Monster Tale

They're so cute when they grow up...

A Nintendo DS game by the makers of Henry Hatsworth.

The game tells the story of Ellie, a little girl that is woken up in the middle of the night by a loud noise. Upon investigation, she finds a strange bracelet. All of a sudden, the bracelet glows and transports Ellie to a different world, populated by new and strange creatures, referred to as monsters. Not long upon arriving does Ellie finds an egg, which hatches a small and cute creature that Ellie dubs "Chomp". Now, Ellie and Chomp must travel through the monsters' world so that the girl may find a way home. She soon learns that she and her new friend are destined to liberate this mysterious world from the rule of five evil children.

Like its very British predecessor, the gameplay in Monster Tale is a mix of genres, in this case we have the Metroidvania approach coupled with the raising and use of Chomp, who can interact with different items that Ellie may find and evolve accordingly, gaining different abilities and transforming into different forms as he does so.

Tropes used in Monster Tale include:
  • All Myths Are True: The one shown during the game's intro. Also deconstructed: the fact that the monsters believed this was what allowed the kid kings to rise to power. It is also reconstructed at the same time, since it refers to Ellie.
  • Alpha Bitch: Priscilla shows what would likely happen if such a character ever acquired any form of power over others.
  • Anti-Villain: Despite the fact that they utilize slave labor, Zoe and Ethan have potentially valid Freudian Excuses for their behavior, depending on how reliable you think their testimony is (especially compared to someone like Deanu, who only complained about having chores back home). Zoe was never allowed to play with toys for fear of breaking them, and Child Prodigy Ethan was tired of being dismissed as Just a Kid when it came to his inventions. The Monster World gives Zoe all the toys she wants and Ethan the chance to build world-changing devices.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Inverted: the kid kings aren't evil because they're royalty, they named themselves royalty because they're evil.
  • Arm Cannon: The ancient band that Ellie wears can fire energy blasts against monsters and door panels (and gets more powerful throughout).
  • Arms Dealer: Jinx sells items for Chomp that not only give him experience, but also serve as weapons for indirect assistance for Ellie. For example, soccer balls and meteorites bounce all over the screen and hit enemies.
  • Badass Adorable: Ellie and Young Chomp (arguably Teen and Adult Chomp too).
  • The Beast Master: All the human kids in the Monster World are effectively this, as each one has a monster partner, such as Ellie having Chomp and Meade having Krubble.
  • Big Bad: Priscilla.
  • Big No: Ellie when she gets knocked out. As well as the Kid Kings (and Queen) when they're defeated.
  • Brats with Slingshots
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Zoe.
  • Bread and Circuses: It's implied that Meade is doing the "circuses" part, at least.
  • Cast from Hit Points: Using skills eats away at Chomp's life bar, but it's easy enough to recharge.
  • The Chosen One: Ellie, kind of. See All Myths Are True above.
  • Collision Damage: Played straight, plus some enemies wield melee weapons and attacks that do more damage than simply touching them.
  • Competitive Balance: Each of Chomp's stages are a different one.
  • Cute Bruiser: Ellie.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: The Kid Kings, except for Priscilla, each eventually come around after fighting Ellie for various reasons. Zoe and Ethan even provide Big Dang Heroes moments while you're storming Pricilla's castle. Deanu wasn't really evil to begin with though.
  • Egg MacGuffin: Chomp's egg.
  • Egopolis: All of the kid kings' realms are named after them.
  • Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Fire is strong against Earth is strong against Water is strong against Fire. Or, more accurately, Red beats Green beats Blue beats Red, as few if any monsters show elemental traits besides color (and for those that do, it's the color that really matters).
  • Empathic Healer: Chomp's Healing skill works this way, due to the fact that all skills are Cast from Hit Points.
  • The Evil Genius: Ethan.
  • Evil Laugh: Oddly enough, Chomp emits one of these after using a pet item when in a teen or adult form.
  • Excuse Plot: Excellent game though the plot could be better.
  • Gameplay and Story Segregation: After beating a Kid King, you can see their crown in the collectibles screen. However, you're shown actually grabbing their key, and when the Kid King in question appears again, they are still wearing their crown.
  • The Ghost: Chomp's mother.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: The unnamed dragon monster in the beginning of the game. The game data literally calls it "Intro Boss".
  • A Girl And Her Monster
  • God Save Us From the Queen: Priscilla.
  • Guide Dang It: The effectiveness of items unlocking new forms decreases as the adjacent forms increase in level. Nowhere does the game tell you this. This can potentially lead to some forms being Lost Forever, or at least taking extremely large amounts of time and diligence to unlock.
  • Hair-Raising Hare: Zoe's monster Lobster.
  • Handbag of Hurt: Ellie's Satchel.
  • Heart Container: These can be bought in Jynx's shop or found laying out in the open.
  • Hearts Are Health: Though they're strangely blue, not red.
  • Humans Are Special: Because the monsters believed in this, the kid kings managed to seize power.
  • Inescapable Ambush: Much like it's british cousin, it loves these. They get particularly brutal near the end.
  • Infinity+1 Element: Light (White), which resists attacks of other elements (even Non-Elemental) and in turn other elements are resistant to its attacks, and Dark (Purple Is the New Black), which has strong attacks against everything and vice-versa.
  • Kid Hero: Apparently, the only ones who can see/tame monsters are kids.
  • Killer Rabbit:
    • Chomp, whose child forms are as cute as a button until it starts fighting.
    • Mister Lobster gets bonus points for actually being a rabbit. He's also That One Boss.
  • Konami Code: A shortened version (replace "B, A, Start" with "Select") Palette Swaps Ellie and grants a small shop discount.
  • Metroidvania: Albeit a very linear one.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Priscilla.
  • Not So Stoic: Meade is The Stoic, but, when fighting, at which point he goes into a Super-Powered Evil Side.
  • One-Winged Angel: Priscilla's monster Snout during the final boss battle, though it was already a monster to begin with.
  • One Man Party: Many of Chomp's skills aren't that useful, and it's easier to go through the game without him on the top screen. Near the end of the game, this trope is still present, but on the other end, with a properly-raised Chomp being practically game-breaking, to the point where Ellie will barely contribute.
  • Palette Swap/Underground Monkey: Different "elemental" versions of monsters.
    • Chomp himself is actually a protagonist version of Underground Monkey, as all of his forms in the same stage of growth are slightly altered versions of each other.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Most of the kid kings don't really have any reason to fight Ellie, and only flip out and try to kill her when they think she's going to ruin their fun somehow. Instead of talking them down, Ellie just leaps into the fray and only explains that they don't really have any reason to be fighting after the battle.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Priscilla, right before the final battle.
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: Chomp.
  • Royal Brat: The (self-proclaimed) kid kings. Although it is inverted since they aren't likely part of any rich families (to our knowledge), in which case, they are likely just spoiled brats.
  • RPG Elements: Only Chomp gets them though.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Ethan says that someone named Henry Hatsworth (he had trouble remembering the name) had stepped in the monster world before. This particular person was a character whose game was also developed by Peter Ong. Ellie says that this reminds her of her great uncle.
    • There are floating puzzle pieces in the background of Zoe's "kingdom" that look supsiciously like the background of the Puzzle Realm. Cole's Machine really did some damage by just existing...
    • Ethan also not only uses a DS-like device, but commands his monster Nathan to use "Ludicrous speed!".
    • Priscilla's outfit and hair greatly resemble a certain video game princess.
    • Many of Chomp's attacks such as Drill em Mister, Ghoul's Cascade (which even has a blue fire effect), Artype and Rolling Thunder are references to classic Video Games.
    • One of Chomp's forms is a furry, fanged beast who has the ability to ram enemies, and is named "Tall Bain". It doesn't seem like a stretch to say the name may have something to do with Jon Talbain, the werewolf from Darkstalkers who's primary attack is to, you guessed it, ram enemies.
    • There's even one in the Closing Credits: the director Peter Ong thanks his brother Jay Ong for "being like Itachi.
  • Smart People Wear Glasses: Baby Chomp puts some on for his "studying" animation in the Pet Sanctuary.
  • Spiritual Successor: To Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure. Subverted in that it is implied that both games are in the same universe. See Shout-Out above.
  • Stalactite Spite: Stalactites fall on you in certain places, just like the trope says.
  • Surfer Dude: Deanu talks like this.
  • Swiss Army Hero: Chomp.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: When Ellie first enters the monster realm, she doesn't seem too surprised that not only is she in a completely different place, but it has also instantly turned from night to day. Of course there's a reason for this, her great uncle is Henry Hatsworth, adventuring runs in the family.
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: The first kid king Meade is this.
  • Warmup Boss: The unnamed two-headed dragon at the beginning of the game.
  • You Have Researched Breathing: Most of Ellie's powerups, actually. She needs a powerup just to learn how to swing her knapsack. She then needs an additional powerup to swing it continuously, and another to swing it in an uppercut. She also needs one to learn how to roll, and there are also two powerups that do nothing except allow Ellie to perform two attacks she learned previously in the air.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Ellie.
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