FDG Entertainment recently took to Twitter to confirm that Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom’s Xbox Series X/S launch is “imminent”. “Submission process has started and should finish until tomorrow,” the publisher says, which means an imminent launch and accompanying announcement should probably be expected.

FDG Entertainment also confirms that just as it did on the PS5, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom will run at a native 4K and 120 FPS on the Xbox Series X/S. Meanwhile, on the Xbox Series S, the game will run at either 4K/60 FPS or 1080p/120 FPS.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is currently also available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia.

It's finally happening: #MonsterBoyGame #XboxSeriesX release is imminent. Submission process has started and should finish until tomorrow. We'll keep y'all updated! Series X will support 4K/120fps native; Series S will offer 1080p/120fps or 4K/60fps. pic.twitter.com/oiKYbkArpJ

— FDG Entertainment (@FDG_Games) August 1, 2022

With the PS5 and Xbox Series X launching a couple of months from now, many have been wondering what Nintendo have up their sleeves to counter the threat of more powerful competing hardware. The Switch is already significantly less powerful than the PS4 and Xbox One, and with that gap bound to grow even more significant, questions about a mid-gen hardware refresh for the Switch have been asked regularly.

Not surprisingly, there have been various reports of late of Nintendo working on a 4K-ready Switch version that they’re allegedly planning on releasing in 2021, and while we don’t have any concrete evidence to suggest that, a recent development may have hinted at that as well. Recently, FDG Entertainment – the publishers of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom – suggested in a tweet that the Switch might have “some next-gen hardware in the oven.”

Of course, this isn’t concrete evidence either, and doesn’t necessarily mean that FDG Entertainment have spilled the beans on something Nintendo haven’t yet announced (for instance, they could just be saying this in light of all the recent reports), but it is something to mull over.

A recent report claimed that Nintendo was boosting Switch production and was asking development partners to make their games 4K-ready, so there’s been plenty of smoke here.

https://twitter.com/FDG_Games/status/1303452692065521665

It’s been out for several months on consoles, but Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is inching closer to launch on PC. The title recently received a free demo on Steam, and now has a release date. FDG Entertainment confirmed on Twitter that it will launch on July 25th for Steam and GOG.

As a spiritual successor to the Wonder Boy series, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a brand-new 2D action platformer. Developed with original series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa, players will control Jin as he fights to save the kingdom. Jin can utilize six different forms with varying abilities and combat techniques to help him out.

The most obvious highlights are the graphics, which are hand drawn, and the music, handled by composers such as Motoi Sakuraba (Dark Souls series), Yuzo Koshiro (Etrian Odyssey series), and more. If you’re curious about getting your hands on the game now, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details on the PC launch in the coming weeks.

Early #E3 News for our lovely followers: Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom PC Edition will release on Steam and GOG on July 25, 2019. #GOG #Steam #MonsterBoyGame #WonderBoy #PCGaming #Indiedev pic.twitter.com/FH4WUrSCiq

— FDG Entertainment (@FDG_Games) June 3, 2019

Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom first launched in December 2018 for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4. It was pretty well received, with the Switch version outselling its counterparts by eight times. The PC version has been seemingly missing for the past few months, but publisher FDG Entertainment has finally offered an update.

Long story short, the game is still coming to PC, and a free demo could be out some time this month. That depends on its overall performance, but the emphasis is on creating a compelling launch experience with the full game.

“Once we finished the majority of tests, we’ll release the free demo,” the developer wrote. “We expect to release the demo this month. If the demo runs well on the majority of machines, we’ll release the full version, otherwise we’ll fix what needs to be fixed first. We want to make sure that PC players have a great ‘Day 1’ experience with the full version of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.”

The publisher has also shared more information on PC-specific features that players can expect. All the patches from the current console version will be included, along with customizable controls and controller support. Ultrawide monitors will also be supported due to some levels and scenes actually being wider than 16:9. Boss fights are still at 16:9, but they’ll apparently mesh together well with ultrawide scenarios. This feature can be tested in the upcoming demo, so stay tuned.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom may not have been the most high profile release of 2018, but there were still a great many people that were looking forward to its December launch. As a spiritual successor to the beloved classic Wonder Boy platformers, and with several strengths of its own, Monster Boy was met with great reception upon launch, also going on to sell 50,000 units in its first week.

While reporting its launch week sales, publisher FDG Entertainment had said that the Switch version had had the best sales, and that continues to be the case. In a recent tweet, the publisher said that the Switch “continues to surprise” them, and that it’s become “the most profitable console business ever for us”, with sales figures that are in “another universe”. To give you an idea of how profitable the Switch has been for them, they revealed that the Switch version of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom has been far outselling the other two versions of the game, with a sales ratio of 8:1 in favour of Switch versus the other two combined.

That doesn’t surprise me, given that the Switch has been enjoying excellent software sales across the board, and that Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom by itself seems to be perfectly suited to the Switch hardware as well. The game is currently out on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, with a PC version also currently in the works- FDG Entertainment provided a brief update for that as well. Take a look at both tweets below.

https://twitter.com/FDG_Games/status/1082716029783064578

https://twitter.com/FDG_Games/status/1082725777504956416

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, spiritual sequel to the classic platforming franchise Wonder Boy, launched last week worldwide, and has been receiving great critical reception from critics and players alike. That reception is paying dividends too, as publishers FDG Entertainment have announced on Twitter that the game has sold 50,000 units in its first week on sale.

In the tweet that announced the sales figured, FDG Entertainment thanked fans, critics, and all those who purchased the game for their support. After being asked as a follow up about which system the game had sold the most on so far, the publisher revealed that the Nintendo Switch version of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom was, unsurprisingly, the highest selling one out of all four.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. For more information on the game, head on over here for an interview we conducted with developers Game Atelier earlier this year.

https://twitter.com/FDG_Games/status/1072837584844480513

Switch

— FDG Entertainment (@FDG_Games) December 12, 2018

Development 

Development on Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom started in 2014. When the game entered development, it was titled Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed, as a sequel to Game Atelier’s Flying Hamster, which came out in 2010. Eventually, the game was picked up by FDG Entertainment, who made the decision with Game Atelier to change the nature of the project, instead turning it into what was described as a spiritual successor to Sega’s Wonder Boy series. Though the game is a sequel to the Wonder Boy games in all but name, the Wonder Boy trademark rests with Sega. As such, the game was titled Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze. After receiving criticisms for the subtitle, it was eventually renamed as Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.

Ryuichi Nishizawa, who was the creator of the Wonder Boy series, is also involved in the development of the game, while the game’s soundtrack has been composed by a collection of well-known Japanese artists, including Keiki Kobayashi, Takeshi Yanagawa, Michiru Yamane, Haruka Shimotsuki, Yuzo Koshiro, and Motoi Sakuraba. The game’s soundtrack also includes rearranged tracks from previous Wonder Boy games. Originally the game was supposed to use sprite based visuals, but as per the developers, the visual style was changed a few times during the development process, before they finally decided to use hand drawn art and animations. At one point, the developers had even planned on using 16 bit visuals for the game, as they wished the pay homage to retro style video games on the Sega Mega Drive from which they took inspiration.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom was originally scheduled for a launch on November 6, 2018, but this was delayed by about a month to December 4 due to issues with production of the game’s physical copies, for which FDG Entertainment have partnered with Sega. PS4 and Nintendo Switch will receive physical copies of the game, while these will be limited only to North American audiences.

Story

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom sees players playing as a young boy named Jin, who must journey across the kingdom as he attempts to stop his Uncle Nabu from using his magical powers to destroy the kingdom. The developers have stated that they do not wish the emphasize the story too much, and even though the setup will be important to the game, their main focus while developing the title has been on gameplay and mechanics.

Gameplay

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is an open world side scrolling platformer. Rather than requiring precision platforming from players, it instead places a focus on exploration, to the extent that when players fall into gaps, they do not die like in regular platformers, but are instead respawned, with the only penalty being a slight loss to HP. While exploring, players can discover hidden rooms, gear, and equipment, and have to fight against enemies and solve puzzles in the environment to progress further.

Players can transform into six unique animal forms, with each having their individual advantages and disadvantages that apply to combat, platforming, and puzzle solving. For instance, while transformed into a pig, players cannot equip weapons or armour, but they can use magic spells, which can be done in only one other form (human form), while the pig can also sniff around the environment to find secrets. While playing as a frog, players can use their tongues to reach distant places to make previously inaccessible areas more accessible, while playing as a snake allows players to climb up slimy surfaces. Puzzle solving, combat, and traversal rely on and encourages players to experiment with different animal forms.

Transforming, and mixing and matching with various kinds of gear, equipment, and animal forms is also encouraged in gameplay, especially during exploration. According to the developers, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom has over fifteen hours worth of content. Players can explore open environments and pick between branching paths. There are shortcuts and other means for quicker traversal, which the developers also made sure to emphasize in order to prevent the game’s backtracking sections from getting monotonous. The developers have also stated that they have made the game in such a manner that it can be accessible to a wide range of audiences, and will have varying difficulty styles depending on how players choose to play. While critical progress won’t be locked behind extreme challenge, those who want to achieve 100 per cent completion will find a more challenging experience.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

To learn more about the game and its development, Gamingbolt reached out to FDG Entertainment’s Philipp Döschl who answered the following questions.

"It’s officially part of the Wonder Boy of the Wonder Boy series and the creator of the series, Ryuichi Nishizawa, is on board, so it’s more than just a game “inspired by”, it’s a real sequel to the series."

This is a game that is being made in a close collaboration between FDG Entertainment and Game Atelier. Any particular benefits or challenges faced because of the way things are set up?

Of course it’s always a bit difficult when the teams are based in multiple locations. However we’re used to it and luckily both Game Atelier and us are in the same time zone, which helps a lot. Probably one of the biggest benefits of working with a studio in France is how fast you can find talented people for a short period of time to prevent production bottlenecks. When it comes to this, France is a lot more flexible than Germany.

As a game directly inspired by the Wonder Boy games, is Monster Boy also aiming to carve out its own unique identity?

It’s officially part of the Wonder Boy of the Wonder Boy series and the creator of the series, Ryuichi Nishizawa, is on board, so it’s more than just a game “inspired by”, it’s a real sequel to the series. It shares the same vibe while bringing in lots of modern and fresh elements.

The game has spent a long time in development now. What is the reason for such a long development period?

The game grew significantly since we got on board. The most obvious changes are the graphics which were completely reworked a couple of times in past four years. Check out this comparison:

"The gameplay also got more complex, many mechanics were added, the game got a lot more depth and much more. Development on Monster Boy is a very dynamic and organic process, which makes it a bit more challenging to plan in advance. We take our time and tweak everything until we’re satisfied with it. We want to deliver a great game which people will remember for the next decades."

I’m sure bringing in Ryuichi Nishizawa must have been beneficial to the development process. Can you elaborate some ways in which his experience proved useful?

Nishizawa-san gives a lot of valuable feedback. He’s not involved in the project on a daily base, but he’s close to the project, sharing his views on things.

Will the game have a huge emphasis on story, or is it mainly there to serve the gameplay?

We’re all a bit sick of games that feel more like interactive books because there’s so much reading. Story is an important part on Jin’s journey through the Cursed Kingdom of course, but gameplay and especially its variety is even more important. We now got the perfect balancing between and engaging, motivating story and a diversified gameplay.

Can you tell us some of the ways in which different animal forms are used in the game?

Every transformation has its own mechanics. The pig can’t equip weapons, armor, etc, however it can cast magic, which the other forms can’t do except for the human form. Plus the pig can sniff and find secrets. The frog in return can equip stuff but can’t cast magic. He can use his tongue to reach areas only reachable by him, swing through levels, and so on. I won’t spoil all of the forms now however 😉

"We now have an amazing depth in the settings, hand drawn animations for all characters and enemies, effects done through shaders and tons of details and other things."

Having worked on this game for so long must have been exhausting. Are you going on a break for a while or do you already have ideas for a new game you want to start working on?

There’s no real break for us at FDG, we already have new ideas and a new prototype is about to leave prototype stage and go into alpha 😉 Of course we’ll all have some time off and holidays here and there, but we won’t close the studio before our annual holiday break around new year. Things might be different for Game Atelier though as they’re working really hard and focused in order to get the game finished in time.

The game’s art style is unique and balances a fine line between retro and modern. What was the inspiration behind the art style?

It was a very organic process until we reached the final art style. The overall graphic quality got higher with every iteration and we kept on saying “damn, it’d be cool to add this and that…”. We now have an amazing depth in the settings, hand drawn animations for all characters and enemies, effects done through shaders and tons of details and other things.

There’s not a single source of inspiration but rather multiple ones, especially on the technical level and how different techniques were used and combined to create the world, the effects, tricks and how to make it look even more appealing over all.

There has certainly been a resurgence in retro-themed games recently. What would you say you love about games from the ‘80s and ‘90s which has inspired Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom?

The sense of going on a big adventure in a magical world. Back in our childhood when we played the Monster World games on Master System and Genesis, it felt like we went on a trip into an unknown land with secrets hidden behind every stone. Also, once we started playing, we didn’t want to stop and kept going on till we finished the games.

Can you tell us about any differences in the way the game will perform on various platforms?

There will be no differences.

The game is now confirmed for the PS4 and Xbox One, which also means it will support the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Can you please let us know the resolution and frame rate it will run at on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

The game runs in 1080p / 60fps on all platforms.

Xbox One X has a ton of memory on board (12GB in total and 8GB of that is available for games). Do you think PC game developers such as yourself, will now be setting your PC memory requirements even higher in the future due to Scorpio offering even higher memory allocations?

I doubt it’ll have a big impact as we all need time to adapt (customers as developers alike). Of course the bigger devs will make use of the additional memory.

As for graphics, the more details you show, the longer it takes to create them, which makes the production costs go higher and it needs more time. Smaller studios will not be able to afford this.

It’s natural that games look better year by year and that they demand more resources, yet the tools used need to be ready for that too. And last but not least, there has to be an installed hardware base that’s big enough to justify the amount of additional work.

Is there anything more you’d like to tell our readers about Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

Thanks for the amazing support so far, the kind words and the countless people having checked out Monster Boy at events so far! Finish line is in sight and we can’t await to release  the full game!