Meg's Monster Review

When Meg’s Monster, a narrative adventure begins, we see a little girl entering a lab that was abandoned 20 years ago. She wanders around this empty building with the feeling that she has been here before. Looking through the window, you see a big red star; there is something important about this that she just can’t seem to recall. She knows that her mother used to work at this research facility when she was a child. From viewing items in the lab, we discover that the red star is an unidentified celestial body that just appeared in the sky one night. Radiation analysts were studying the star and its strange red light, trying to figure out if it would have adverse effects on the people on Earth. The star's appearance occurred right before the facility was shut down. Something obviously happened here to have caused its closure. 

While exploring the lab, you find a transceiver that is still working, and you hear a voice on it that instantly brings back one of her memories. We see a little girl inside a stone cavern adorned with creepy skeleton carvings on the walls. The grass is purple, and what appears to be water is actually magic tar. Inside the cave, along with the little girl, are two teenage monsters, one who is green and named Golan, and the other is blue with a red arm and named Roy. The girl asks them where her mummy is. They have no clue, Golan wants to eat her, but Roy says that the Magic Tar is the only food that he needs. The girl starts crying, and the screen flashes red, Roy is wondering why it’s suddenly getting so hot — he feels like he’s on fire. Golan is trying to calm her down; once he gets her to stop crying, things go back to normal.

Another monster, named Spud, shows up because he has caught the scent of the human child, like Golan, he just wants a quick meal. The pair of monsters decide to fight him off until they decide what they want to do with her. The game turns into a turn-based fighter that reminds me of the turn-based fights you experience in a Pokémon game. At first, you have the choice to attack or guard. Once the battle is over, the little girl keeps running up to Roy and hugging him, asking him to find her mummy; since she won’t let go of him, they have no choice but to take her home with them.

We see Golan talking on a transmitter to a human with glasses in a darkened room. He is telling this man about the human child they found and what was happening when she got upset and started crying. He tells Golan that this aligns with the critical response that they had predicted. So it is up to Roy to keep the child safe and from getting upset because who knows how much destruction this little girl can cause. We learn that the potentially destructive little girl is named Meg. Golan thinks that she is a “Harbinger of Ruin” and that her tears will “call forth the end of the world.” Roy doesn’t believe this, but he is worried about what will happen if she gets upset, so the monsters decide that they have to protect Meg.

Golan says that he can’t fight to save his life, so you will always battle using Roy. The tricky part is besides just watching out for Roy, you also need to guard Meg, as she is always in battle with you. Roy has amazingly high HP — hit points — with 99999, and the little girl’s HP — Happiness Points — is 30. Roy is easily the strongest monster that you encounter in the game, but the tricky part is taking care of Meg. She doesn’t only get hurt from physical attacks, but her heart gets hurt when she sees Roy taking damage. If her HP or happiness points hit zero, it’s game over. 

The monsters head to the salvage yard, where stuff from the human world falls, to find some toys for Meg. These toys won’t only be there for her to play with but are used during battles to replenish Meg; you will need to play with her during fights when she is getting upset from seeing Roy getting hurt. It was really a unique thing that I haven’t seen in a game before where right in the middle of a battle, you take a break to play a mini-game with a kid. It’s a good thing your opponents are so understanding and don’t take the chance to attack you while you are distracted! As you win fights, your attack and defence increase and Meg’s heart gets stronger. Each of the toys that you use has a different effect: the rocket ship just brings her happiness up, whereas playing with crayons or a soccer ball will raise Roy’s offence or Meg’s defence.

The story in Meg’s Monster is more complex than you may first think. The Monster World has a pact with the Human World, to keep the peace between the two. The appearance of this human child hanging around with this monster worries the Underworld Council if the neutrality pact is violated, then there will be repercussions. So Guster, one of the council members, shows up to check in to make sure Roy isn’t breaking the pact. As the story progresses, you will travel to the underworld to figure out why Meg ended up down with the monsters in this world, how they can get her back to her mother, and why she has this incredible power that can destroy everything.

Meg’s Monster's controls are very simple — all that is required is walking around and interacting with people and objects using the A button. This is the same for combat, you select your move and hit A, so it is incredibly easy to just pick up and play. Like the controls, the graphics may seem very simple and inspired by other retro titles, but they are crisp and wonderfully coloured 2D pixel graphics and smooth animations. Most of the game takes place in this fantasy underworld, so they feel creepy and surreal, making this a unique setting that you don’t see too often in games. There is a huge variety of monsters that you meet while you travel through the underworld, and I enjoyed working with or battling all these different characters. The game's soundtrack fits the aesthetic very well and complements the story adding to the emotional feelings you have from this tale. 

Most of the game feels like you are just reading or fighting, but the touching story more than makes up for it. I absolutely love the changes in the characters from the beginning to the game as they grow and progress as you play. The relationship between Meg and Roy is especially touching since it tells of a loner who realises that having friends and showing your emotions isn’t a bad thing. The battles are unique and different from anything that I have played before, making this a title that is hard to put down. If you enjoy games with great storytelling and Pokémon-style battles with a twist, Meg’s Monster is a title that should be on your radar!