9 Monkeys of Shaolin + Ash of Gods + Redeemer: Bundle

9 Monkeys of Shaolin is a side-scrolling beat 'em up developed by Sobaka Studio, set during the turbulent Ming Dynasty and following Wei Cheng, a fisherman who picks up a staff after his village is massacred by pirates. It wears its SNES and Sega Genesis influences openly, channeling the spirit of games like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe but filtering them through a wuxia aesthetic that gives the whole thing a distinct visual identity. If you grew up button-mashing through arcade brawlers and miss the feel of that era, this game speaks your language fluently. The combat is the real draw here. Wei Cheng fights exclusively with a staff, and the move set expands meaningfully as you progress. You unlock skills across three loosely defined branches covering melee combos, ranged spiritual attacks, and defensive or utility techniques. The progression is light enough to qualify as RPG-lite rather than a full character-build system. Choices do shape your playstyle somewhat - leaning into the fire-imbued staff attacks feels different from stacking the defensive parry counters - but don't expect the depth of a true action RPG. The build variety holds up for the game's modest length but would not survive a 40-hour campaign, which is fine because the game runs around five to eight hours and clearly knows its lane. Narrative and worldbuilding are functional rather than remarkable. The story hits its revenge-arc beats competently, there are a handful of monk mentors who dole out lore and motivation between chapters, and the Ming Dynasty setting is atmospheric enough to make the journey feel grounded. But if you come here looking for branching choices, dialogue weight, or moral complexity, you will be underwhelmed. This is not that kind of RPG. The writing serves the action rather than the other way around. The levels themselves are handsome but fairly linear, and some of the mid-game stages lean on enemy repetition in ways that feel more like padding than pacing. Co-op play is supported locally and online, and honestly that is where the game shines brightest. Running through chapters with a friend smooths over the thinner parts of the solo experience and makes the boss encounters, which range from decent to genuinely fun, feel like proper events worth coordinating around. Solo is still enjoyable, but the game's personality comes alive when someone else is in the room. With a Very Positive rating on Steam across nearly a thousand reviews and a Metacritic score sitting at 71, the consensus lines up with my read: this is a solid, unpretentious brawler that does exactly what it promises and little more. It earns its stars through tight staff combat, crisp animation, and a refreshingly focused runtime. It loses them through shallow narrative investment and level design that occasionally coasts. If you want a crunchy, atmospheric brawler with enough RPG texture to keep progression interesting across a weekend session, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin delivers. Just do not come expecting your choices to matter, because they mostly don't, and the monks have limited wisdom to offer beyond "hit harder."

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