/bought /5-stars /can't believe people complain about in-app add ons. This game is so quality I'd toss them $2 a month for more levels.
I don't mind the iap approach but for the most part I found them to be just more of the same where in this case for me, was sort of disappointing. It needed to begin with the amped up difficulty of the level 10 from the original set. I thought level 7 on the new ones was scratching the surface on a very interesting idea that needed to be explored more and level 9 on the new ones was the sort of level that the iap should have had more of as well. The rest involved no thought which was fine during the initial novelty of the game when it first launched but for me, that novelty wore off on this iap. It just simply needed to be harder.
Yay new levels! Hey what's the name of a sorta similar game that came out recently? I think it has to do with dreams or sleep walking?
Or XCom strategy of releasing a separate app, but that has the con of having two apps installed for similar games...
I love this game so much. It's such a perfect iPhone game. Such a great job by with the design and gameplay. The extra levels are awesome.
Just finished. The new levels are better than the originals. Beautiful visuals and sound as always. I won't spoil it for anyone but at one point my heart dropped a bit, want expecting an emotional response from a puzzle game. 5 stars and well worth the price. Great job ustwo
I just went and updated my original 5 star review. Entirely because of what I read here. I don't think it should be a surprise to anyone that the expansion to a game you finished in an hour, is an hour as well. This game is not hard. It's not long. It really is more of an experience. An interactive wander through an Escher painting, with a compelling minimalist narrative. The $4 - $6, in my opinion, is a great deal for this experience.
I have played just two acts of the expansion so far and my god this game is staggering. I can't help but to marvel of how simple yet complex these levels are. Hell, I don't even want to call them levels, they are pure art. I know I used an oxymoron there but what else could you say? This game is astounding! I love watching the puzzles unravel. I don't care man. If they were to release 8 acts every couple months for a few bucks at a time I WOULD BUY THEM FOREVER! The sheer.... Sheer... I don't even know how to put it! I, a loud mouth schnook, am pretty much wordless with wonder! This game, art, dream... Heck whatever it is, is amazing! What other game could you take a screenshot at anytime and have an awesome desktop picture? Good job guys! Anyone who complains about how many levels or how your charging for more levels is a fool. One of these acts (levels) probably took as long to design as some entire games did! Keep up the great work! You have a fan for life! Glad I took the plunge! Now to buy it on my wife's phone and get her into it
I liked the way the music embellished the story on the 1st level. It made it interesting even though there wasn't really a puzzle to solve. Every action's new position placed you in a different story juncture and the music reflected it so closely that I sorely missed that tight a coupling of action and soundtrack for the entire rest of the game, although there were a few less-closely matched passages. So fine an experience as Monument Valley lends itself to ever-spiraling high standards (monumental, perhaps? ;OP ). Impossibly high, I suppose, but I can't help noting what I liked best. Level 2's reflections were strikingly beautiful in a way that made me miss the effect in other levels. Its mechanic was a lot of fun, though I could see even more interest were it applied to arches and intertwined arcing pathways! Maybe it would even be fun for the camera to follow Ida over-the-shoulder as she walks through a tangle of paths (zooming back out for planning the next move)! I disliked level 3 for several reasons: intrusive, busy soundtrack; unwelcome violence rendered in a way that completely broke immersion; geometry was shown which we I don't think ever got to play; middle section level mechanics and layout felt cluttered with little sense of place or cohesive visual theme, though the final section's unique mechanic was interesting...why not establish its conditions through similarly harmless means? Creativity could avoid its serving as too much of a hint, I'm sure of it. The dark mood I found unnecessary even for the contrast once you regain control, and the color scheme throughout was the weakest in the game by far, IMO. I'll never play this level for the 2nd time, and regret the experience of having played it at all, overall. It was a bad experience for me! Level 4 was brilliant. Like the original's 1st level but more dynamic and clever. I missed the more atmospheric backgrounds and ambience found in other levels, a bit. Level 5 was excellent, a nice didactic with an interesting backdrop. The middle section's lighting effects were hauntingly beautiful. The soundtrack almost but didn't quite measure up, IMO. Level 6 seriously messed with my head. I solved it but without having settled in my head an understanding specifically of quite just exactly how or why, even after completing it, because of the way dimension related to Ida's own orientation specifically in a way other levels don't. It was intriguing, but less satisfying because I couldn't connect with it. I'd be interested in more of the same if you could implement it without the extra-confusing monochrome palette, and I'd appreciate a calmer theme, too. You guys, I can do elegaic yearning, but _not_ harsh, spooky, or dangerous. I don't pay other people to make me feel bad. Level 7 was a lot like my favorite level from the original, The Box, and while I like the central hub idea a whole lot, not transforming the container itself in illogical ways like how The Box starts out left me feeling a bit hollow. But still, it was a great level. Turning it around while Ida's traversing its ins-and-outs looks really nifty! And I really liked the end. Level 8 felt like a marathon, like a straight-up Zelda dungeon, I think mostly because there was so little height in its visual design and such a clear path of control without any indication of that fact beforehand, resulting in a whole lot of backtracking. Mechanically it was great in creative terms, but needed some hint or control blocks to at least indicate what order to go in, and the design needed vertical ambient elements in the composition to provide more of a sense of place and visual interest, IMO (this was another one where level 2's water reflections were sorely missed). Was I supposed to be able to talk to the turbaned ghost in this level? I could never figure out how... I guess not, 'cause he had no speech bubble icon this time, as opposed to the earlier level... I sincerely hope you don't go virtual currency on us just because people who bought your original now think roughly as much new content should be free! Those offering drive-by reviews calling the levels thoughtless obviously put even less thought into their reviews, to say nothing of their own playing of the game: evidently, "gamers" first, human beings second. If you don't think ustwo are capable of wrenchingly difficult puzzle games, you haven't checked their back-catalogue! Monument Valley succeeded by drawing in moderate players, though I agree there's now at least some elbow room for more daring mechanics, with an established audience. Please make games that are pleasant and whimsical and not dark and disturbing, even if you choose to aim for emotional gravitas. That doesn't come from risk, IMO, it comes from support, quiet empathy we felt naturally for Ida originally without being subjected to torment. Taking level 6 further, how about doors or portals which feed into one another and her orientation coming through them determines which set of interactions with the environment she's able to engage, multiple per door in conjunction with alterable terrain as with level 2's mechanic? Overall, I think it was well done, easily still worth the money, but please stop with the dark side. I hope you make more of this kind of game, even if it's not specifically Monument Valley.
I quite enjoyed reading philodygmn's in-depth and very poetic analysis of the new DLC for Monument Valley. I, too, finished the new levels and was left wanting for more. I agreed that the developer showed a lot of restrain to not make the levels too difficult (though I felt that the developer had gone a bit too far to make the game too easy), perhaps so that more players would be able to experience the whole game to reach the ending. There is indeed a story to tell here, and I felt that the developer had made a difficult decision trying to balance the need for the game to be primarily a puzzler and the need for the game to be primarily a storyteller. While the latter was obviously chosen, it is decision that is to be deeply respected.
