Sticky Platforms and Curious Secrets
The game-play for Milon’s Secret Castle isn’t overly complicated. Milon is given a life bar and a single life. He can run, jump, and shoot bubbles. He has to enter the castle and discover the secrets within while battling beasts. There is no rhyme or reason to the placement of things, but Milon must fire his bubbles at everything. Bubbles will kill enemies, reveal secret doors, and break blocks.
Players have to find the hidden shops, music boxes, and items in order to battle stage bosses. After defeating these bosses, Milon gets stronger and gamers advance to new parts of the castle to repeat the process all over again.
Milon’s Secret Castle: Keeping it Secret
Looking past the story and the weird weapon, one of the things that makes this game frustrating is the difficulty. Unlike other platformers, when Milon gets hit, there is no ‘post-hit invisibility.’ He also has a very small life bar. When that depletes, it’s game over. Players have to start at the beginning. Of course, if you manage to make it past the first boss, there is a trick to starting where you left off. Also, there are ways to increase Milon’s health, but it’s so minuscule it’s barely worth it.
Another pain point with this game is a lack of direction. While it’s pretty neat that players can complete the game in any way they wish, it doesn’t clue gamers in on what to do. The secrets are hidden so well that hardly anyone knew they had to look for them. The boss chamber only fills once certain bench marks are complete. Players can’t even exit a level without finding a door first.
Couple all of these grievances with sticky controls, respawning enemies, and cryptic hints, and you’ve got yourself a pretty terrible game. While it isn’t the worst game, it’s almost not worth remembering. ALMOST.
So, play on, gamers. What do you think of Milon’s Secret Castle? Want a more truthful review? Check out this one!
