Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip
Overwhelmingly Positive
Total: 2.27 ThousandPositive: 2.24 ThousandNegative: 31
Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip is a vibrant co-op narrative survival adventure that takes the beloved Monster Prom formula on a wild ride. With a 91.51% AI Community Rating, this game combines casual, indie, and simulation genres into a hilarious and strategic multiplayer experience. Up to four players can hit the road, managing resources, making tough choices, and navigating wacky conflicts to survive the trip. While the goal is no longer just scoring a date, you can still flirt with fan-favorite characters like Polly and Scott or meet over 10 new hitchhikers. The game’s stunning art, irreverent humor, and dynamic radio stations create an unforgettable atmosphere. However, some players find the 'End of the Road' rules unclear, and resource management can feel frustrating at times. Despite these minor flaws, the game’s charm, replayability, and social competitive edge make it a must-play for fans of quirky, story-driven adventures.
Devs, Please read. I love this game, but there is a single event in it which plays a very loud radio static. Me and a few of my friends are autistic, and some of us, including me, are very sensitive to sounds like that especially for a prolonged period of time. It made reading the dialogue hard and I basically skipped through the entire event. It would be nice to get an option mid-game or in the menus to turn it off. Other than that this game is absolutely fucking wonderful. Edit : It's better now, the volume decrease does really help. Thank you!
An excellent evolution of the previous games, If the whole "dating sim" aspect of the previous games turned you off, then this installment might be a good entry point because romances are entirely optional and are treated as more of a side bonus than the main objective, unlike before. What's more, the quasi-competitive nature of the other games takes on a new form here because, thanks to the MVP system and the challenge objectives, the game gives each player their own agenda and a reason to sabotage the other players, with the caveat that a total game over for one player is game over for everyone-- resulting in a unique combination of PvP and co-op. The game's writing is as charming and funny as ever, and thanks to the new stat system, you're given more freedom to pick whatever choices you think are the funniest and most interesting, rather than gambling on which one fits your current stats better the way you would in the first two games.
Desperate for cash, I offered my services as a freelance critic to a roadside art gallery. The wealthy owner was so impressed that he took me into a back room and boned me to death. While a disappointing end to my road trip, I did learn a very valuable lesson about jobs in the world of fine art.
Monster Roadtrip is - quite possibly - the best of the three MonProm games thus far, and that's saying something. With deeper lore and character content, a hard swap from "build your stats and get a date" to "juggle your stats without any hitting zero and SURVIVE and maybe get a date", and plenty more of Beautiful Glitch's trademark glorious nonense... yeah, this is kind of a must-play. The only weaknesses I can see are A) no modtool (seriously people start using the MonProm mod tool more, it's glorious) and B) there are still minor features to be implemented (though knowing BG's track record, those will be up in no time). I can HIGHLY recommend this game. 9/10, Zoe is still best girl, a steal even with the DLC. EDIT 8/6/23: Holy farquing zarkon. Just... excuse me, I need to compose myself. The continued stream of DLC for this - mostly free, some not - has been excellent. The new events, places, hitchhikers - they're all great. But the End of the Road update... That's something right there. That's A) incredibly hard, and B) the best writing I think I've seen in a video game. Ever. I felt old. I felt so, impossibly old. I cried. I felt free, and trapped, and I understand the process of writing now more than ever and I write myself so that's a thing. It hurts. It's a good hurt. 12/10. Play this game. That's all I can say.
A fun twist on the monster prom formula with new gameplay mechanics and a TON of new characters, outfits, art, and wacky shenanigans! Lots of replayability and even more fun to play with friends. The monster prom franchise is truly the gift that keeps on giving. :] My only complaint, and it's very minor, is that I wish the meta-shop were a little less tedious and maybe more like the one from monster camp where you could choose what to buy? When you've got 2000+ prank tokens stocked up, it feels like forever to spend only 100 at a time. And sometimes the concept sketches are spoilers for stuff I haven't seen yet.
I loved the first game this team came out with and grew very attached to the characters and they way their stories were developed, so it hurts me to say that I cannot recommend this game. It deviates from the first two by seeming to have locations be more of the focus, rather than romancing other characters, which was relegated to more of a side-objective rather than the main goal. It also relies heavily on the first and second titles for the character’s stories. I played the first far more than the second, and for the characters I was familiar with it felt like their stories didn’t go anywhere, just retreaded themes from before. For the characters I wasn’t familiar with I just felt lost without any introduction. The gameplay is…strange. It seems geared toward multiple players, but is lengthy and text-based. I felt restricted playing alone, but I imagine playing with friends would feel like awkwardly reading short stories together. The length isn’t great either for a multi-player experience in my opinion. Playing both sides of a multi-player game myself consistently took ~2hr before I had the option to finish the game, and that was with all “players” working toward the same goal. I do appreciate that they shook up the old formula with a resource management system. I wouldn’t say that it’s better than the old system, but it’s not worse either and it’s nice to have a breath of fresh air. The one good thing I can say about the game is that their humor is pretty good. It just didn’t have a good story to bind the jokes together into something really interesting.
Unfortunately I can't recommend this game. I love the Monster Prom series, and I bought this as soon as it launched as I highly anticipated it. I knew ahead of time it was going to be somewhat of a departure from the previous games, but I just didn't anticipate how much. My friends and I did not enjoy playing this game together and we really, really tried. Games last forever but it feels impossible to get a good ending. And it felt like it only took a couple games for us to see a ton of repeat scenes, which was very rare in the previous installations. The characters, art, and sense of humor were the only consistencies marking it a Monster Prom game. Moss Mann and the new PC Hazel were the only things I cared to see this game. I think this could have been a more fun experience without the Monster Prom branding, like as a side project from the devs or something. But even the gameplay itself I found to be quite the slog with little reward. If I hadn't accidentally left it running and fallen asleep with my laptop open, I might've asked for a refund.
I've never been frustrated with a monster prom game before now. I tried to give it time and give it a second chance but it still frustrates me, the events repeat way to often and to frequently I find myself skipping text because I've already experienced it. The humor feels much weaker in comparison to the first two games and the lack of interaction with the hitchhiker during events throughout the week seems like a huge wasted opportunity. I don't think i'll be playing again, and I hope the next game will interest me more.
TL;DR: If you’re expecting an experience like the first two games — a fun and wacky dating sim — this is absolutely not it. I’m honestly surprised it’s even considered a sequel for Monster Prom and not a completely separate spin off. - While playing this game, I found that, essentially, your relationship with the characters feels like it’s on the back burner, and you aren’t really getting anywhere with any of them during the events at each location. The process of dating a character feels like such a buried sub plot that it’s hardly even there. Speaking of buried — if you want to aim for anyone other than Scott and Polly?? Good luck — I knew the other characters were available as “hitchhikers”, but I had no idea how much of an annoyance and pain it would be just to try to get one you actually want to even join the party. Additionally — the resources being pooled for all players, in my opinion, makes the game a lot harder and my group was struggling with it. Failing twice during the second week due to one of the stats hitting zero — in addition to how frustrating it is to get the characters you actually want — made me just stop playing and we moved on to something else instead. Do yourself a favor and just get Prom or Camp instead — Roadtrip just isn’t it. Really wishing I had spent my money on getting either of the first two games for myself, since I know those are good, instead of taking the chance on this third one. Especially since this was what I ended up showing my friends after telling them about this “fun and exciting game” I play with my other friends — disappointing to say the least.
The sessions are way too long, and the game tries to be way too serious for a Monster Prom game. It still has a lot of the humor of the original, but it loses way too much for me to be able to recommend it.
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