Monster Tale- DS platformer from Henry Hatsworth devs

[granville]

There's been a new platformer in the works for DS for quite some time. Monster Tale was first announced with the tentative working title Project Monster. It was first announced back in November '09 and nothing has been heard about it since. The catching point was that it is being developed by most of the team behind the hit DS platformer/puzzzler Henry Hatsworth (another truly great and unique DS game). At that time, Project Monster didn't have a publisher, but now Majesco has picked it up and they've renamed it Monster Tale for the official name. The gameplay is said to be a mix of Megaman and a monster raising sim. Have a look at some screens and details-

IGN has some more screens at their image gallery of the game, so take a look at them- http://media.ds.ign.com/media/042/042868/imgs_1.html

And now for all the details we know about the game-

Older info from November (may have changed a bit in development)-
- developed by DreamRift, a company that features devs that worked on Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, The Red Star, Dementium: The Ward, Guitar Hero III, and Henry Hatsworth
- The lead character (Ellie) discovers a magical monster named Chomp, a
- gameplay involves mechanics akin to those in Mega Man, Mario, and Metroid
- monster raising element to the gameplay as well
- Chomp can be used to put up defensive shields, attack enemies with a stretch attack, and be used like a trampoline
- if Chomp takes a lot of damage, he must go back to the bottom screen and rest
- items can be tossed down to Chomp to help with the evolution process
- Chomp changes based on decisions you make
- Ellie finds Chomp when she mistakenly enters the Monster World
- Ellie and Chomp work together to save the Monster Kingdoms from the evil kings of the realm
- each Monster Kingdom is ruled by a human king with their pet monster
- visit the pet store to help raise your monster
- main character can also be powered up
- give your monster food, toys, equipment, and items to change it

Newest info from latest report-
- Majesco publishing
- name changed from Project Monster to Monster Tale
- Monster World has been taken over by the Kid Kings
- Ellie and her beastly pal Chomp must save the day
- The Kid Kings misuse and abuse the monsters of Monster World
- 'Chomp's Pet Sanctuary' is on the touch screen, which is where he evolves into different monsters when given food/items by Ellie
- roughly 30 different forms for Chomp
- collect money to buy food/items for Chomp
- 5 worlds
- each world guarded by a pair of Kid Kings and a giant monster
- defeat certain bosses and discover hidden areas to collect powerful runes that upgrade Ellie's abilities (run, wall-jump and more)
- due out this December

This is looking like an excellent game, and another game to look forward to for the DS. Glad to see devs will still support the system after the 3DS is officially announced and possibly released.

Sources-
http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=123266
http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=103337

 

[tinymonkeyt]

Sounds awesome! And Henry Hatsworth is a really unique and fun game so I don't expect any less from this game. Yay for a cute Megaman type game!

The art somehow resembles Starfy in my opinion (which is a good thing since Starfy was really cute and cuddly :3)!

 

[RupeeClock]

This looks quite promising! I'll keep an eye out for this one.

 

[XXNatus]

It sounds like an awesome game. I really liked Henry Hatsworth, and I'm hoping I'll enjoy this game as well.

 

[ojsinnerz.]

Buying this day one.

I talked to one of the composer of Henry Hatsworth, and I felt terrible when I found out that the sales were awful. Heck, they were even giving away the soundtracks for free too.

 

[BoxShot]

Sounds awesome! And Henry Hatsworth is a really unique and fun game so I don't expect any less from this game. Yay for a cute Megaman type game!

The art somehow resembles Starfy in my opinion (which is a good thing since Starfy was really cute and cuddly :3)!

Agreed.

If priced around $30 or even less (I can dream) I might buy it.