🎮 Monstrous Park
2024年 11月 18日
On the way home from a short trip away, I was driving along a mountain road when I suddenly came across a sign that grabbed my attention. It was heavily rusted and had an eerie aura to it, and it was telling me to make a turn at the next corner. I found myself pulling the wheel in that direction. There I found a privately-owned museum, the outside of which was lined with all manner of strange curios: mannequins draped in clothes left to rot in the humid summer air, broken-down furniture plastered with fluttering ofuda tags. I paid the admission fee but, coming to my senses, decided to flee rather than go inside after all. The memory of that experience has completely overpowered my other recollections of that trip. There are apparently lots of these odd and private museums and theme parks dotted all over the world, beckoning wayward travelers.
Monstrous Park really nails that feeling of exploring creepy abandoned amusement parks that are well past their prime...
This creepy memory is what immediately came to mind as I was playing through Monstrous Park, a visual novel series created by Kanna. These games take place in the titular Monstrous Park, a warm and inviting place to frolic and play... or is it?
The original game, itself called Monstrous Park, is a visual novel that establishes the setting and tone of the series. The park is only open at night, and is located in a rather run-down area of town where very few people pass by. Besides the usual carnival attractions such as the Ferris wheel and teacup rides, there is also a theater with regular shows. On the surface, it looks like benign, if a bit eccentric, and the likes of which you might find tucked away along the edges of a big city.
On top of the mystery of the park itself, you also get to know the different cast members and their personalities.
You play as three new trainees who are learning the ropes: handling the electrical maintenance, performing on stage, and managing the food stands. The decisions you make for these three youngsters shape the overall story, and your choices will lead you towards one of the game's multiple endings.
Instead of the expected cheery atmosphere of most amusement parks, here at the Monstrous Park, the rides are creaking and old, and the other staff at the shops and theater are unenthusiastic and gruff. The customers have no cause to complain, however, since the park's admission is free. This leads you to wonder what is the point in running a park at such a financial loss. It's got the sort of atmosphere that leave you feeling a little disappointed, but also curious to know what is really going on behind the scenes.
Even the customers are frightened around Garou the supervisor... what an oppressive atmosphere.
Monstrous Park is designed so that there is no one main character. However, the three trainees appear the most frequently, and it is from their outsider perspective that we see how the park operates. There were many scenes where their supervisor Garou treats these new hires quite horribly, and they often clash with each other. I always cheered for the recruits to make it out all right. But things escalated to the point where one of the three, a woman named Ang, is berated by the manager one too many times and completely loses control of herself. It was a shocking and frightening scene, and it further deepened the mystery surrounding the staff. The characters may be hiding secrets that even they don't know about...
I'll leave things there. You should play the game and experience the twists and turns for yourself.
There is another game set in this same world called もんすたらすぱーく～雪ん子大作戦～ (Monstrous Park: Operation Snow Child) that builds out some of the side characters from the first game. Yukiko, the slightly cold woman who appears in the main story of the original, begins to melt from the heat. This spinoff is about running around the park and looking for something cold with which to save her. If you've played the original, this is your chance to revisit familiar characters and locations and learn more of their backstories.
Ang, get ahold of yourself!!
I am currently writing my impressions of Monstrous Park, both the game and the world it depicts. In other words, I am not playing it at the moment. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that an unsettling park just like this one is operating somewhere out in the real world, staffed by the characters I've come to know and love. I wonder if I ever pass such a place again, will I be able to pull myself away from there in time...