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Review: My Monsters
I felt a surge of excitement when Ludact revealed My Monsters; I immediately fell for the game’s art style, particularly after being captivated by their earlier title, Unbinary. I found myself unable to look away from the visuals, so I was definitely eager to find out if a third-person game from them could engage me as much as Unbinary had before.
Game Details
Release Date: October 2nd 2025
Developer: Ludact
Publisher: Ludact
Price: £15.99
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3
* Access Provided For Review *
The Highs And Lows Of Human Emotion
In this game, you assume the role of a traveller, and as you progress, you quickly develop a connection with Moti, a charming little monster who becomes your companion on your adventure across the land of Onirium. Together, you must work to eliminate Anxiety, Fear, and Loneliness from these lands, confronting the ups and downs of human emotions.
Fight Against Anxiety, Fear, And Loneliness
To begin with, I want to mention that the team drew inspiration from titles like Moss, so if you’ve experienced similar games in the past, you’ll know what to anticipate. Keeping this in mind, the game you are about to play is a third-person action-adventure, where collaboration with Moti is essential to navigate the world of Onirium.
The core aspect of the game is your control over Moti, allowing you to survey the world from a god-like vantage point. This includes engaging in battles with enemies that grow increasingly challenging as you advance, requiring significantly more effort to defeat. Generally, you can learn their attack patterns and figure out what actions to take or avoid in order to conquer them. However, there are moments when the difficulty spikes as various types of enemies appear simultaneously – yet, you typically manage to overcome these challenges within a few tries, so it doesn’t impede your progress too much. Regarding damage, you have three hit points, but the game often provides generous health drops during combat. In combat, you’ll have access to basic slash attacks along with a new ability that enables you to fire projectiles. These are your sole means of attack, and typically, you’ll rely on your slashes while using projectiles to target enemies that are out of reach.
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In Onirium, you will journey through three distinct biomes, collaborating with Moti to tackle puzzles. You will have the ability to shift objects to create and complete pathways as you navigate the world as the traveller. Alongside these tasks, you’ll encounter smaller puzzles that involve shooting objects with your projectiles to unlock gates, elevate platforms, and dismantle shields from foes. I must mention that these minor puzzles in the game rarely present a significant challenge; instead, they serve as a refreshing pause from the combat. Each biome culminates in a boss battle where you will confront Anxiety, Fear, and Loneliness. Initially, these battles provide a degree of challenge as you familiarise yourself with their attack patterns, but similar to the occasional spikes in combat difficulty, you will likely overcome them after a few attempts.
In addition to the overall gameplay, each section of these biomes features concealed beings known as ‘Reminisces’. These creatures provide deeper lore about the specific area and the broader context of Onirium. Finding them encourages you to get up close and lean into and appreciate the stunning world that has been crafted.
Hand-Painted Beauty
As previously stated, the world is truly stunning, but what stands out even more is that each piece is hand-painted – building on the hand-painted watercolor visuals seen in Unbinary. The key distinction is that the colours in My Monsters are significantly bolder and more vibrant.
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It’s quite challenging to articulate just how stunning these visuals appear and how they resonate within the headset. The aesthetic is genuinely beautiful and distinctive, and even though their last game had a hand-painted quality, this feels like an entirely fresh experience. Each biome possesses its own unique atmosphere and appearance, effectively conveying various emotions, along with new enemy designs to encounter. The way each biome aligns with the human emotions you are fighting enhances the immersion, despite its unique hand-painted style.
To enhance the game’s immersive experience, the developers have put in remarkable effort into the audio, particularly with the music. I believe the team has effectively utilised music to convey the emotions you experience throughout the game; while exploring, the music is soothing, evoking a sense of solitude, and during combat, it intensifies, instilling feelings of anxiety and fear. However, a drawback is that the game features only partial narration. The story, reflections, and boss encounters have spoken lines, but the other quirky characters you meet lack voice-overs, requiring you to read their dialogues, which can slightly disrupt the immersion in VR.
Comfort
The Verdict
My Monsters is a delightful game that features a narrative centred around confronting human emotions such as anxiety, loneliness, and fear. It combines elements of a third-person action-adventure game with a significant message about well-being. From the very beginning, it’s clear that the team at Ludact drew inspiration from Moss, which is a positive aspect considering its impressive accolades. While the game is enjoyable, My Monsters does have some drawbacks; the combat can feel somewhat lackluster outside of the boss battles, which evoke a nostalgic platformer vibe. The puzzles provide a refreshing change from the combat, yet they tend to be a bit too simple. Although I believe the puzzles shouldn’t be overly challenging given the game’s message, they could certainly be more engaging than they are now. One of the game’s most remarkable features is the hand-painted biomes, which are absolutely breathtaking and a joy to behold. To address my initial question in the review: yes, I did pause just to admire them. The team has effectively utilised visuals and audio to convey the various emotions experienced throughout the game, but I do wish that every piece of dialogue included voiceovers to prevent the potential immersion break caused by reading conversations in VR. Ultimately, My Monsters presents an enjoyable experience with a vital message about human emotions and well-being—something that should be explored more in VR games.
Copyright / The VR Realm / 2016 -