Hollow and Empty People: A Sweetest Monster Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Sweetest Monster is a kinetic visual novel that originally released on Steam way back in 2017. It made some waves during in its initial release, and it even got a sequel in 2022. That sequel was famously banned from Steam for reasons that are still slightly unclear, but the original game is now getting a console release. Available now on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 by way of publisher Sometimes You, we're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today. What content does this series have that made it so controversial that its sequel was banned from Steam? Was the long wait worth it for console players? What exactly is a kinetic visual novel? We'll answer all that and more in this review. Let's dive into it!

He didn't know that this would change his life.

What would've happened if he stayed home?

Answering the last question is probably the easiest place to begin, so let's do that first. Most visual novels operate similar to adventure games, where dialogue and action choices can dictate the route the story will take, or even the ending you'll receive. Kinetic visual novels on the other hand are literally novels that are presented in a visual way. They don't have dialogue choices, branching paths, or anything truly resembling "gameplay" in the proper sense. I have to admit that I've found reviewing kinetic visual novels to be somewhat difficult in the past, and I'm at a bit of a loos as to how I'll be tackling this one. On one hand I want to review kinetic visual novels like any other game, and on the other I have to accept that they're quite different even from the greater genre that they're a part of. I hope that I manage to pull this one off by the time I wrap it up, but discussing a game that's solely focused on a story, while also not giving away big spoilers for said story, is sometimes easier said than done.

Sally is a complicated character.

Melody is very important to the story too.

Sweetest Monster opens with an argument between Robin Hawkins and his wife Sally. Robin is a music teacher at a local elementary school, and Sally apparently feels that he's being too nice to the mother of one of his students. Though she thinks he may be cheating, Robin isn't doing anything of the sort. This argument ultimately goes nowhere, but it does a good job of letting the reader into Robin's life. He's middle-aged, he works at a job that he doesn't care much for, and his domestic life isn't what he hoped it would be. It's not just his wife either, his daughter won't even speak to him, and they communicate mostly through Sally. Hoping to clear his head a bit, he goes out for a walk and comes across a girl name Bell. Bell isn't just any girl though, she's actually a catgirl. Okay, that's not truly correct either. What exactly Bell IS will be something we'll look more into later, but what's important for now is that Bell is apparently a cat that Robin saved the life of when he was just a child. Bell has spent the decades since that event to find a way to reveal her true nature to him, and to tell him that she's in love with him. While one can definitely argue that what she's manifesting isn't exactly "love", it's clear that she wants Robin, and will do anything to have him. Despite what I may have implied earlier regarding his domestic life, Robin does consider himself happily married, and he doesn't give in to Bell's advances. Robin manages to escape this first encounter without much trouble, but Bell isn't done with him yet. He's now a marked man, and it's also quite obvious that her arrival has turned his already crazy life upside-down. Throughout the rest of the story they cross paths several more times, and things will get more intense as those encounters go on...

I'm going to circle back around to the story again later on in the review, but I figured I'd back up a bit and talk about other aspects of the game. One thing I found rather odd about the console version of Sweetest Monster is that there seems to have been little thought put into implementing proper controller support. This is a small issue I'll admit, but having to advance the text with the shoulder buttons, and to use the D-Pad to fish around for the menu options under the text box, felt very clunky. Normally I wouldn't touch upon this kind of thing at all, but I accidentally restarted the game twice trying to figure out how to get to the save menu. For a game that's extremely light on gameplay, you'd think they'd have figured out a simple control scheme. Anyway, this is my only true negative about the game, and I wanted to get it out of the way early.

A vow that took decades to fulfill.

An interesting way to describe a school uniform.

While I think the visuals in Sweetest Monster are pretty amazing for the most part, I did find them to occasionally be inconsistent. I loved the backgrounds, I loved the location designs and level of detail found within them, and I even loved all of Sally's illustrations. When it comes to Bell though, that's where I thought things became a little hit or miss depending on the illustration. I don't want to make it sound like any of the game's art was horrible or anything, but there were a few illustrations that almost felt like they were off-model or something. This is probably a me thing I'll admit, but it took me out of the story more than once. Then there's the big elephant in the room: the console version's censorship. I won't get into specifics, but a few scenes in the game played out in a way that contradicted with what was being shown on-screen. I thought this was odd and looked into those images online. It was then that I learned that there were some scenes that featured far more risqué art, and some that included outright nudity. While it makes sense that the game would be censored on the PS4 and PS5, I was surprised to see it censored on the Switch. I've played several games that have shown everything that this game does in its uncensored version, and I can only assume that it was edited on the Switch so that the porting process didn't have to have two different versions. This all may have been a decision made by the publisher, but I can definitely see some players not wanting to pick this version up on account of the censorship alone.

Now I didn't go into Sweetest Monster expecting it to have a great soundtrack, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it did. Admittedly none of the tracks are going to be making it to my next video game playlist anytime soon, but they all work perfectly to enhance whatever scene they're used for. There are more upbeat and casual tracks for the domestic scenes, and several that sound like they'd be totally at home in a horror movie. That last part will make more sense when I go back to discussing the story, but I loved the general uneasiness that the just about every track provided. It may just be me thinking too much into it, but there were times when I felt that the melody of even the happier-sounding tracks sounded a bit dark. Then the scene would indeed take a turn, and it felt like the perfect transitionary piece. Sweetest Monster may not be doing anything too special with its soundtrack, but it uses what it has to great effect. On the flip side, it's a good thing that the music is as good as it is since the game doesn't feature any voice acting. I understand that this is a small, indie visual novel, available at a low price point, but I can't help but feel that voice acting would've gone a long way to flesh out the game's world and characters. I guess that's just wishful thinking though, as I'm willing to bet that the developers would've loved to have implemented voice acting too.

Does Robin actually want Bell around?

Come on... just ONE DAY OFF!

It's really hard to discuss where Sweetest Monster's story goes beyond that opening scene. I don't want to give any spoilers, but Bell never lets up, and she does do a good job at slowly eroding Robin's resistance. It's mentioned early on that Bell isn't actually a cat at all, she's a spirit. Not just any spirit either, some cultures might even refer to her as a demon. She can take on any form she wants, and even whatever clothes she wants. Though the story only covers about a week of Robin's life, it's a week that tests him like no other. While Robin likes to act as if Bell is nothing more than an annoyance to him, he nevertheless longs for her presence whenever she's gone. In-between visits from Bell, possibly out of guilt, Robin is doing his best to fix his life at home. He tries to rebuild his relationship with his daughter Melody, and even tries to rekindle his romance with Sally. Sally is actually one of the most interesting characters in the game, as she starts out seeming like a stereotypical nagging housewife, but then becomes far more relatable as the story progresses. You feel bad for her whenever Robin is with Bell, even when it doesn't feel like he's actually doing any cheating. And that's pretty much what Sweetest Monster does best, it weaves together a rather intricate story with only the slightest of materials. There are basically only four characters in the game, one week of in-game time, a handful of locations, and a relatively short word count too, but the game makes every bit count. I don't think I've ever played a visual novel that stuck with me the way this one did after I finished it. I could've had this review out before launch, but I needed a few days to let it sink in. Though I think this is one of the best visual novels I've ever played, some content warnings are in order. I can't do specifics for fear of spoilers, but if sexual situations, strong sexuality, or topics of self-harm aren't what you want to come across in your visual novels, then you might want to stay away. There really isn't another visual novel out there quite like this one, and I mean that in all sorts of ways. 

This was one of the scenes that was censored.

Interesting choice of words... "penetrating"...

While Sweetest Monster is on the shorter side, only needing an hour or two to finish depending on reading speed, it had a story that I found to be really effective. I hesitate to say that it was either "good" or "great", but I will say that "creeped out" describes what I felt most of the time far better. Sweetest Monster and Bell both go places I didn't expect, and it really made me want to know what happened next. I'm glad I played this when I did, because there's already that aforementioned sequel I can look into when I'm finished here. Also, there's some neat content that unlocks after you finish the story. First off, there's a new title screen that reflects the game's ending, and there's also a Gallery and Notes too. The Gallery is rather self-explanatory, but the Notes features background on the writing, and a deeper look at the game's story and characters. I probably found the Notes to be the most interesting part of the entire experience, and getting to learn why things went a particular way really helped me understand the story better. I won't go too much into what the Notes cover, but be sure to check them out yourself after you clear the game.

Robin sucks at not giving in to Bell.

The Dracula reference is a nice touch.

Though I have to give all sorts of content warnings when recommending Sweetest Monster, I still have to say that I think it's a must-play (read?) for fans of the genre. It does a good job taking romance-heavy visual novel tropes and turning them on their head, and it also comes in at a very affordable $5.99. That price is cheaper than a paperback novel, and I guarantee that this is a far better read. Pick it up on whatever platform you can, and try reading it all in one go. You won't regret it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to check out that sequel!

Check Out Sweetest Monster on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/sweetest-monster-switch/

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Story: A
Gameplay: N/A (It's a kinetic novel.)
Graphics: A-
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A story that is sure to bring forth several emotions, with "creeped out" possibly topping that list.
+ The visuals are near perfect, and the illustrations have a hand-painted look to them that really stands out.
+ Sweetest Monster's soundtrack punches far above its weight and is simply amazing.
+ The unlockable Notes do a good job fleshing out the world and characters, and are probably just as interesting as the game itself.
+ At just $5.99, picking this up feels like a no-brainer.

Cons:
- Being a kinetic visual novel, there are no dialogue choices or alternate story paths.
- The subject matter might be a bit much for some players, so keep in mind this is a rather dark M-rated title.
- This is a censored release, so that might put off some players.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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She has a point.

#SweetestMonster