Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)
There are plenty of forgettable little indie RPGs floating around the Nintendo Switch eShop, but it would be a mistake to lump developer Odencat’s Meg’s Monster with them. In fact, despite the appearances of turn-based battles and an underworld full of monsters to fight, we’d say Meg’s Monster isn’t an RPG at all, but rather a game that draws a fine line between RPG genres. . and visual novel. with light peppery puzzles. It also has humor and heart in equal measure, making it a perfect little game to spend a weekend with.
Meg’s Monster begins with the titular Meg waking up in a pile of trash in the underworld. He soon encounters two monsters, Golan and Roy. Golan is very happy that a child-sized snack has reached them. Roy, on the other hand, only has eyes for an oily substance known as magic tar. However, when Golan goes to engulf Meg, they soon discover that her screams are triggering an apocalypse. Golan convinces the reluctant and nearly indestructible Roy to protect her while they try to find their mother by smuggling her out of the underworld.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)
You might think this setup – a brutal monster with little emotion protecting a young child – will hit predictable story beats. Of course, the crux of the narrative sees Meg becoming Roy and vice versa, but without spoiling anything, Meg’s Monster has a few twists that kept us intrigued until the credits roll. A cast of other goofy monsters, including the dimwitted and ineffectual Monster Council that hates humanity, do much to flesh out the six-hour adventure; we got attached to most of the actors and their stories pretty quickly. Roy and Golan also have a nice little bromance, resplendent with lots of “brothers” and “men” coming and going as they struggle to express their emotions. Despite a one-note antagonist, the interplay between all of these characters makes the story worth watching.
Most of your time protecting Meg will be spent jumping from place to place on a world map. Once you have arrived at your destination, here you will have to talk to a strange creature or beat a monster there that is eager for human children. Battles are turn-based with a twist: Roy is nearly indestructible at 99,999 hit points. However, Meg, hidden behind him, is not. If his “heart” takes too much damage, he will cry and it’s game over. This creates a sort of resource management puzzle, balancing moves (Roy has three levels of moves that charge up) and uses various toys to heal Meg’s mind.
All battles are scripted, which means there are no random monsters to hit. They often feel overwhelmed at first. Meg takes too much damage or Roy’s next opponents hit him with multiple high damage hits, but in almost every encounter something will happen: an enemy will make a stupid mistake and drop something Roy can use, e.g. to get blue. Monster brother to him.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
For the past hour or two, we’ve stopped enjoying battles as they take a while with meaty, chewy enemies. While Odencat threw in a few curve balls as part of simple quick events (like a Simon Says mini-game to disable an enemy’s gadget) to keep things from getting too stale, we really wanted to see what happened. to the characters we had grown attached to in such a short time, and the series of fights leading up to the climax made us increasingly impatient.
There are also a handful of short side quests that don’t provide actual gameplay, but flesh out the Council members’ stories with fun little skits. Likewise, when Roy takes Meg back to his threadbare cave to rest between story beats, the girl convinces her protective monster to toy with him. These scenes unlock toys to use in battle, but more importantly, they provide fun and heartwarming scenes. In one, Roy, after delving into a standard deck of playing cards, concocts a whole complex Yu Gi Oh-like a game to play with her, since she’s never played something simple like Focus: attacking her four of diamonds with her six of hearts, and so on.
These scenes and all the memories of the cast come together in the climactic final battle and wonderfully moving finale. With the game’s evocative theme playing just at the right time, it felt like Roy had punched us in the gut with feel rather than his massive fist. We even got a little foggy at the end, and we’re not ashamed to admit it, bro.
conclusion
Meg’s Monster is a unique adventure with a lot of heart, well worth part of your weekend or playing for an hour or two before bed. Sure, some of them are predictable and the novelty of protecting Meg during battle wears off towards the end, but if you’re anything like us, you won’t want to put it down until you see how the adventure Roy’s comfort to reunite Meg with her concludes the War Mother. She might even shed a tear or two while keeping the girl safe.