Hotel Transylvania is a game about monsters trying to live the human life, hiding their true nature from humans. It’s not your typical ‘zombie’ title, and it doesn’t have even one single-player mode. So who’s playing this? And how do they feel?
Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures is a 3D platformer developed by the same people who brought us Hotel Transylvania. It’s not quite as good but it’s still fun to play. The game has been released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
When Outright Games brings something fresh to the table, there are a few things to bear in mind. First and foremost, their main audience will be youngsters, and you must adjust your expectations accordingly. These are activities designed to entice and entertain the same individuals who, if permitted, watch Nickelodeon cartoons for hours at a time. Two, the games are always IP tied, which is why this umbrella includes games from Paw Patrol, Transformers, and a kid YouTube celebrity. Third, and I can’t emphasize this enough, your experience will vary greatly owing to Outright Games’ design style’s buckshot approach. Nothing is out of reach, whether it’s a racing, a platformer, or a turn-based strategy game, as long as the characters connected will secure sales in some way.
This is a very simple layup for the firm and its controlling parent, Sony Pictures and Amazon, with Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures. We just saw a fresh new Hotel Transylvania film, and most people were unaware that Adam Sandler no longer voices the lead character for reasons that most likely begin and stop with “Netflix contract.” People were reminded of this unexpectedly engaging series all over the place, and kids would naturally flock toward new products that reminds them of it. Instead of using the movie storyline as a game frame (like they did with Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard), we’ve gone in a whole different direction this time to produce something with greater durability and potential.
Andy Samberg, on the other hand, has no such issues!
Drac is left to babysit Winnie and Dennis while Mavis and Johnny are away and the werewolf parents are ill, and he determines that traditional fairy tales are the best way to keep kids occupied. Because he’s a monster, everything must be monster-related, the fairy tales are changed to match the overall theme of being nasty and slimy while yet being family pleasant. Drac then continues to recount three stories – Aladdin, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Emperor’s New Clothes – in which he replaces himself and Mavis as the primary characters and introduces the constant sidekicks as both NPCs and narrative aspects.
Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures is a platforming adventure game in which the only goal is to go from point A to point B. You rapidly realize that the goal is to go on to the next portion of the level, be informed how this impacts the plot, and then attempt to get to the next part while Drac narrates everything that happens in real time. In the meanwhile, you’ll have to battle creatures, discover a key, solve a basic puzzle, or just keep going forward to reach your objective.
The majority of the real gameplay, like so many Outright Games products, is predicated on the player’s own drive for completion: there are coins of varied worth that represent nothing, cards to uncover that are beautiful to look at, and Frank’s body parts that have been randomly thrown around. None of this is essential, and it’s just there to keep you interested in the feeling that it’s desirable to strive to earn a good score on each level.
The mushroom spider must be punched! It’s a punch!
Drakhar Studio, who are in charge of this game under Outright Games, performed an excellent job in various aspects. The game’s complexity is achieved via the employment of a range of abilities and control techniques. Drac and Mavis both have the ability to leap, dash, air dash, and bat-transformation-glide, allowing for a variety of situations where exploring seems more fascinating than usual.
Combat involves one button, however combinations are available, and you may be creative by combining dodges and blows to create a brawl effect. Each character also possesses a set of vampire magic spells, ranging from enhanced strength to a radial ground strike to telekinesis, the last of which is only used to solve puzzles. All of these aspects are included into the game to give it the sense of a “big kid” game without any genuine consideration: the radial strike may aid if the monsters ever get overpowering, but it’s largely used to activate panels and go to the next level.
The most difficult challenge is figuring out where to move the one block you need to jump on.
Furthermore, thematically, Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures is much superior than just creating a game based on Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania. Rather of tying itself to the franchise’s shortest and least monster film, we expand the possibilities for future episodes as well as a more flexible framework in general. Fairy tales are recognized, and “monsterfying” them allows for carelessly interjecting of fun and hilarity. For children, there is a sense of belonging, but they also get to experience some spontaneous changes as Drac, Winnie, and Dennis all take liberties with how the tale progresses. The story is the most engaging component of a game with just a few hours of play time (for an adult, at least). As long as Scary-Tale Adventures sells well, I wouldn’t mind if we wanted to extend and publish another collection of bedtime tales.
Having said that, there is a lot about this game that I dislike, and a lot of it stems from Drakhar Studio. Outright Games has this weird formula where they start with Torus Games and then go on to Drakhar for the sequel, which I don’t understand. Torus was in charge of the original Paw Patrol game, whereas Drakhar was in charge of the second, and the first is vastly better for a variety of reasons. Although the original game is likewise 2D, Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay is in 3D, it runs smoother, animates better, and is easier to operate.
Drakhar like working in 3D, and it makes me nauseous every time. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the frame rate, maybe it’s the camera work, but I could only play Scary-Tale Adventures for approximately 15 minutes at a time until I needed to stop. I want and need to give this game a fair shot, but I wanted my kids to play it for a while so papa’s stomach could calm down.
You’ll be OK if you never use a single health supplement.
Aside from motion nausea, Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures constantly reveals its flaws as a game based on something with outstanding CGI and this…less so. We saw frequent drops in graphics quality, which is surprising for such a basic XBox One game. It made no sense to see the characters start to artifice in the midst of a cutscene or while attempting to avoid fireballs, yet it occurred all the time. The load times weren’t too lengthy, but they did take longer than I anticipated. It has a roughness to it that goes beyond the anticipated impact you’d see in a game vs. a movie and into “was this meant for the previous generation?” By the time I got to the second fairy tale, it had gone from obvious to distracting.
I have to give credit to the studio for the quality of the voicework. Because it’s a children’s game, making sure that everyone hears their favorite characters say something throughout is crucial, but I truly wish Dennis would talk less, as he’s the franchise’s worst character. The only legitimate voices they acquired were the new Drac, Winnie, and Dennis, which is intriguing since they talk the most throughout the game. Everyone else is voiced by a fresh person, however they did reuse the majority of the cast from Monsters Overboard, which I enjoy. In the games, Wayne (voiced by Steve Bushemi in the movies) is played by Steve’s brother, Michael. Isn’t it a bit of a stretch?
Because of the aesthetics, Johnny seems to be more terrible than the rest of the animals.
Apart from the visuals and camera flaws, Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures’ biggest flaw is that it has nothing to offer after everything is said and done. If you truly want to be a completionist and obtain high scores on each level or collect all of the monster trade cards, you can do it with little effort and a little extra time. For users on next-gen consoles, the achievement system will provide some kind of reward, but anybody playing on Switch will have little motivation to farm out every single dime. You enter a zone, kick a few nasty guys, break some pumpkins or crates, collect coins, and then leave.
If you fall, die, or are otherwise demolished, Winnie or Dennis will claim that’s not how the narrative ends, and you’ll be respawned a few seconds later. Fantastic for children, absolutely dull for adults, and likely boring for any youngster who has ever played a risk/reward game. This is all reward with no risk, and the result is a very, very bland set of moves. It’s a one-and-done trip unless your family is a Hotel Transylvania enthusiast.
Thanks for reminding me, Winnie; I’ll simply keep acquiring stuff I don’t need.
Still, I believe this has some merit, thus Outright Games should carefully evaluate their next action. If Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures does well enough, it might easily lead to a sequel or sequels in the future, but I suggest they raise up the production quality. Clean up the cameras, give the game a purpose, and who knows, maybe develop a Sin City version with the creatures. We might be on to something special. In the meanwhile, as the sun rises, lock this game away in a coffin. Alternatively, the moon may rise. Or if you want to play something more serious.
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It’s OK, but it’s just too glichy to watch without being irritated. |
Spookies are punching spookies. Obtain coins. Look for a stray leg. Repeat. |
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Most kids won’t realize that Kevin James’ name isn’t on this because of the outstanding voicework. |
Any game in which I have to constantly pause to avoid puking is missing something important. |
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Final Score: 5.0 |
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On PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch, Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures is now available.
On the Xbox One, the game was reviewed.
The publisher donated a copy of Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures.
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Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures is a movie that has been released in 2022. The film was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and stars Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, David Spade and Steve Buscemi. Reference: hotel transylvania: scary-tale adventures 2022.
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