Monster Tale is the next game from DreamRift, the developers who made Henry Hatsworth and then left EA to become independent. Like 2009's overlooked wonder, Monster Tale combines two drastically different genres through the power of dual screens. Henry Hatsworth combined run-and-gun action (think Mega Man) with match-three puzzling (think Puzzle League). Only one screen was controlled at a time, but both affected each other in real-time.

Monster Tale combines non-linear action/exploration ("Metroidvania") with a virtual pet RPG (think Tamogotchi). And this time, there is no pausing one screen to play the other -- both are always active. The upper screen contains the action gameplay, which looks and feels similar to Hatsworth's top screen, until you see the map. The star of Monster Tale, a girl named Ellie, runs and jumps around a huge, continuous world that is automatically mapped out. As you discover new abilities for Ellie, she is able to access new areas of the map and revisit earlier areas to find secrets.

Ellie on the run.

Ellie isn't much of a fighter, at least not early in the game, but she gets a lot of help from Chomp. He's a friendly monster who lives on the bottom screen, eating food and playing with items that Ellie finds on her adventure. Chomp grows, evolves, and learns new attacks from these items, which is handy when you call him to the upper screen by pressing X. He hovers near Ellie, automatically attacking nearby enemies and sometimes activating out-of-reach switches. Though you always control Ellie directly, you can quickly command Chomp to use special attacks by holding the L trigger and pressing one of the face buttons. Chomp is a powerful ally and is needed to defeat many of the stronger enemies, but his time on the upper screen is limited. When his energy bar is low, or when you no longer need his help, Chomp returns to the touch screen to regenerate. This also gives him time to open more gifts, building up his stats and earning new special attacks and evolution forms.

I'm going to say Ellie could use Chomp's help here.

The touch screen gameplay seems to be simpler than what we saw in Hatsworth, but it has to be managed while also playing as Ellie on the top screen. Chomp will often have multiple items to consume, each affecting his development in a different way. You can easily direct him to use a particular item by tapping the touch screen until the right item is highlighted. This method allows you to reach down with a thumb to control Chomp's development, meaning you don't have to constantly switch between buttons and stylus. Ellie also finds limited-use weapons for Chomp, like a catapult that is sent to the bottom screen. If you send Chomp over to the catapult, he will shoot down enemies on the top screen while still regenerating energy. There are probably many other interactions between the screens that we haven't seen yet.

I was very pleased with the new game design and character art. Ellie seems to move a bit more slowly and has a more floaty jump than Henry Hatsworth, but these characteristics may change over the course of the game as she finds new abilities. Michael Cole plugged in headphones and noted that the music sounds highly reminiscent of Castlevania. Given the wonderful soundtrack from Henry Hatsworth, which was even released online for fans, we should look forward to hearing more retro-style music from Monster Tale. It's due out by the end of the year and already looks quite polished.