I can’t say that I felt like going back to Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099, because in my case I hadn’t tried (until now) either the first part or the demo of this sequel that we have already brought to you on Steam Next festival of the past year. The editors really liked this first title for its odd premise and replayability, and since then we at Gamereactor have closely followed every step of the sequel’s development, right down to the point where the last monkey to log in here has to start, himself to look at others. locked up”.
Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 continues the quest of the secret society Primate Observation Club, in which you happen to have just been accepted to inherit your deceased uncle’s membership. Therefore, you are now forced to observe and examine (never interact with) all kinds of subjects who spy on you through hidden cameras in their homes or workplaces. The aim of this research is document certain situations of his life, leading us to unmask the “true selves” of each subject in the “cages” as they call each screen that we control from our computer and in front of which we will sit for a long, long time.
So far the title is exactly the same as the original, but then you start to get hungry and sleepy and suddenly a couple of gentlemen in suits knock on your door and ask you to pay a weekly debt. at the moment resource management In addition to your own time, health and finances also play a much more important role, because you have to combine your daily observation work with a balanced diet, an adequate sleep rhythm and small jobs that help you to keep your finances up. The indicators are falling rapidly. Suddenly, while observing the monkeys, you’re also watching one, and that’s a bit stressful on the first attempts.
Advertising:
I say “Try” because although there is an easy mode that will help you a lot with resource management, you may still fail in your mission. Its thing is to immerse yourself in the monitoring experience with all your senses on the screen. There are cages where you have to discover hidden details, others where you have to follow long conversations or aloud reflections of your subjects, and in some you also have to do research using terms that we hear you have to put the pieces of the puzzle together with new ones. Sometimes there are whole days when nothing happens, and sometimes you miss the important action because the activity in this cage lasts only a few seconds. It’s a bit frustrating to miss the moment, but it’s part of the game loop design because you can’t keep track of everyone at once.
To make matters worse, progress and the number of cages to watch grow every five days, and that also requires money. If you don’t reach the set cage goal, you will be kicked out of the club and the game will end. There will also be junk jobs in the future through ‘luck’, and there are bonuses for completing the club’s ‘Observational Studies’.
But without a doubt, the real magic of DNFTM 2099 lies in all the stories surrounding each primate and in the directions each game can take that will not be comparable to the previous one. There are many unlockable endingsIn fact, the game has a strong satirical tone to highlight some parts of our contemporary society. That a revolutionary streamer who gets hired wants to defeat his bosses? Okay, but first you’ll have to put up with a few tedious calls worthy of a hotline. Then we have brewers, workaholic lizards staring into space, alien psychologists with identity crises (and some patients who…). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As if that wasn’t enough, DNFTM 2099 now features a new tool called Omni-Pal, which further expands the dialogue options and clues to follow in each cage.
Advertising:
The downside is perhaps that it’s too similar to the original, both in the systems and in the barrier of the first few hours where you don’t quite understand what to do or how best to do it. Yes, the experience is part of the game, but some inexperienced primate observers might get out of their chairs.
I’ve spent a few days completely addicted to Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099, and I think that’s partly because, as the game’s protagonists, we spend most of our day staring at a screen and working remotely. I think having such a “meta” experience helped me immerse myself in the game and engage with the monkeys (I know, I know I shouldn’t, but…) but mostly it’s because the experience is so well balanced. , so rich and offers so many possibilities that it is impossible not to get hooked from the screen. A new success in Spanish development and a sequel that enriches and expands on the original just enough to deserve a chance.
