Analysis of the madness stone: the game cooking rebuilds it again

The madness of madness It is the new game developed by Game Kitchen, the excellent Spanish study that gave life to the more than famous saga Blasphemous And that distributes it Tripwire present. This new intellectual property is separated from the genus Metroidvania and modifies it into steam Use of different characters to achieve our goals. If you want to know the secrets involved in the perennial monastery in which this adventure takes place, I invite you to accompany me throughout this analysis. No more, we start.

But before we start, we want to thank The game kitchen To provide us with a digital copy of the game to be able to carry out this analysis.

A popular plot

The first thing presented by the Sevillian study is nothing other than the intrigue and its atmosphere. And it is The madness of madness It takes place in a monastery in “an indefinite place in the Pyrenees” in the 18th century. The curious thing about this monastery is that it is dedicated to the treatment of people with mental disorders. From the first moment, the atmosphere as well as its artistic style and its large soundtrack fully immerse us in the monastery governed by the abbot with a very special guest: an unscrupulous inquisitor.

Our goal is none other than to escape the monastery, but not before disentangering the mystery that corruption brought to this holy institution. Since the arrival of the inquisitor, it is “common” that they disappear without having seen many prisoners again who are taken to “the punishment cell”, thus seated around which our flight will turn, all to find “A stone”.

The environment: your greatest ally in the stone of madness

As well as commented at the start of the analysis, the stealth and environmental puzzles These are the Axes around which the gameplay turns of this game, all from a Isometric perspectiveWith which we can monitor our environment to give a corner to the guards of the inquisitor. Therefore, I consider this game, saving the distances and apologizing to Hideo Kojima; “he Metal Gear Spanish folk ”, because stealth is the base on which the gameplay turns. Each area is special and we must adapt to the challenges and secrets it presents with unique characters to interact to obtain information or buy objects with which to advance in our adventure.

How could it be otherwise, we have a day and night cycle, dividing into two main halves: tomorrow and noon; And late and night. Once half the day consumed, souls, specters that inhabit the monastery; They will try to hunt us. Thanks to the ability of one of our characters, we can manage these ghostly enemies.

Your characters: the game key

In this game, we have several characters with different skills to face the different dangers of the monastery. And, as if that were not enough, They all have mental disorders that make them unique. According to a Fortachón with fear of darkness, an elusive girl with fear of gargoyles or a Pelleja witch who cannot work on her witchcraft in the presence of mirrors. And that just to name above the characteristics of our beloved protagonists.

Each character has a different level of health and mental health. Mental health we lose it by exposing each character to their various disorders and fears. Once health and mental health, we will not be able to control these characters before the next day.

The loss of mental health leads our characters to develop a new disorder with which to face our departure. Once we all unlock, the maximum quantity of mental health that we can have as many times three times. This complicates our days and is a bigger challenge for the player.

Unique skills

Combining the different skills of our group, we will progress in the various fields present in the monasteryDiscover their secrets and solve the puzzles to be able to collect evidence against the inquisitor and escape. Although it all seems very good, it has its limits. Every day, we can wear a maximum of three characters. In addition, each of them has their own inventories and objects that can be used individually. The girl is the only one who can cheat, the priest eliminates souls who live in the monastery at night, etc.

One of the points to highlight this adventure is that he does not have a certain number of days to escape our confinement. This allows all kinds of players to take the time necessary to finish it. Unfortunately, the non-limitation of time has a price. At the end of the days, the relaxation of the monastery penalizes us mental health points with which to face our next day.

Once our day is over, it's time to regain strength. Currently, we will return to our cell, in which we will count the objects obtained and use the skills of each character. Some can cure us, make objects, etc.

As part of night skills, the priest can study books and parade to get knowledge. Thanks to this, we can acquire skills for our characters. Each of them has theirs. How to use firearms, eliminate souls constantly, etc. The only negative point is its high cost. It is difficult to find documents to obtain knowledge points to buy these skills.

An unrivaled sound section on the stone of madness

How could it be otherwise, the game cooking surprises us again with a Spectacular soundtrack This fully transports us to the moment when events occur in the game. Depending on the type of area in which we are, a different song will be sings. This has a total immersion effect on the player. When we carry out an illegal action, the volume of music is reduced to pay attention to our environment. In case they catch us with our hands in the dough, a beep that will alert us will be accompanied by a crescendo sound which will warn us of the level of detection.

Another of the big points to highlight the game is its Spanish dubbing and location. The distribution of voices is spectacular in all directions. Even if they only speak Spanish during the kinematics, during the game, we will listen to the priest speaking in Latin in certain situations. In this case, there is a dialog in the form of a parchment to translate your words.

Cinematics in the purest cartoon style

While a large part of the account of the game occurs in dialogue between the characters and the little “in the cinematographic”, The moments which assume that a change in the plot brings with them a spectacular animated kinematics. His artistic style unified between kinematics and game allows them to feel like another part of it, more than just a cut. The quality of the same thing with the spectacular dubbing distribution makes it a real audiovisual delight.

Even if brilliant, they have nothing to envy for the section in play. The environments of the monastery, the characters and the NPCs feel alive thanks to this. This manages to already give the monastery its endearing inhabitants.

In conclusion, the stone of madness …

The game kitchen again comes out of the Channel a game more than an excellent breakdown in the Metroidvania style of its emblematic saga Blasphemous. And they do it with a very different genre and concept: a tactical stealth in which the environment and the skills of the characters, while facing their own troubles to escape the monastery and expose the crimes of the inquisitor, make it A game more than around. SO, I undoubtedly invite you to buy it so that you feel this travel madness.

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The madness of madness It is available for PS5, Xbox Series X | S, Nintendo Switch and PC. Without more, as always, if you want to know more analyzes like this, do not forget to go through your house, here in the Xbox zone.