Mar 2007: Monotoli Building

*The actual article for this area is Monotoli Building
Builder: Carsanquay
Source: Earthbound
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Player: Ageatii
Review Date: 4/12/10
Descriptions: This is the best desc'd area I've thoroughly explored. An incredible amount of effort went into the extra descriptions, and there are tons of them, which set a very comedic mood to the area. I just outright have more fun reading this area than any other. Some mob descs go into detail about a person's character, but not into historical overdrive like some recently changed mobs did.
Balance: Everything keeps you on your toes here, even the rowdy mice. Security is at first overwhelming, and probably overpowering for less sturdy classes, but there are ways to deal with them, or to negate the threat altogether. The sentry bots seem overpowered because they have the potential to summon an endless stream of themselves if one is not careful. Fighting one bot is tough enough, epsecially with the changes to Daze. By the way, when a mob has attacks set on its file rather than an mprog, it means it has a chance to use this attack in addition to using whatever attack triggers in their fight prog. The area boss is very powerful, but manageable.
Attractions: The area reminds me a bit of Barrel Volcano with more people and greater threats just around the particle board walls. It is very compact, but every room has purpose, even if just to insert flavor or a joke somewhere. I had a jolly good time exploring this area, though there really is just the one main quest, and a few side notes, one of which hints at a future altercation. Orange Kid is annoying.
Connections: Monotoli has its hands in many other areas of the Cleft, which reference the company as a financier. It's located in the most urban city we have, and references other parts of that city well.
Misc Issues:
-The main quest flags you, but doesn't have a quest title.
-A scientist wants you to buy him something expensive, but when you give it to him, he leaves without implying that you should follow, resulting in a ton of wasted money unless you knew this beforehand.
-A lot of NPCs here have the sociable tag, which is just a distraction (it makes them either talk back or slap you at random).
-The executive ID tag is not as useful as I expected in allowing one to freely roam certain spots, or causing new dialogue from some workers.
-Secret info about security: ask me later, MTS!
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Category:Area of the Month