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Game Description
Sometimes Always Monsters is a narrative roleplaying life simulator filled with choices.You play a recently married author who joins a cross-country bus tour to promote your next upcoming novel. Along the way, you hear about vicious rumours claiming you're a total fraud.
As you journey through five unique cities, meet fans and critics alike, and make friends with your fellow busmates, it'll be your choices that help unravel the conspiracy laid against you.
Roleplay Creatively as you navigate the life of your character. In addition to countless dialogue choices, you'll decide how you want to live. Whether you like being a diligent workaholic, or prefer the route of a relaxed layabout, the choice is entirely up to you.
Import Save Files from Always Sometimes Monsters to continue your story, no matter how tragic or triumphant your ending may have been. Your entire continuity will be carried over.
Build Relationships with your spouse, friends, and more. Learn how to manage the demands of various social relationships as you maintain a life in the spotlight, and reach for your goals.
Decline Anything you don't want to do. Nearly all of the game's content is optional, including the entirety of the primary narrative. You're truly in control of the story, with a right to refusal.
Mature Content Warning
Always Sometimes Monsters deals with serious stuff, depending on your choices. Including strong language, racist, homophobic, and transphobic language, drug / alcohol use, nudity, violence, and extreme subject matter.
Announcements
Win $250 in the ASM Special Edition Art Contest
Hello Vagabond Artists!In the coming months, Vagabond Dog will begin production on a Special Edition of Always Sometimes Monsters. This physical release is being designed for collectors and fans alik
Season of Pride Event - Build Update #472
From June 9 - June 24, Steam is hosting the Season of Pride event presented by MidBoss which features over 50 LGBTQ+ inclusive games at up to 80% off, along with a bevy of special streaming engagemen
Fake Saves & Soap Suds - Build Update #458
We've had a pretty busy month since the last update...In addition to building and releasing Karen: An Outrage Simulator, we've been cooking up some new content for Dog Gone Golfing, and delivering hi
SAM Development with Vagabond Dog - 4:30 PM EST
Hey gang,We're doing another developer livestream really soon!You can watch it right here, starting at 4:30 PM EST:https://steamcommunity.com/broadcast/watch/76561197970929040Last night's stream was
Still Back At It - Build Update #429
As we said in the last patch, it's probably impossible to reach a truly bugfree state for the game. Just as we finished crushing the list we were given, more reports began to pop up. Considering our
Developer Livestreams through LudoNarraCon
This weekend, Always Sometimes Monsters and Sometimes Always Monsters are being featured as part of the LudoNarraCon digital games convention. It's an event happening here on Steam that celebrates a
'Twas a Dream - Build Update #418
One of the most misunderstood things about ASM's conclusion was its alley finale. The sequences that bookend the start and end of the game. They're contentious in context with the rest of the story a
Sweet Tunes & Tuning - Build Update #421
The official Sometimes Always Monsters soundtrack from LASER DESTROYER TEAM is now on Steam!https://store.steampowered.com/app/1286800/Sometimes_Always_Monsters_Soundtrack/Grab a copy and enjoy a swe
Drunk Burger Haggling - Build Update #434
We had a really interesting weekend with LudoNarraCon and our first experiences doing development livestreams. It was really invigorating to have a bunch of you watch our process making new content,
Quarters and Calls - Build Update #441
This week we felt like working on some more opportunities to hang out with the other authors, as it's one of the elements about the game that's most fun for most players. A new commentary system has
Fans, Fury, & Puzzles - Build Update #447
Wow, this one took way longer than expected. That's the way it goes sometimes, apparently. For a single piece of content, the new fan (Aaron) turned out to require a significant amount of extra testi
ALL CLEAR?! - Build Update #427
It's been a few weeks since Sometimes Always Monsters released, and this is our 10th update to the game. With the over 80 changes below, we've officially updated over 400 ticket items.While a truly b
Character Romance - Build Update #438
So, we're running a sale on both Sometimes Always Monsters and Always Sometimes Monsters for the next few days. This promotion is part of an effort to help the conclusion of the INDIE MEGABOOTH organ
Starlust & Startups - Build Update #470
Aaaannndd.... we're back!It's been a little while since we've written one of these update notices, but rest assured this is a good one. While we've been off releasing The Stonks Market, releasing Alw
Author Outfits & NPCs - Build Update #457
If it's been a little while since your first time through Sometimes Always Monsters, we've got a hot new update that's makes it a great time to re-enter for another tour across the country with your
The Stonks Market is Now Available
How's your portfolio doing?Today we're pleased to release The Stonks Market, right here on Steam. It's a simple trading simulator with a funny story about a rather clueless guy who gets into all kind
6 Month Celebration - SAM/ASM Saga Sale
Wow. The calendar just kind of melted away, huh?It feels like yesterday we were prepping for launch, and now we're officially 6 months past release.To celebrate, SAM is 30% off, and ASM is 70% off un
Always Sometimes Monsters 7th Anniversary Sale
Always Sometimes Monsters turns 7 years old today!To celebrate, we're having a franchise-wide sale. 🥳Get ASM or SAM (and all of their DLCs) 50% off! 👍Limited Time Only!Check it out on Nintendo Swit
Halloween Surprises - Build Update #467
Happy Halloween, everyone!We've got a very special update for those of you who want a little extra spooky with your Monsters.In addition to some fun content that's only available if you play the game
Karen: An Outrage Simulator - Available Now!
Attention gamers,Our new title, Karen: An Outrage Simulator has officially released.It is now available for your gaming pleasure!https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361110Grab a copy and enjoy the th
No. of Reviews: 20
Review 1
Purchased!
I was so excited when Sometimes Always Monsters came out since I loved Always Sometimes Monsters. I think this game was pretty good overall if you don't compare it to ASM however I think ASM had a lot more going on. ASM was a lot more captivating and it felt like the decisions you made in ASM were heavily weighted while the choices in SAM didn't feel like they would make as big of a difference. ASM was amazing from beginning to end while SAM felt like it was a slow build up to the end.
Review 2
Purchased!
I'm pretty bummed out about this game and the lack of engagement in it. It's run extremely slow, at one point I was playing at 28 FPS consistently. I also feel nothing towards any of the characters in the game, ASM was engaging from the beginning. You felt for everyone involved, there were actual risks and a sense of urgency. This unfortunately does not live up to that, even the mystery of your rival is something that ultimately was boring to me. The limits of being on the bus, then slogging through whatever town we were in to maybe do something with someone really turned me off. Maybe after some time, it will be better. I did play ASM on PS4, so it had been out for a minute at that point. I think after some bugs are worked out it might be a little bit more fun, but overall I just... don't care anymore. It doesn't reel me in in the same way and I feel like that is a common thread among these reviews.
Review 3
Purchased!
Absolutely loved the first game, ASM, and replayed it so many times because of how much content there was in that game. I will say that I think the first game is better than SAM. SAM Review: - Storyline: You're on a book tour with other authors, and you're going town to town for each author to present their book at a bookstore. The storyline was still fun and interesting to follow. I enjoyed getting to know the other authors, hanging out with them, and exploring the towns. There were also cutscenes where you would see the other characters interact with each other without you in it. They all even have their own unique events that occur when you select that author to take on your tour. I wish we had more events or cutscenes with the authors to see more of what they were like. - Choices matter: I read another review that the choices and problems you come across in this game aren't as dramatic in ASM, and I agree. I felt a much bigger "choices matter" theme In ASM than in SAM. I remember specific moments in ASM that made me go "uhhh WHAT??" because the game made me face some extreme moral dilemma. I didn't feel that as much in SAM up until the end. Things felt more mellow in this game. - Artwork: The art in this game is sooo much better and more detailed than the first! It is really nice, especially the close-ups of some of the characters. - Side things: They added things like doing laundry, cooking, and going to the gym to be fit. Cooking requires you to buy ingredients in order to cook dishes by the recipe book in the game. I liked cooking the most, but there were some recipes I couldn't make because I have no idea where to get the ingredients?? Also felt like there were way too many recipes lol. It was still cute. Laundry and gym felt like a chore, but it gave me something to do during the in-game days and added to the real life feel of it. - Bugs: This game just released 2 days ago so there are still some bugs to be sorted. It wasn't anything too bad for me; I was still able to play the game. Hoping these get fixed. - Replayability: Just like in ASM, there are so many things left to explore and interact with. Even after replaying ASM 5+ times, I still found new content in each playthrough. In SAM, you pick 4 authors from a pool of 10(?) to come with you on your book tour. Each author carries their own personality, dialogue, cutscenes, and unique events for you to do with them. It seems obvious that replaying the game is encouraged by the devs and want you to select different authors each playthrough. - Ending: The ending really surprised me and was not what I expected. I loved it, even though I think I got a bad ending lol. I liked that it was totally unexpected and gave me the dramatic and suspenseful feel that some choices in ASM gave me. - Biggest complaint: I still very much enjoyed this game, but there was one thing I had a big issue with. So you are on a book tour and expected to write pages of your upcoming book. The game counts how many pages you are writing. I was thinking that I wanted to get a good ending and finish the book, but I had NO IDEA at what point am I supposed to stop writing pages for this book for it to be considered "complete." So I kept grinding out pages for it. Your character (Sam) will say she's too tired to write anymore, but I realized if you keep feeding her, she'll continue writing. I managed to write 201 pages and thought, I think this is good enough for a book. But wow that was TEDIOUS and GRINDY af. I planned on replaying this game multiple times, but I feel like I'm dreading the book writing parts now. - Second biggest complaint: They walk so freaking slow??? I remember feeling so annoyed with the pace of their walking and how much town i wanted to explore lol. There's always the "Unter" (uber) car they offered, but I didn't want to use it in case I needed to save money. - Favorite parts: I love the little things that the devs put in this game, like their Vagabond office being closed because of social distancing (lol felt too real). One thing I thought was HILARIOUS was the "Late Night Special" movie shown at night. ----- Overall, I still like this game a lot and plan on replaying it multiple times!! Thank you to the devs who have been working on this game for so long and for finally releasing it. :D
Review 4
Purchased!
REVIEW UPDATED: 10/04/2020 Oh, how I was looking forward to this. Or perhaps, given that this is my updated review I should note: Oh, how I hoped I was wrong. Sometimes Always Monsters is the anticipated sequel to 2014's indie RPG Always Sometimes Monsters. Always Sometimes Monsters - henceforth, ASM - was one of my favorite indie games of its time, combining a simple hook (it's an RPG where you travel across the country to win back the love of your life!) with some solid writing and genuinely interesting usage of choice branching and continuity. It wasn't perfect but it was really, really good. When it landed, it landed hard. So, when the sequel was announced, I was immediately hooked. And then it entered production hell. For whatever reason, SAM was delayed extensively. Around the time I had accepted it was abandoned to development hell, I found out that a release date had come out of the blue! Well, I figured, I guess miracles do still happen! Unfortunately, the game we've received is just a warning to all developers with big dreams to not let your reach exceed your grasp. First things first, I feel I should credit the SAM team with two things. The energy and dedication with which they've been responding to feedback, both in fixing bugs and adjusting things that were unclear. Secondly, the fact that they attempted to shoot for the stars in the first place - one could say that it's the purpose of art. However, I fear no one during development asked 'is this fun?' SAM has a really impressive scope, and it's probably unprecedented for a game of this type. However, this scope is hamstrung by the fact that very little guidance is offered to the player. It's unfortunate because ASM had a simple hook (reunite with the love of your life) with a simple goal (before the wedding in thirty days) and a simple gameplay loop (acquire funds by making moral or ethical decisions.) Meanwhile, SAM isn't nearly as clear. For most of it, you're travelling on a book tour. For the most part, this book tour consists of wandering from location to location, listening to people talk with very little context to any of it. The player character generally only gets to respond with yes/no/I don't know. In contrast to ASM, we don't even see what the player character says, which erodes a lot of their personality and my personal connection to them. Part of why I found ASM so effective was how I felt as if the protagonist mirrored me - I can't say the same for my time with SAM. The book tour is an interesting premise. Okay, so, you're on it - now what? Well, you spend two days in a given down then one of the other people on your bus gives a reading of their book and then you're back on the bus to go to the next town on the list. You don't get much guidance within these towns. When my SO says they want to get off the bus and do something because they're going stir crazy, I was unable to find something that satisfied them. Other writers on the bus will ask to party up but there's no explanation as to why I should do this - are these characters my friends, will their opinion of me matter? Nothing is explained and I don't know what to expect. This extends to the wider 'rules of the game.' For example, each day appears to be split into two or three periods. If I work on the novel, I know that takes up a big chunk of time - maybe the whole day. But do other things, such as washing clothes or doing the dishes, also take up time? If so, how much? With the novel I need to write before the end of the tour, how many chapters do I need to write to make it complete? Do the fitness and hygiene statistics really mean anything? ASM was really good about this, so, it's very disappointing that SAM is so opaque. In general, the gameplay is tedious and the game itself is short. With seven hours, I've done one full playthrough and two that're approximately half. Most of the time was spent battling with the life sim elements - cooking food, washing clothes, going to the bathroom. I dread to think how the gameplay time would look without those elements. I'm not sure what these elements add to anything and they appear to just be a series of roadbumps to pad the game time out. At the very least, the game should make it much easier to monitor the various statistics that serve to interrupt getting on with the game. I feel like the intent may have been for a bit of tedium. Life's not always exciting, right? Then I'll just point to a quote from T Bone Burnett: "Even if a song is supposed to be bad in a film, it still has to be great. Because if you put bad music in a film, it's just bad -- then the film's bad. You can put good music in a film and say it's bad and the audience will believe it's bad, but it will still be good and they will still be entertained by it, even though they're told it's bad." 'Even if a mechanic is supposed to be boring in a game, it still has to be fun. Because if you put a bad mechanic in a game, it's just bad - then the game's bad.' Perhaps more unfortunate is that SAM's story is threadbare at best. The premise is interesting and the story itself flirts with a lot of interesting ideas, but the story is so short and the telling so thin that none of it is explored to any level that is remotely satisfying. Some of the vignettes that depict interactions between other authors on the tour are pretty good, but they're just cutscenes and have no impact on your interactions with them moving forward. The story feels like it consists of three main beats and a whole lot of filler. However, the new additions do make the story much clearer and more palatable, although it's still not ideal and still is based on the assumption that you're playing Sam as the author. The other characters aren't that interesting and you never develop much of a relationship with any of them. They sit around on the bus until it's time for their one side quest, which you can choose to ignore, and then they go back on the bus. No matter the time of day, there they are, just sitting there. The ending was... Well, it has a very interesting mechanic in it. But getting there feels contrived and some of the ending results feel about the same. For example, an ending where the rival shoots themselves because they're delusional. Even though he dies with the gun in his hand and a pair of witnesses, the protagonist is sent to jail because... Well, we don't know why. It just happens. While the game appears way less buggy than at the time of my original review, I noticed grammatical and spelling errors, such as a remarkably consistent and amateur-level grammatical error during the reading of Ruth's book. The music is good, the updated graphics are wonderful - although some of the portraits feel like they have scale issues. Heads too big for bodies, limbs too long or too thin. My particular character's portrait bothered me if only because he seemed to go from a surly Latino in ASM to a boy-ish white guy in SAM. All the other portraits basically match perfectly, though. All in all, it's just very disappointing. I have a clearer picture of the game now but all it's really done is make it clearer the actual problems with it. I still can't recommend SAM as it stands, although this version of the review is technically less of a 'not recommend' than the other. SAM needed more depth and less breadth. It stands as a warning to complexity over simplicity. It needed someone standing over the shoulders of the developers and asking 'Is this fun? Is this interesting? Does this make sense?' And, perhaps most of all, 'Is this worth asking $30 for?'
Review 5
Purchased!
Sometimes Always Monsters (SAM) is an interesting game and one I would recommend to anyone who has played Always Sometimes Monsters (ASM). It is simultaneously a reflection of ASM and a counter to it in everything except basic premise: they are both journeys across a country. Long story short: S'a good little game. I liked it! Spoilers will be flowing freely from this point forward. The good in SAM is easy. The art style is charming and the new sprite work is honestly gorgeous and I wish more games would go into an aesthetic like this. The sprite animations are top-notch when they show up. The character writing is phenomenal - they all feel like different people. Some of them I hate, some of them I love. The story writing is largely at a young adult level with a focus on tongue-in-cheek parody and an airy, fun sense of humor. In one of my favorite encounters, you can also tell a blonde conservative lady (who looks like Sarah Pallin) in a library to go f*ck herself and say 'do svidaniya' to her holding back the revolution of non-hetero love novels and also weird guys in Seqouia who want to supplant the firearms industry by making their own ammo. Godspeed, brothers. The ending alone was worth the price of admission. Seeing Sam again and seeing how your choices in ASM pushed them into a total mental breakdown in SAM was a phenomenal final act to a game largely devoid of tension and riding on routines and comfort. If ASM was "cause," then SAM is "effect" and in that silly little printer room with that typewriter and gun it felt somehow remarkably a lot like ASM in every positive way. The feelings of panic and dread I had before that point while refusing to read Sam's (I see what you did there, VD! SAM? Sam? Clever!) teleprompter and book were top notch as well. You spend so much of the game in relative comfort that it comes out of nowhere - even if you play stupidly like me and get stabbed and mauled by a werewolf in the same playthrough. The "bad" in SAM is... difficult to place. This game is constantly improving as they pepper things in but as of this review I do feel that the protagonist "speaking" less was detrimental to the game at large. It felt like they had less personality despite a few moments where I had an experimental feature on where it had some more of those internal thought processes. They stood out like a sore thumb simply because they were great and I wished for more of them. Similarly, the Spouse often felt somewhat stiff and as a happy little lesbian lady I wanted to talk to my wife all the time, which often led to repetitive text as most of the conversation was contextual. One of my favorite moments - in Gator Bay - was another post-launch addition and it was one of my favorite parts of the game. You got a better image of your Spouse and what they wanted as opposed to an almost antagonistic role that they seemed to take by being a little prickly as an individual. I also feel like the "good" ending where you end up with your Spouse in the post-credits back in domestic bliss could have used an achievement or prompt to help indicate that this was an endless scenario, as I simply felt lost. While I could put this up to "working as intended" given the clear and present impression from the narrative that "yes, the adventure is over. Boring stuff has resumed" as a game it felt a little sudden and jarring when I had just stared down the barrel of a gun. I'm not much of a replay junky myself (it took me roughly the entire development cycle of SAM to play ASM for a second time) so some of the cities felt a little less filled with life as those you pick in the book tour dictate your "random" activity load for those cities. As I almost exclusively frontloaded mine, the last town in particular felt like I had nothing to do - but I am hesitant to call this a negative as this game is built and designed to be replayed. Another point for some may be that you "need" far less things and it clearly seeks to somewhat emulate a comfortable routine despite primarily taking place in a tour bus with a bunch of strangers. It's nice, although it may be too Sims-like for anyone who has an irrational fear of games needing features. While I may never relate to the life of my ASM/SAM protagonist as I left her in financial comfort and prize-winning novels being cranked out like candy corn I did very much enjoy the journey. In an altogether different way SAM affirms the message of ASM: love is worth it. Love is work, love can have a cost, but if it's truly reciprocated then you'll figure it out. In my ending, Sam lived (as a fugitive, obviously) but so did everyone else. Death was harder to come by in SAM and I think that was intentional. Personal experience colored the game in an interesting way as my character sat in her cute house with her cute wife and her 10 chickadees scattered around the living room floor and I realized that with allowing me to type what Sam did at the end, the game also let me decide what it was about. Revenge? Love? Going bonobo-bonkers at your ex and your ex-bff? For me the answer was as simple as a single word: reset. Truth be told, that may be why I never replay the game. Forgiveness seems like a great note to end on. And I'm sure my story is nowhere near identical to anyone else's. So that's exactly why I recommend this game.
Review 6
Purchased!
Content Warning: sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and general human trash behavior Important Note: This is a direct sequel to Always Sometimes Monsters. Without having played that first, you won’t understand any of the context of Sometimes Always Monsters. This game is very different from the first one. In ASM, the player could accomplish things in different ways and affect the outcome of events. However, in SAM, the story is very linear and the choices you make don’t impact the outcomes much. I’m not going to lie, that’s disappointing, but I still found the game fun and entertaining. The protagonist goes on a book tour to promote their newest book (which they’re still writing) along with other authors. Drama ensues. Weird sh*t ensues. The ending is what can be influenced the most out of the player’s choices. Info • You don’t need your ASM save file for story continuation, as there’s a questionnaire to answer about what happened in the previous game. Actually, I find it more interesting to answer questions differently in the questionnaire to experience other things in SAM. • Mini-games aren’t necessary to advance the story. However, there are two achievements related to doing certain things with mini-games. Praises • Meaningful, interesting dialogue between the author characters. • Encourages empathy through the discussion of other POVs. • Demonstrates the struggles of artists in general, not just writers. • The player can choose for the protagonist and/or their wife to be transgender. • Excellent racial diversity and narratives on racism/xenophobia. • Mockery of homophobia throughout the game. • Crude, outlandish humor. • You can save/adopt a stray dog. All dogs in the game can be petted. • DLC allows the player to change the author characters’ clothes on their portraits and sprites. My favorite is the sakura outfit for Yasi; so cute. Complaints • Controller issues. I used a PS4 controller and sometimes – usually during mini-games – it could become unresponsive. (Reported to dev. Dev said they’d fix it.) • Item inconsistencies. Sometimes items will randomly disappear from inventory. Sometimes the dialogue suggests something was taken from the inventory, but it’ll still be there after. • Scripting issues. (But they’re working on that according to the dev’s Discord.) • Dialogue about cops suggests they’re trustworthy. I know this story probably takes place in Canada (as the devs are Canadian), but here in the US, you don’t call the cops unless it is dire, because our cops don’t know how to not be fascist a$$holes. If you call the cops on a black person, they are very likely to be brutalized or even killed. So, uh, no, f*ck the police. ACAB. • One of the author characters wrote about the killing of a capybara. Not cool, man. Capybaras are the greatest rodents on the planet. The author character should’ve wrote about her character befriending the capybara as an animal companion or some sh*t. Y u do dis? • Several typos. It's not as good as the first game, but I still liked it. I recommend it to those who enjoyed ASM, but can handle this game not being a duplication of that gameplay.
Review 7
Purchased!
Like a lot of people who thumbs downed this game, I do feel it's a very different experience from ASM. However, I don't feel that that's a bad thing. It's a lot more open-ended, and a little bit more of a slice of life than the romantic drama that ASM was. Really though, SAM is what you want it to be, to some extent. Do I think SAM should have been more like ASM? No, it's a different tone. And the other way wouldn't work either as you had a more singular goal. Highly recommend, but play ASM first if you haven't, and I can't wait to see what Vagabond Studios does next. Hopefully it won't take four years to find out!
Review 8
Purchased!
(Edit: they've been updating like crazy so my review may no longer hold any merit,) TL;DR : a good game mired with terrible choices and mechanics Like most of the negative reviews here most of us love ASM, mostly for its deep characters and situations not for its “survivability”, so it made me wonder who really asked for mechanics that would make the Sims slightly jealous. In ASM all you had to worry about was eating and sleeping simple enough mechanic that made the game interesting, in SAM not only do you have to eat (along with an plethora of cooking recipes that no one asked for nor has a place on a BUS TOUR) you now have to worry about, taking showers; which is never really explained how to do outside of your home (apparently you have to go to the gym to do it), washing your own clothes and making sure you have enough and even taking the time to POOP…. (WHY IS THAT EVEN A THING?) not only that but now just about everything even cooking causes time to pass and unless you KNOW what you’re doing you’re going to skip events, which is a terrible way to influence multiple play through . All they had to do was tell a story of the aftermath of ASM, not sure who looked at this and said “this is fun” Response to Developer cleaning feels mandatory. because last time I couldn’t write anything because everything was so messy, cooking feels mandatory. because after the two plates of leftovers my character still complained that there were hungry when writing or going to sleep (and it seems cooked food gave better "fullness" for my character idk really, for all I know the fucking lobster dinner could be the same as an goddamn PB sandwich) and if showering isn't that big of a deal why even put a system for it? not trying to be detective Ricky over here but if you have a counter that says "how many dogs have been petted" on their save people are going to wonder why that's there and try filling that counter truth be told, if it is all just for roleplaying purposes time should never be a factor. It seems odd that I lose a fraction of my day cleaning my clothes if its just "optional for roleplay", which means I have to RP as an Filthy Freddy to make the most out of my time. if I want to see most of the events for my current "life" and if you wanted players to get out of the room a simple line of text would have worked instead of not wasting RL time (as fractionated as it is) going to the bathroom even when no events are happening (it's only really an issue because of everything else that slows down the pacing) Look, anyone can see you guys are listening and trying to shoot out multiple patches one after another. Which is good on you, it truly is but good gravy there's just so much (I don't know the right word for it but here goes) "artificial game lengtheners" or items that seem serve no real purpose or (such as the sex items, still don't know why there's 6+ kinds of comdoms), hopefully I'll play this again once the patching is all done and its the true successor that ASM deserves, until then I wish you guys the best of luck
Review 9
Purchased!
It's a mixed review but it's just weighing on the positive side. I've played ASM countless times since 2014 and was so excited for SAM's 2020 release. I imported my save file over. Took me a few attempts because Everytime I imported Savefile02 it would come up with an old playthrough with a different character, despite me saving the one I had just played in that slot. I managed to get it working by saving my latest playthrough in Savefile03 which I guess I hadn't used before. I paid off Sam's debt without handing over the journal in ASM and won my ex back. The game started off well, I liked the mechanics of being able to cook and exercise and do laundry. I was a bit disappointed later in game when I realised I'd got shredded and spent hundreds of dollars getting my clothes clean for it to not have a deeper purpose other than a stat. I enjoyed the first town the most, I spent the most time outside and it felt the most fleshed out, but that might have been because I got the prompts for what to do. Really enjoyed the dnd part. Would have liked more involvement but I understand those bits would be restricted in what they could do. A few bugs I noted. My wife came with me on the trip. I've only done one playthrough so far so I don't know if it's an option no to have your spouse come. I was on the bus and gave her a call and she acted as though she wasn't on the trip with me. I felt lost for most of the rest of the game, spent most of the time in cities writing, ate leftovers, didn't spend any money unless I had to. *Spoilers below* The story felt a bit... off. Playing as my ASM character and knowing that the book was legitimately mine I was confused why Sam in SAM was so fixated on saying that I had stolen the book from her. I got that it was a revenge plot but I felt it could have been fleshed out to fit with the plot of the legitimate author character. I get VD's premise that the legitimate author wasn't entirely innocent but it didn't feel like SAM stayed completely true to the actual guilt of ASM's MC. When it got to the ending I ended up exiting the game in the second book launch. During the kidnapping scene, Sam had shot my wife and herself. Obviously shocked, I went over to my wife to find she was perfectly fine and we walked out together. The police immediately arrested me, despite Sam holding the gun that shot her without my fingerprints on it and my Wife's protest that I was innocent. Then came the second book launch where I was told that I was in jail, I wasn't the legitimate author, Sam was releasing the book and she was alive and that my wife was dead. I figured that had to be a bug. Considering it's the ending to the game, I figured it was too big to continue without getting too frustrated to try a second playthrough. Seeing as I was in jail and a fraud and I had murdered my ex wife (despite walking out with her) I just noped out. Maybe I'll try another playthrough when there are some guides on how to get the good ending (if there is one) but until then I think I'll leave it at not knowing what happened in my own ending.
Review 10
Purchased!
I don't understand why this game gets mixed reviews. The most unrealistic part of this game was having 5 friends.
Review 11
Purchased!
Will write a full review after playing it through a second time, but so far: The game does not hold your hand. They say this at the very beginning of the game, you've been warned. Everything is up to you as to what you decide to do with your time, and there opportunities based on your decisions. It isn't easy for first-timers or those who want the exact ASM experience. The story still has that same spirit as ASM. No spoilers for this first review, but as an extension of ASM, now you define what a story is about. What is SAM's story about? What is YOUR story? Just like in ASM, the decisions, the choices are all yours to define it. As for the game-play that changed with the new title, it's different. It is a different song and dance, but still the same party. Time cycles, body needs food and other things to keep working, and managing your daily routine is very much present in both games despite being tweaked to fit the narrative structure of SAM. There are still bugs, and the team is working them out. I am very patient about this and worked around what I could. Some of the bugs affected some dialogue/choices but never the major ones, so on my next play-through hopefully more bugs will have been managed and certain things fixed. None of them truly broke my game. That about covers my review after my first completion!
Review 12
Purchased!
Thumbs Up Up (Heck Yes!)| Thumbs Up (Yes) | I guess (Okay) | Thumbs Down (Nope)| Thumbs Down Down (No.)| SUMMARY Sometimes Always Monsters (SAM) is the sequel to Always Sometimes Monsters (ASM) where you continue the story from the perspective of either Sam or your previous protagonist. This time, instead of chasing after your old love, you are going on a bus tour (or not) and defending your recently published book from accusations of plagiarism (or not). THE GOOD: - Choices, choices choices . There are more than just a handful of choices in SAM. If we’re having the discussion of ‘do choices in the game actually change the events of the game’ the answer is an enthusiastic yes! Every day you pick what you eat, when you do activities, which activities you do, as well as more substantial choices that change the way you experience the game. For example, remember that bus tour from the summary? You don’t actually have to go on that, even though it is the main plot of the game. You can still play that game staying home with your spouse. This opt-in experience applies to most plot points and character interactions, which means you can really tailor how you play to a specific character. - Because of the expansive choices there is significant role-playing and characterization value. Is your character a jerk, a nice person, tough, sweet, gambler, alcoholic, fighting-pro, dream-chaser, realist, hard-worker, pragmatic, romantic, or a host of other characteristics, well then incorporate that into your gameplay, not just through pop-up once dialogue choices, but also through the activities you choose. - Your spouse. I was a little worried that your spouse would play an insignificant role in SAM, but, like most parts of this game, their role had great diversity depending on how you wanted to play. I wanted my spouse by my side, so they joined me on the bus tour, although they were also willing to stay home should that be what I chose. You can also call your spouse if you leave them behind at the house. Some of the interactions with your spouse are really sweet if you do take them with you on your tour. You can talk about your ideal future, as well as the more difficult parts of happily ever after (like how are we going to afford out lifestyle? What does it mean if your creative spouse is successful? Is there any such thing as a safe career?) and more. - Your friends and fellow writers. It was great to see old friends (and foes) from ASM return in SAM. The new characters introduced, like your fellow writers, also have strong and diverse personalities that clash and click in unexpected ways. It’s worth taking them out on the town with you to experience their individual and specific reactions to certain events. Your fellow writers also have events that they will invite you on, where you can see their growth as characters during the tour. - The other writers have lives. Thank goodness for this point. The writers on tour aren’t just sitting on the bus hoping that your character will care about them this day (even though it might look like this at first). Instead, they go out with each other, making friends or having less-friendly interactions with other writers, as well as experiencing parts of the tour without your character. This means that every playthrough you might see different scenes depending on who you bring on tour, and that the characters feel more real because they aren’t just made for your entertainment. - The art is gorgeous. - You can pet dogs! Enough said. - Optional choices: it’s worth mentioning that the option to make choices is something you might not always be in the mood for. Don’t want to go the grocery store again to pick out ingredients for a meal that you have to cook? Just enjoy some of the leftovers from the fridge and save yourself a trip. There are choices that don’t have to be made, so keep that in mind, especially if you're getting overwhelmed. - You can get hit by cars. Again, another way to make the world fill a bit more functional beyond holding your character. - Updates. Since the initial release of SAM in 2020, the game still receives frequent updates adding gameplay and fixing bugs. Every bit of love the devs still send this game is deeply appreciated as they continue to fill out this already expansive world. - ASM port matters. If you’re considering picking up SAM, you don’t have to play ASM, but this process might be a little more worthwhile if you do. I ran into characters that I met in ASM, and had the opportunity to see how choices from that game continue to play out over the course of this game. THE NOT-SO-GOOD: - Choices choices choices: You know how when you’re scrolling through Netflix looking for something to watch, but there’s just too much there and you don’t even know where to start so you end up watching nothing? Sometimes SAM feels similarly too-expansive. When everything seems to be a choice, how can I tell what is and isn’t important? What are the limitations of this game? A little more guidance, like a guide created by the developer, to just give an idea of the scope of activities would be helpful (and yes, there is a guide-like deal on the 'guides' menu on Steam but it’s outdated and not super helpful currently. This also came up when spending time with my spouse. Despite going to the movies together and gym classes (and also taking them to various activities that they would immediately opt-out of for some reason) they said that we weren’t spending time together. I was unsure if this was because of a scripting issue, or if I just wasn’t taking them to the right activities. I wish elements like those would be a bit clearer. - Laundry and hygiene systems are frustrating. $55 for a shower? Why isn’t there a shower on the bus? Considering the visceral reaction of other characters if you stink, I wish there was an opt-out option for these elements like there was with cooking. It was more time-consuming than it was fun, and being stuck on the bus without the possibility to shower for days was not fun. - One playthrough was enough. Despite the replayability offered by the multitude of choices and characters, because I didn’t get a good sense of what activities could change once I finished my first playthrough I pretty much uninstalled the game once I finished playing. - Ending was frustrating. There must be more endings than the one I had, but I didn’t understand why I received the ending I did or why I could keep playing after that point without really interacting with anyone or anything. I think this is an open ending for a DLC or maybe the next game in the series, but I just wish that point would have been a bit clearer or/and the ending offered more closure. SUGGESTIONS FOR NEW PLAYERS: - Go look at the discussion boards to help you figure out what choices there. Scrolling through after my first playthrough showed that there were way more choices than I came across. - Read the guide under the ‘guides’ section that gives you an idea of what you could do on any given day. - Play ASM first! WISHLIST: - A full guide to help understand the choices and activities available. - A reminder about how long your book needs to be by the end of the tour after the initial explanation. CONCLUDING POINTS: Give it a try! It was fun, frustrating in both good and not-so-good ways, and there is something there for everyone. If you’re feeling unsure, buy it on sale with ASM. The two games are quite different, but both worth a buy.
Review 13
Purchased!
Check out the full video review: https://youtu.be/V4yLLkQWSSk The sequel titled Sometimes always monsters takes place some time after the events of the first game. You've the love of your life by your side and a best-seller in the charts. You're put on a book tour with a selection of other writers.. You select a number of authors and/or your spouse if you want and set out across the country. The main threat comes from the emergence of rumours that you're a plagiarist and that you've not written any of the book you're supposedly become famous for. You've to complete your new book, combat the rumours and live your life over five different cities. The main selling point of Sometimes always monsters is the ability to import your save game from the first game. Apparently there are a huge number of markers carried over into this game and the sequel will seek to expound on most of them. This will also lead to unique encounters with characters you've met and interactions you've had being mentioned and commented on. Style-wise the sequel doesn't differ vastly from the Always sometimes monsters. While the graphics have improved and the interface has been tweaked a wee bit, the game still looks and plays the same. It is still made in RPG maker after all. Not that this is a bad thing, I'm firmly in the "Ain't broke don't fix it" camp. What I do have issues with is the game structure itself, in that there isn't any. The game right off the bat brings up a screen announcing that there'll be no hand holding whatsoever in this game. Your choices and actions will determine what experience you have and nothing else. Your (as was indeed my) impression of this is to mean that the game will not guide you through any of the moral dilemmas that it's sure to throw at you. You make your choices and deal with the fallout. That's it. Which is brilliant. Unfortunately what that also means is the game does not tell you ANYTHING at all. From city to city you're just dropped off and left to it until the time to do the book reading. While this might make sense in a game that packed full of stuff to do and numerous people to do it with, in Sometimes always monsters, there's almost nothing. For all the obvious effort gone into making each of the cities as distinct from each other, all bar one are virtual clones. They all have the same gyms, the same coffee shops, the same markets, the same drugstores, etc. While this may be a subtle comment on the soulless cookie cutter society we live in, it's very obviously a just a copy/paste technique to save the devs time. In looking for stuff to do and people to do it with, you're out of luck here. The authors you take with you have virtually no interactions with you outside of the one event you get to do with them and then, that's it, they do their book reading and then they just sit on the bus watching TV. It's impossible to form any sort of bond with them. Also why do I have to do anything with them? Are they friends? Will there be any negative connotations for pissing them off or ignoring them? This is a game series where "all choices matter" after all. You also have to maintain your writing output as well. However, unlike the first game, the writing sections take up chunks of your day rather than being done at the end of every day. So you've a choice between locking yourself away in the back cabin (given to you specifically because you've nothing written for the tour) and ignoring what little content does happen or trying to wring as much out of this game as possible and giving the novel writing a back seat. Seen as how you suffered so greatly in the first game due to your non-delivery of material, I prioritised the writing sections over the exploration. Go watch a movie, work out, take a shower, do a class, none of it was of any interest to me and reminded me hugely of the tedious work sections from the first game, so I avoided them wherever I could. During each visit you can pick up one of your fellow authors to do a specific event with them and, to give credit, they're the most interesting parts of the game. Actually, they're the ONLY interesting parts of the game. From going clubbing, to buying scalped tickets for a gig, to joining in on one of the most awkward D&D plays I've ever seen these events brought some light and background to the characters you've chosen to go on this trip with you. Too bad that after each one, it's just dropped and nothing more is mentioned about it all. I should also point out that the authors themselves each have little vignettes with each other, and again, while these are interesting and at times quite funny, they're dropped immediately with no further mention of them. Each two day stint ends with a book reading in the local bookstore. Which, again, you can skip if you want. I'd recommend not though, not because they're mind-blowing pieces of narrative exposition or anything, it's just they're one of the few interesting things you'll have to do on the tour and skipping them seems a little pointless. They're good scenes, but there's absolutely not enough in them to warrant the build-up they get at the end of each city. The same goes for taking your partner along with you. They serve no purpose other than to deliver some cringe-worthy sex lines and talk about themselves. Outside of the final scene they add nothing to the tour experience, which is roughly 95% of the game. I suppose what really annoyed me about Sometimes always monsters is the pointlessness of everything. The prequel has established a world in which you should expect all actions have repercussions. While it didn't exactly succeed in that a lot of the time, it did try and when it clicked, it really worked. Here, they've not even bothered attempting to connect any of the scenes at all. This is personified with the inclusion of a whole raft of "life-sim" elements. You've to get dressed each day, wash up, go to the bathroom, eat, wash dishes, etc. There's a stunning amount of counters for your actions in game from hygiene levels to amount of dogs petted. And none of it matters. Literally none of it. It doesn't serve to flesh out the story, it won't alter any character interaction with you unless you get to the extreme end of self-neglect. And even then it's just a few lines of dialogue. It begs the question: when none of this matters, why include it in the game? It's just pointless filler. While the central objective is clear, not much else around it is. How much do I have to write to finish the book? 100 pages? 200? You can't end the book at any stage until you're prompted with the ability to say that the book is finished in the final city. The entire rumour premise is completely wasted, I was expecting a constant mechanic where I'd be challenged at every book reading and have my answers thrown back at me. But nope, the rumours are mentioned a grand total of about four times and, much like everything else in this game, don't matter. It also suffers from the same lack of dissonance between the game content itself and the ending. It's one of the most deflating feelings to pore over loads of the choices you make, consider the effects those choices will have only to have them tossed out the window at the end. In the first game the ending you got was solely decided by whether or not you won back your love regardless of how realistic a prospect that was, here the ending of the game is solely decided by .......what two words you type in. I won't go into detail about the ending sequence only that it didn't fit the game flow at all and felt so incredibly rushed and threadbare. It's actually a bit ironic that this game should end up with an ending that seems so rushed when the rest of the game has a glacial pace to it and is bloated out to the gills with pointless filler. Sometimes always monsters was designed to be the antithesis of the first game. Get the first game, try the second at your peril.
Review 14
Purchased!
Story is kind of meh. There's not a whole lot to do between some story events and not much point in doing much of anything you're not really given much direction and I ended up spending most of the time writing more of my novel which is just pick a title for chapter then skip ahead time. A sequel could have been done far better but it's so hard to get through this game cause it just feels like a chore to play with and there's not much interesting in the game. it lacks a lot of anything like story, gameplay, substance. It's painful to play through because it just doesn't give you reason to keep playing. The original game had far more to it while this one just is meh.
Review 15
Purchased!
A laundry and cooking simulator. It demands nothing of the player.
Review 16
Purchased!
A SUBTLE GENIUS OF SOMETIMES ALWAYS MONSTERS - THE MISUNDERSTOOD MASTERPIECE Just as seemingly everyone who played this game, I am a huge fan of Always Sometimes Monsters, the title that ranks among my the most favorite games I have ever played. What made ASM so exceptional was the value it brought to the player – not just an entertainment, not just “mere” art, ASM was a life perspective altering experience. In a search for humanity in a society oppressed by capitalism, player had to navigate his life, making selfish bad decisions since he literally couldn’t afford making good ones, facing their outcomes and finding parallels with his own life. SAM was initially promoted as an antithesis to the original – a game where you reached what is generally considered “the success” – being financially secured, having stable relationship, being well-known and appreciated for your work. In this setting, you embark on quite a different journey – a one without an obstacle, a threat of any kind. One that does come as boring and hollow. Yet that is the point people seem to miss. You do not have to worry about much, everything is taken care of for you. You do not have to worry about being hungry – the fridge is always filled; you can overstuff yourself all you want and never run out of food. Your account is stacked – you can indulge yourself in opulence and likely never going broke. It does not matter whether you grant a homeless person a dollar or two or ten. Nothing is at stake for you, you made it in life, go shoot bazooka, drink ridiculously named coffee, pay for overpriced trainees teaching you dubious exercises. In SAM you are forced into frivolous lifestyle that inevitably comes as hollow, devoid of value and yes, boring. Note that in SAM there are basically no choices – all choices have been made for you Your only obligation is to follow the contract, write a sequel to a successful book that led to this lifestyle. For you protagonist the creative work, that was presumably his passion, has turned into choir. Protagonist often mentions he does not want to write right now. Yet you feel forced to make him. Chained by the publisher, you feel commitment to finish the book that everyone expects from you. I do not think SAM is a boring game, I would say it is a game about boredom. It questions lavish lifestyle that is promoted as something everyone should want, at least in western capitalistic society. It reminded me of a movie I really like – Somewhere by Sophia Coppola – that deals with similar themes. ASM may have been better whatever that means, but I enjoyed SAM nonetheless. It is created by people with similar brain chemistry as I do. Both games strongly resonated with me and I am aware that that may not be an experience everyone playing ASM/SAM will have. Still, huge thanks to the developers for creating this game, for giving me sleepless nights not just playing but also pondering over the games and for being awesome people as I have understood from their public presence. And kudos to Laser Destroyer Team, ASM soundtrack still blasts in my headphones on a regular basis.
Review 17
Purchased!
quite boring compared to the ASM i will update after finishing the game but for now its less fun and feels quite expensive UPDATE:I don't think i ever will finish this game its just too boring. for the first 2 days i bought I played it just because i paid for it. but now i dont think i will ever even run this game no more. gameplay is just too boring and repetitive.
Review 18
Purchased!
Currently, I have to say it's at a "Meh." My ASM save file is on a computer I don't have access to anymore, and as this game doesn't have cloud saves (or at least, mine was saved prior to cloud saving existing, I'm not sure.) Which means that I'll have to go through and replay ASM to have a save file relevant to what my story was in ASM (of which the creators could've just had a questionaire beforehand to give you a chance to correct those choices, or at least assume them on your part.) The reason I can't recommend it now, especially to anyone who has played the prior game but doesn't have access to your save, is because the game then forces you to play as Sam, which has put me in an incredible disconnect from my own in-game character as I would rather watch Sam fail more than I would put the effort into making the character succeed. I don't know who thought making you play as your ex-best friend who married your college sweetheart, plagarized your work, and left you on the streets to die as a default was a good idea, but it wasn't a smart one, I'll say that much. But, at least I can make Sam play in traffic.
Review 19
Purchased!
tl;dr: SAM, like ASM before it, is an experience more than it is a game. If you don't like "games as art" or experiences that leave you feeling bummed out, you won't like this. On the other hand, if you are like me and live for that s***, this is a Good One. Full: Yes, there are bugs. BUT. The devs are extremely responsive (seriously, I joined their Discord and got help very quickly), and they have already released several patches. Would I recommend the game? Yes, if you played Always Sometimes Monsters, especially if you have your save (check cloud backups, mine was there). Possibly yes if you never played ASM -- I honestly can't say whether it would be a satisfying experience if wasn't building on my ASM playthrough, and would recommend anyone new to the series start there. I would also recommend that you wait to play it for another few days or a week or so, while they finish taking care of the patches, unless helping with bug reports is something you enjoy (for me, it is). I used an ASM import, and due to the state of my ending world I am not playing as my ASM protagonist in SAM. I honestly find it super interesting and good that my deliberate choices to "fail" (by some definitions) in ASM mean I'm now playing as someone my psyche has been primed to dislike. It's a weird feeling and not something I would have chosen for myself if I'd known that would be the consequence, and that's a cool experience. It fits with the themes of the game. I do think a "choose the state of your world" intro would be useful for people who didn't play ASM, lost their saves of ASM, or who want to try something else. It's something the devs have thought about and may release after they finish patches (and take a break!) Something else: when I first played ASM, I didn't think I liked it. Yet, nearly six years later I've never stopped thinking about it, and as soon as I saw SAM was released I immediately wanted to get back to the world. This is not a game that will make you happy. You might not "enjoy" it in the sense of getting that jolt of dopamine many games provide. But I, at least, appreciate the experience it's giving me, and that ASM gave me. Like ASM, parts of it are tedious, and you will not be externally validated for completing them. Remember loading all those boxes is ASM? No one thanked you. That's by design and it's part of what makes ASM/SAM so interesting and memorable. You chose to do it. Are you satisfied? If not, why not? Why are you doing it? Why are you still playing, still thinking about it? These are questions to ask yourself, but also to ask of the main character. Why are you doing this? I think that might be the whole point.
Review 20
Purchased!
ASM felt tight and exciting and SAM feels bloated and empty. I really tried to find the stories spread throughout the game. If I found them all it wasn't near enough and if I didn't then they shouldn't have been so damned hard to find. It felt long and empty and bad and broken and I'm seriously disappointed. Vagabond Dog has done better and can do better. I don't even think they should fix this game. I think they should abandon the sinking ship and just make another good game.
