Mini-Review: Mii Plaza — Monster Manor

8 Overall Score

More depth than previous Mii Plaza Games, RPG like elements

Gameplay isn't fully explained, becomes repetitive eventually

Next up on the new Mii Plaza games is Monster Manor! I view this new game as another step along the RPG path for new gamers. It builds on the concepts and gameplay you find in Find Mii, but also expands on it.

The premise of the game is simple: You are a detective searching through a haunted mansion,and each Mii you meet gives you a coloured Tetris-like piece to place on the current floor (billed as a piece of the map).You can place similarly coloured pieces together on the floor to create new “rooms” and find chests (every 4 spaces in a square will have a chest) but watch out! If you place two different colours side-by-side, you will have to open a door to enter the new colour space… and your Mii just might get ambushed by a ghost!

Players continue to lay pieces out on each floor until they find the stairs up to the next floor. The goal here to get to the top floor (30 floors, I think, but I’m not sure… I’m still playing!).

Combat in this game is focused on your Mii, and it happens in real-time. You have a weapon, and various power ups / health potions that can restore your finite health bar. The combat mechanic is relatively simple — left bumper to block and right bumper to attack — and enemies can attack at any time during the combat phase. Each weapon has a certain amount of battery power that is used up as you fire or block, and it recharges when you are doing nothing. However, recharge times differ for each weapon and can be improved with upgrades. Timing and quick reactions can make all the difference in a difficult battle.

However, like previous Mii Plaza games (I’m looking at you Find Mii), the finer points of gameplay aren’t clearly explained anywhere. Players are expected to figure out how the mechanics work on their own, in conjunction with tips received from Mii’s at the start of every session. So, pay attention to in-game hints to figure out what type of weapon will do the most damage to each unique enemy. and be sure to use identical weapons together for upgrades!
That said, looking at the game as a whole, I’d say Monster Manor has a surprising degree of depth for the new Mii Games. It’s is a welcome addition to put those StreetPass tags to work!

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Dave
Author: Dave View all posts by
Dave will tell you that he likes to play video games, this is in fact a lie. What he really likes to do is buy games, and leaving them sitting unopened on his shelf. He is a monster.

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