CYBERMONKEY

CYBERMONKEY is potentially the best written cyberpunk-animal-actionflick I have ever read.
Enter a world of octopus governments, naked yakuza brawls and bio-modified monkeys: the complete diversity in choices is incredibly intricate, with every move I made feeling like it satisfyingly fit with the overall narrative.
As with everything I’ve read of Malk’s, the grammar is great and the sentence structure is satisfying: never being repetitive at all. If you’re trying to learn how to write action scenes, giving the original chase montage from this story a read is a must.

While the action is, of course, the core of the story structure I have to commend the creativity of making the reader feel cool even when they weren’t in a fight. For example in the ‘giving the briefcase’ ending, even though I hadn’t gone out with a nuclear explosion I still felt awesome after the stocks I’d invested in rose exponentially in value.

As with everything, there are definitely flaws in this story: primarily that there wasn’t more of it. I want to know the lore of the octopus government, how the Chinese stall-owner felt about the Japanese Yakuza, who even made the CyberMonkeys? Obviously the fact this isn’t explained makes the tale open for interpretation, but I have the feeling these questions will be niggling at the back of my brain for the next few weeks.

Read this story: do it now.

Pros:

Brilliant example of how a short game, even one written in a day can still kick ass. CYBERMONKEY, in addition to just being fun to say, never lets up on the action for a second and radiates humor and style from the first paragraph on.

Malk is among the best on the site when it comes to dynamic fast paced combat, and the glimpses of the cyberpunk world you get in between it all add further layers of interest and depth.

Some of you know I'm not typically a fan of inconsistent settings, those stories where major things can change without explanation or any player input between one path and the next. But like many things it turns out this all comes down to whether the author is CHAD enough to break the rules and pull it off. It works here, the paths are short but every ending feels like I just watched the climax of a completely different sci-fi action movie. The amount of variation and cool world building details packed in gives the sense that the game is longer and more satisfying than the word count would imply.


Cons:

- Expected more monkeys.
- Would've been better as a parser game.

But what else can I say, I just liked it a lot!

This was the most motherfucking splendid ape-based carnage I've read in a while. You've always been good at intensely atmospheric writing that makes me feel like I'm snorting up the essential oil of the chosen genre through a distinctive stainless straw. And this is taken to fifth gear with the rate we're speeding through. Sentences are carefully picked to summarize it all in a frenetic style, being retold in the mind of somebody who's actually in this world experiencing it in real time.

The Soviet path is like reading clips from a John Carpenter movie- One of the really atmospheric ones where you can even remember all the extras- Not one of these words is wasted, even characters that'd go nameless in other stories all have memorable moments that makes you feel like you're rattling over *other* stories like speed strips on your unstoppable path to your own various destinies.

The Yakuza path is more focused- Unfolding in kaleidoscopic violence and intrigue with far more time for flesh and detail, even as the landscape changes drastically with your choices.
The protracted martial arts scene does not go unnoticed- I actually reread it twice. Very fitting that it led into my second favorite ending.

The only thing that I feel could've improved it is if the choices were grammatically correct, but I suppose it's the style of things these days. I would have thought that the apes would feature a little more than they did, but it's good that they were reserved for a handful of paths. When you make a game called CYBERMONKEY, it's very easy to blow your load by exploring the concept too early. But we're instead artfully tantalized by the biomodded apes of this setting, and the monkeyshines never overstay their welcome. They kick off the action well, and their return is cause for excitement.

In short, I think this would be the highest I've ever rated a game of this length, and finally a living example we have to stand as a powerful argument against certain discord boomers who like to badmouth storygames where the circumstances of the story are altered retroactively according to your choices. I thoroughly enjoyed discovering the plots and layers of this game as they unfolded. At this size it was like a brief taste of one of those 'complicated' wines that tastes like 8 things after you spit it out. My only regret is that I didn't get a whole glass.

Action sequences are great. Its pretty funny at times. The only thing I didn't really like about it is the lack of coherence between some of the paths. For instance in the Soviet path, if you choose to say there's a nuke in the briefcase there is a nuke, if you say there isn't there actually isn't.

But overall I enjoyed the read, so that automatically makes it better than average.

Wow, so short that I completed it in 2 seconds

this was not only hilarious but clever. The 2 endings I discovered were totally contradictory and wildly imaginative. Good writing!

The story was really fun, however I felt there were too few choices

This is a short story and I did not spend much time with it. But it is very entertaining and well written. I loved every minute of it. The path I took had some very entertaining twists. It really makes me explore the other paths as well.

Short and sweet. I wanted more chimps tho. Liked mc name. Bravo.

This is a fantastic cyberpunk game. It literally starts with cybernetic murder monkeys and can possibly end with restored honor. It's worth a few read-throughs.