The age-old tale of a Big Scary Guy protecting the Poor Little Kid is something we’ve seen in plenty of media before. Monsters Inc. has Sully and Boo, Wreck-It Ralph has the title character with Vanellope (although she can definitely take care of herself), and even in video games we have the Daddy Simulator, which I think hews close enough to what I’m going talk about: a game called Meg’s Monster.
Meg’s Monster is a delightful little RPG developed by Odencat, who you might know from their previous works Fishing Paradiso, Bear’s Restaurant, and Mousebusters. Unlike Odencat’s past work, Meg’s Monster involves a turn-based battle system akin to Undertale or Earthbound. However, Meg’s Monster shouldn’t be confused for your regular turn-based adventure. In fact, I would say it skirts the line between RPG and visual novel.
The story goes a little something like this
Meg, a little human girl, has fallen down into a world full of mutants and monsters. Said mutants and monsters are big fans of eating people, which poses a problem for the little one. Based on the title, one would assume that Meg is the protagonist of Meg’s Monster. However, the character you control is actually Roy, who one could describe as… Meg’s Monster.
Upon finding Meg in a big pile of trash, Roy (who doesn’t eat humans, but instead lives on a diet of “Magic Tar”) realises the little girl is immediately attached to him. You’re probably wondering why a little girl would naturally feel comfortable around what could be considered One Messed Up Looking Dude, but I assure you that the game does explain that later on.
At first, Roy seems indifferent to the child. In fact, he seems annoyed by her presence. It’s not until his friend Golan decides it’s lunchtime that Meg begins to cry, and everything goes tits up. After a bit of back and forth, the pair manage to comfort Meg and come to a harrowing conclusion: Meg’s tears could bring about the end of the world.
Realising the danger they’re in, Roy and Golan set out on a journey to return Meg to her mother, assumed to have also fallen down into the monster world. While on their journey, it is essential that Meg does not cry again.
When it comes to Meg’s Monster, the story is everything. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph of this review, the “large emotionless brute protects little emotional child” is a tried-and-true trope for the ages. But the story of Meg’s Monster has a whole lot of twists and turns that keep the trope feeling fresh, and handles it with care.
The budding relationship between Meg and Roy feels organic. When I said that Roy is the true protagonist of Meg’s Monster, I mean that both in its gameplay and its story. While you’re largely controlling Roy, it is also he that grows the most. His brutish, unmoved demeanour is challenged by the soft, sensitive Meg, and yes. It made me cry about three or four times. I’m a sucker, I know.
The characters beyond Meg and Roy are also fascinating in their own right, especially Golan and Sebastian. Throughout the game, Golan is in contact with an unknown figure who regularly instructs him to eliminate Meg, so as not to trouble he and Roy any further. However, as much as Meg grows on Roy, the pair grow on Golan. In keeping Meg’s Monster as spoiler free as possible, I won’t go into any further detail on Golan’s story. What I will say is that we love a bit of character development.
And then there’s Sebastian, who I literally cannot talk about at all without spoiling the game entirely. Meg’s Monster is best played when you don’t know the whole story, so let’s just say that Sebastian is a fascinating fella. He’s one of the four monsters that make up the monster council and probably the one that has the most attention story-wise. While it would’ve been great to get a better look at the other three monsters in the council, I definitely think they served their purpose when it came to the story of Meg and Roy.
Monster mash, but for genres
Remember how I said that “story is everything” in Meg’s Monster, and that it “skirts the line between RPG and visual novel?” You just keep that front of mind, now. Rather than going for a kind of pseudo-open world seen in games like Earthbound and Undertale, Meg’s Monster goes for a segmented, locked-map kind of world. By that, I mean that each area on the main map either contains a red marker for the main story progression or a green marker for optional story additions. You can pick and choose which you want to do as you move through the story.
This probably wouldn’t be ideal for somebody that prefers a little more freedom of movement in their games, so, if that’s you, consider yourself warned. That said, I didn’t mind this too much as the game is pretty linear, and there aren’t any random battle encounters, so I think I can see what the developers were going for. It definitely felt a little jarring at first to be yanked out of the world only to be met with a locked map, but I got used to it.
The battle system is interesting. Roy is basically bulletproof, boasting a health bar of 99,999, but of course, it’s not really Roy that you’re worrying about here. Instead, there’s a second health bar next to Roy’s that represents Meg’s emotional health. If her emotional health gets to zero, she will cry, and the world will end. So, while you’re controlling Roy and beating up baddies, you’re also finding moments to play with Meg and give her toys so that she won’t cry.
As mentioned, there are no random battle encounters. The battles themselves can feel a little tough at first, with Meg having a pretty small health bar. However, there are frequent little events that happen throughout battles when things start going wrong to buy you a moment to breathe. Golan will make Meg laugh, for instance, or the enemy will drop something to help you out.
When things like this happened, I assumed (perhaps foolishly) that you couldn’t die. You definitely can. Sure, there are a few helping hands here and there, but there are also moments where you’ll throw a punch when you should’ve healed or guarded, and then the world blows up. All that considered, the battles definitely got a little tedious with later enemies but made up for it with unique quick-time events within them.
Other things in Meg’s toybox
Now it’s time for the extra little tidbits that really make Meg’s Monster shine outside of its heart-wrenching story. The music, composed by former Capcom composer Reo Uratani (who you might know from his work on Hi-Fi Rush and the Monster Hunter series), is just beautiful. Uratani captures a sense of childlike wonder mixed with melancholy that I can only liken to the work of Joe Hisaishi’s work for Studio Ghibli. That, bundled with the gentle vocals of Laura Shigihara (Deltarune, Rakuen), makes for some sweet, sweet music to one’s ears.
Then there are the visuals of Meg’s Monster, which are some of the most lovingly crafted pieces of character design in pixel art that I’ve seen. There was one part (that I won’t go into) where you could really see Roy’s face come to life in terms of emotion, but it was the third eye on his arm that also conveyed his emotions that I thought was a neat little detail.
It almost makes me wish that the map wasn’t locked, purely because I was dying to see more of this pixel art world. That said, Odencat really put their all into what we’re meant to see, and I commend them for that. Also, there are some truly messed-up looking creatures that pop up here and there that could take this game into Cronenberg territory, but everything else about it keeps Meg’s Monster as sweet as pie.
With every entrant into the Little Indie Game That Could category I play, I’ve found myself constantly looking for how each game sets itself apart from the games that clearly inspired it. Tinykin is clearly influenced by Pikmin, but sets itself apart with its 2D/3D visual design and bug-focused narrative. With Meg’s Monster, there’s a clear Undertale influence, but it sets itself apart in a variety of different ways.
Where Meg’s Monster might hold itself back in terms of freedom of movement, it really makes up for it with a truly special story. The developing friendship between Meg and Roy feels so genuine and pure that it’s almost impossible not to root for them. The dialogue flits between sincere and goofy very well, even though the main antagonist can sound like a little kid’s-movie-villain at times. It’s a classic tale of friendship that tugs at the heartstrings over and over, and I loved it.
To conclude, Meg’s Monster is a lovingly-written visual novel adventure, that sprinkles in RPG elements for the sole purpose of pushing its story ahead. While those who prefer a fast-paced, action-filled experience probably won’t get much out of Meg’s Monster, those who appreciate a gripping story about an unlikely friendship will have a great time with it. I loved it, cried a lot, and now have the main theme song on repeat.
Meg’s Monster releases on March 2nd 2023 for PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S.
Leave a Reply