May Game of the Month Club ft. I Have No Mouth, South of Midnight, and Boomerang

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Board 8 » May Game of the Month Club ft. I Have No Mouth, South of Midnight, and Boomerang
KCF0107
05/01/2025
04:19 PM
#1
Mays Games:
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (PC, XSX, PS5, Switch, XB1, PS4)
South of Midnight (PC, XSX)
Boomerang X (PC, Switch)

April-Junes Games:
Tales of Berseria (PC, PS4, PS3)
CrossCode (PC, XSX, PS5, XB1, PS4, Switch)

What is Game of the Month Club?
Game of the Month is a community project open to all B8ers where users share, discover, play and/or discuss a select few games every month. The games featured each month are chosen by YOU the users (and Lady Luck)

The Basics
- Each month will usually feature three games that were chosen via a random drawing from a pool of games that users nominated
- For each game you beat, you get a cool point on our just-for-fun standings as well as a nomination for next month's randomized drawing
- In order to receive the point and nomination, you must beat said game within the calendar month
- If you beat one of the current month's games in the previous month, you can apply for a "recently beaten waiver," but you will only receive a point and no nomination should you do so
- Drawing for next month's games is usually on the 25th
- If you periodically keep us posted on your progress and/or talk about different aspects of the games, then everyone will obviously think you are super awesome!

Nomination Rules
- You get one nomination automatically each month
- You receive additional nominations each month for every featured game that you beat
- Each game you nominate has to be unique from all other nominations and cannot include a game that has already been selected for GotM
- Each game must be a standalone game that can be acquired and played on its own (aka cannot be DLC/expansion that requires the base game)
- Nominations only carry over if you beat a featured game after the drawing for next month's games but before the end of the month
- You also have the option of supporting 1 game each month. Your only limitation is that you can't support your own nomination
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/01/2025
04:20 PM
#2
Just-for-Fun Top 10 Standings
KCF - 205
ArkOfTurus - 129
gameking - 116
Mr Crispy - 115
Cody - 75
Lolo Guru - 71
Seanchan - 59
KnightOfNee - 35
ViolentAbacus - 35
Kenri - 34

Spreadsheet with history
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X8E8oqzES42W4S82j7WTfNnzNa8c3uXdSE1rnqYG7WM/edit?usp=sharing

Additional noms this month
Cody - 1
Crispy - 1
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/01/2025
04:22 PM
#3
I Have No Mouth is on sale for $2.70 USD on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/245390/I_Have_No_Mouth_and_I_Must_Scream/

South of Midnight is on Game Pass for PC and Console
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/02/2025
02:30 AM
#4
KCF has beaten Boomerang X

Great arena shooter that doesn't overstay its welcome and offers a lot of aesthetic and functional variety in its 13 arenas. Switch performance was great, but if I had to do it over, I would have gotten it on PC as this would have been phenomenal with keyboard and mouse to string some even more sick aerial and attack combos.

It's too bad that this was the only game from the five-member New York developer Dang!. They made a great one at least.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/03/2025
05:44 AM
#5
I haven't gotten far in South of Midnight (I think that I'm on chapter 2), and while everything I have experienced so far is purely narrative or a platforming set piece, I'm really digging the stop-motion animation combined with whatever kind of paint style that is for the art. I'm just hoping that once the gameplay sets in, it is solid enough to do the rest justice.

I've also been doing more of CrossCode. As I have now reached Chapter 4, that means that I have surpassed all of my previous six or seven attempts that I made from 2018-2020. The game was really kicking my ass in the mountains with the snowmen really messing me up. I decided to leave and do a bunch of quests, and somewhere in this process I re-discovered the circuit menu, and I placed nearly all of my CP on attack and defense. Boy do I feel dumb about having already forgotten about that menu! It reminds me of playing FFX as a kid and not using the sphere grid until I was roughly halfway through the game.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Cody11533
05/04/2025
09:48 PM
#6
Nominate: Papers, Please and Untitled Goose Game

No games for me this month most likely.
"Video games are meant to be just one thing. Fun. Fun for everyone." -Satoru Iwata
"11533 >>> 1001 imo" - Jeff Zero
Xirsca
05/05/2025
12:16 AM
#7
Def in for I Have No Mouth!
~Abacus' Alt~
KCF0107
05/06/2025
04:40 PM
#8
I'm on Chapter 5 I think in South of Midnight. I'm really digging the traversal/exploration stuff. Combat is meatier than I expected, and I like how fluid it is, but I'm not a huge fan of action-adventure games using gated combat encounters (for some reason, Okami is the only one that I can immediately think of, but I know that I've played quite a few like that).
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Seanchan
05/09/2025
10:47 PM
#9
I've started on South of Midnight.

My understanding is that it's a pretty linear game, so I'm hopefully I'll be able to get it done in the next 2 weeks.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
TheArkOfTurus
05/12/2025
12:07 AM
#10
Still planning on getting to the two April-June games, but... Man are there a lot of new games I want to play right now. Speaking of

Nominate Skin Deep
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
JONA
05/15/2025
07:43 PM
#11
Beat South of Midnight

Didn't like the combat when I started the game but it got a bit better once it started introducing new abilities. Pretty disappointed in the bosses though, with the end of the game being especially disappointing. Story and visuals were interesting enough to get me through the game.
Congrats to azuarc who beat me by 1 point!
Seanchan
05/16/2025
11:33 PM
#12
Thru Chapter 6 in South of Midnight.

It's very mid so far. I like that they give you new powers/abilities pretty fast, movement is fun, game looks good, and the characters are interesting. BUT, combat is boring, there's too much of it, and I'm already tired of the "fill the bottle" structure of how the game goes.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
Seanchan
05/18/2025
12:12 AM
#13
Thru Chapter 10 in South of Midnight.

No changes in my feelings.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
Seanchan
05/19/2025
08:48 PM
#14
South of Midnight beated!

No real change of opinion. I feel bad because there was obviously a lot of love put into this game. The graphics are good, music is good, character design is good, navigation/movement is good, etc. The combat isn't bad, it's just kind of whatever and there's far too much of it. I really got tired of the structure of "fill the bottle with 4 memories, then have a 'chase' back to the tree", which was done 6 times. The game just needed more variety.

I put this one in the same category as the 2 Hellblade games and the 2 Plague Tale games where there's a lot of interesting ideas but the gameplay just doesn't quite cut it.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
KCF0107
05/21/2025
03:25 AM
#15
KCF has beaten South of Midnight

I basically land in the same camp as Sean. The game looks great, and I especially love it when games have such a wonderful attention to detail. Olivier Deriviere put out another great soundtrack, as he does. Hazel was a likable lead, although she got pretty one-note later on. Hazel felt great to control, and while enemy variety wasn't much in the end, the fast and fluid movement led to some pretty snappy combat. I found its version of Southern Gothic to be more interesting and unique than most fiction I've seen use that theme, and I'm sure the high-fantasy elements played a big role in that.

However, the game flow and structure did not do the game's strengths justice. The fight these handful of gated combat encounters (which I said awhile back I am not a fan of) to get these flashback snippets then survive a chase sequence got stale after the first two times. Add in doing the same two things with Crouton outside of battle and all the extended wall-running segments with thorns feeling the same, and it just seems like the directors/designers thought about and developed all the supplemental stuff first and what should be the core of the game, what all the abilities and style should be built around second, and the contrast is a bit jarring and disappointing. I also think the game ran a bit long.

That being said, I did really enjoy the good parts of this game, and the first third or so of the game is really strong. This game is much better than We Happy Few, but I think that I prefer Compulsion Games' first title, Contrast.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/21/2025
03:36 AM
#16
Monthly Progress
Mouth -
South - JONA, Sean, KCF
Boomerang - KCF

April-June Progress
Berseria -
CrossCode -

Nominations
Ark - Skin Deep
Cody - Papers, Please, Untitled Goose Game

Supports

Drawing on Sunday
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/24/2025
07:24 PM
#17
lol you people have given me nothing to work with what direction I should go with for my nominations.

I'm torn between shorter games for potential progress on CrossCode and Tales of Berseria (I'm the only person who has publicly talked about progression, so I don't know if anybody is playing them) or games that people have access to in order to bring up activity after a relatively dry April and May (I know 3+ regulars or semi-regulars have Game Pass, but I don't know about PS+/Extra or NSO/+Expansion).

I'm just going to do one for now:
DOOM: The Dark Ages
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
TheArkOfTurus
05/24/2025
07:35 PM
#18
KCF0107 posted...
so I don't know if anybody is playing them

I still want to, but there are too many long games that came out/I learned about that I want to play, so there's a decent chance I don't end up playing either.
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
Seanchan
05/24/2025
08:08 PM
#19
My gaming time always goes down this time of year and its even worse now that Im back in the office full time. Theres just days I have no energy for a game.

No chance I get to CrossCode given its length.

It feels like Ive got maybe 1 or 2 games a month in me at the moment. I do have PS+++ or whatever its called.

Nominate:
Blue Prince
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Just going with popular games at the moment that are on the game services.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
Kenri
05/24/2025
08:24 PM
#20
I miiight still get to one of them but I truly should have started earlier.

Nominate: En Garde!
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Mr_Crispy
05/25/2025
01:56 PM
#21
I've been making progress, but I haven't been posting.

Nominate: Monster Train 2 and Quest for Glory
The only certain death in the universe is Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons.
Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
TheArkOfTurus
05/25/2025
02:01 PM
#22
Support Monster Train 2
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
JONA
05/25/2025
02:32 PM
#23
I've been playing Tales of Berseria. I was gonna nominate Expedition 33 but for July-September.

Nominate to a T and Deliver At All Costs
Congrats to azuarc who beat me by 1 point!
KCF0107
05/25/2025
03:10 PM
#24
I will make my final two noms

Cavern of Dreams
Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo

This is also the last call for noms, changes, and supports
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Underleveled
05/25/2025
03:11 PM
#25
Nominate Pokemon Colosseum
Support Clair Obscur
darkx
Seanchan
05/25/2025
03:47 PM
#26
If JONA wants to support Expedition 33 for a 3 month window, then Ill rescind the nomination until then.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
KCF0107
05/25/2025
03:52 PM
#27
I too was going to consider that game for next month's special drawing ( same with 428 Shibuya back in March but alas ), but darkx has already supported it, so it's your call
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Seanchan
05/25/2025
03:54 PM
#28
Lets hold it for the 3 month window. Much better chance for everyone to have to play what seems to be a GotY nominee.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
TheArkOfTurus
05/25/2025
04:03 PM
#29
Seanchan posted...
Lets hold it for the 3 month window. Much better chance for everyone to have to play what seems to be a GotY nominee.

I agree. That's one of those long games I mentioned that I want to play. I'd probably hold off if it's likely to be one of the games selected for that (and it looks like it already has 4 or 5 nominations, so it probably is.)
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
Underleveled
05/25/2025
04:21 PM
#30
Yeah thats fine with me
darkx
KCF0107
05/25/2025
04:41 PM
#31
Okay, everything is closed. I will draw soon
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/25/2025
04:58 PM
#32
And your June Games of the Month are...

DOOM: The Dark Ages (PC, XSX, PS5)
Monster Train 2 (PC, XSX, PS5, Switch)
Untitled Goose Game (PC, XB1, PS4, Switch)

Congrats to myself, Crispy, and Cody for having their games selected!
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/25/2025
05:00 PM
#33
1. DOOM: The Dark Ages
2. Monster Train 2
3. Monster Train 2
4. Untitled Goose Game
5. En Garde!
6. Skin Deep
7. To a T
8. Pokemon Colosseum
9. Blue Prince
10. Cavern of Dreams
11. Papers, Please
12. Quest for Glory
13. Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo
14. Deliver at All Costs
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
KCF0107
05/25/2025
05:03 PM
#34
DOOM is on Game Pass

Monster Train 2 is on Game Pass

Untitled Goose Game is on PS+ Extra

Untitled Goose Game is on sale on Epic for $9 USD
https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/untitled-goose-game

Untitled Goose Game is on sale on Switch for $10 USD
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/untitled-goose-game-switch/
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
TheArkOfTurus
05/25/2025
05:05 PM
#35
Already bought Monster Train 2, definitely in for that. Probably nothing else, though I think I'm going to give an effort to get around to CrossCode, at least.
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
KCF0107
05/25/2025
07:41 PM
#36
Yeah, I've been playing quite a bit of Monster Train 2 these past few days, and I will certainly complete a run in June. I was able to get into a groove and probably win 80+% of my runs in the first game, but the new mechanics + much more challenging bosses (imo) in this one have only netted me 3 wins in a dozen or so attempts.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Seanchan
05/25/2025
09:23 PM
#37
Likely give Doom a shot. Still havent played the 2 recent games but I dont think those matter for enjoyment of this one (supposedly).

Played Goose Game on Switch a few years back so not going to do it again.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
KCF0107
05/25/2025
09:28 PM
#38
Seanchan posted...
Still havent played the 2 recent games

You absolutely should. Not as a prerequsite for Dark Ages, but because both are great.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Seanchan
05/25/2025
11:39 PM
#39
KCF0107 posted...
You absolutely should. Not as a prerequsite for Dark Ages, but because both are great.

Oh I do, free time is the constraint!

My list of games I know Id enjoy but somehow havent played is ridiculous.
"That was unnecessarily dramatic". - NY Mets motto (courtesy of InnerTubeHero)
Congratulations to azuarc, the guru of gurus and winner of GotD 2020!
Cody11533
05/27/2025
12:09 AM
#40
In for Goose Game next month. That one's been sitting in my backlog for ages.
"Video games are meant to be just one thing. Fun. Fun for everyone." -Satoru Iwata
"11533 >>> 1001 imo" - Jeff Zero
Mr_Crispy
05/27/2025
12:51 AM
#41
I got done with another session No Mouth. Actually been trying to play without a guide as much as I could.

Earlier in the month I got through most of Gorrister's scenario just fine, but I was kind of worried that I might have run into a glitch that might have prevented me from progressing because I dug the grave early, then when I went back to the screen the grave wasn't visible (although the hot spot was still there if you moused over it) so I peeked at a guide a bit to make sure I wasn't going to be stuck. Today I went back and finished that last little bit (so no I wasn't stuck). And then I did Ellen, Benny, and Nimdok's scenarios without a guide in about the same amount of time it took me to do Gorrister's.

Although I'm sure I didn't get the optimal endings on some of those stories because I wasn't using a guide.

Another play session will probably finish everything up.
The only certain death in the universe is Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons.
Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
KCF0107
05/27/2025
12:57 AM
#42
I really wanted to give I Have No Mouth another whirl after trying it like a decade or so ago, but as I'm shooting to finish both CrossCode and Tales of Berseria (not to mention I was given a 2 week trial to Playstation Plus Premium that I spent nearly all of my gaming time using that from May 6th to 19th), I just don't think that I will have the time unless I feel like just going for a ride and using a walkthrough.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
Mr_Crispy
05/27/2025
11:36 AM
#43
I mean I'd probably guesstimate it as being about 8-10 hours long.

I wouldn't say that it's particularly difficult in terms of puzzles without a walkthrough, there's relatively few things to pick up or interact with so it's not hard to brute force it. Gorrister's scenario took me the longest (about 3-3 1/2 hours) so far since it was the largest in terms of screens, and I spent a lot of time walking back and forth. The other three scenarios that I've finished so far took me about 3-3 1/2 hours total to do.
The only certain death in the universe is Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons.
Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
KCF0107
05/29/2025
11:06 PM
#44
Boomerang X is on sale for $5 USD on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1170060/Boomerang_X/

It is a short game, so one can easily finish this in the final days.
KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
TheArkOfTurus
05/30/2025
03:29 PM
#45
KCF0107 posted...
Boomerang X is on sale for $5 USD on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1170060/Boomerang_X/

It is a short game, so one can easily finish this in the final days.

ArkOfTurus has beaten Boomerang X

This made me look more closely at the game (Arena shooters tend to not be my thing, so I sort of just took a look at it and decided against it at first.) and I decided to bite. Glad I did, this was extremely fun. Movement was amazing, the difficulty curve was just right, and I pretty much had fun the entire time. Really cool game.
Our eyes were removed
For our own safety
Mr_Crispy
06/01/2025
12:18 AM
#46
Finished I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

It's a neat idea, trying to expand upon the story/characters. But unfortunately it's kind of lacking in execution.

It's blatantly obvious that they had to cut down on a lot on what they had planned, and it's a bit buggy with stuff like items appearing when they aren't supposed to or Ted walking backwards (although some of it might be issues with running it in SCUMMVM? IDK).

The idea of having a morality system is interesting, but it's usually fairly obvious what you're supposed to do to improve your morality. There's some death traps (and looking it up a few unintended soft locks) but death doesn't really set you back much even if you don't reload your save since it just sends you back to the character select screen, and I thought it wasn't terribly hard to figure out what to do most of the time or brute force it since it's a bit sparse in terms of items and hotspots (and there's an in game hint system, which sometimes is actually probably a bit too blunt about what you have to do next at times. which I guess is why it hurts your morale to use ha ha). So ironically it's not as cruel as a Sierra game, and not too unreasonable to try to figure out without a guide (outside of trying to maximize the morality/morale, which is ultimately largely pointless).

and now about the last scenario/ending. I kind of wish the game had the guts to go full Drakengard and have all the endings be some variation of a catastrophic bad ending and you only could choose the flavor of bad end you got, instead of having a clear intended "best" ending which feels a bit out of the tone of the story. Also as mentioned, the morality system throughout the game is ultimately pointless. The general idea was to max out the morality for as many characters as possible and get some character growth/closure for them before forcing them to sacrifice themselves (or at least give you a little more time to figure out what to do, since performing actions in the last area either causes morale damage or kills you and then when you take enough damage they die and you have to send in another character). But you can just skip this part of the scenario entirely, and get the best ending without worrying about the morality system or the first part of the scenario at all. Though it is still a bit of a relief that you don't have to use a guide for the best ending.
The only certain death in the universe is Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons.
Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18
Board 8 » May Game of the Month Club ft. I Have No Mouth, South of Midnight, and Boomerang