opponent they cannot defeat and may not survive.

9. Jeepers Creepers

After making a horrific discovery in the basement of an old church, a pair of siblings find themselves the chosen prey of an indestructible force.

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News

Morticia & Wednesday Addams Join Monster High Skullector Series

Published

3 days ago

May 3, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Believe it or not, Mattel’s Monster High doll brand has an immense following with both young and not-so-young collectors.

In that same vein, the fan base for The Addams Family is also very large. Now, the two are collaborating to create a line of collectible dolls that celebrate both worlds and what they have created is a combination of fashion dolls and goth fantasy. Forget Barbie, these ladies know who they are.

The dolls are based on Morticia and Wednesday Addams from the 2019 Addams Family animated movie.

As with any niche collectibles these aren’t cheap they bring with them a $90 price tag, but it’s an investment as a lot of these toys become more valuable over time.

“There goes the neighborhood. Meet the Addams Family’s ghoulishly glamorous mother-daughter duo with a Monster High twist. Inspired by the animated movie and clad in spiderweb lace and skull prints, the Morticia and Wednesday Addams Skullector doll two-pack makes for a gift that’s so macabre, it’s downright pathological.”

If you want to pre-purchase this set check out The Monster High website.