Review: Meg’s Monster (Nintendo Switch)
Taking care of children can be hard, especially when you’re a giant monster whose job is to prevent a little girl from crying as you both venture through the underworld. In Meg’s Monster, you play as Roy, a scary beast who spends most of his time alone looking for or eating magic tar.
One day, Roy stumbles upon little Meg while he is out with his friend Golan. Very quickly, the two realize that if Meg cries, she will bring on the end of the world. The responsibility of keeping her safe both physically and emotionally falls upon Roy.
What’s unique about Meg’s Monster is that Roy starts the game with 9,999 HP. Ultimately, you are stronger than every monster you come across and must fight. However, the challenge is keeping Meg from crying. Although Roy can withstand almost any attack, a watching Meg can’t help but feel sad seeing him hurt in battle. To prevent her from crying, Roy must play with her mid-fight to bring her happiness up. Throughout the game, they find more toys to play with. And after each battle, both Roy and Meg become stronger as they grow closer together.
The battle system in Meg’s Monster is fairly easy to use, as, once again, strength isn’t your biggest concern. Set up like a Pokémon battle, you choose Roy’s moves for him, taking turns with your opponent. You can choose to either attack, guard, or play with Meg, and sometimes there is another option given based on the situation of the fight. If you choose to not attack, you can build up power and use a stronger move on your opponent the next turn. As you play along and find more toys, you will find they each have different effects. For example, the first toy you find is a rocket ship. When used to play with Meg, all it does is bring her happiness up. But if you use a soccer ball or crayons, they can also either raise Meg’s defense or Roy’s offense.
The controls of this game are very easy; all you have to do is walk around and interact with things with A. You choose fighting and talking options with A, as well.
The graphics are also very done, with a 2D pixel art style and smooth animations. The interesting settings make the story more fun. Most of the game takes place in the underworld, so it is all surreal and creepy, but also quite pretty. The different types of monsters are very cool to look at, as well. The fun music fits each scene nicely, helping to add to the already emotional story.
Although there isn’t a whole lot to do in Meg’s Monster in the sense of it being mostly reading and fighting, the story greatly makes up for it. Not only does it tell the sweet tale of two unlikely people growing a strong relationship, but it also has many twists and turns that keep things interesting. There are also other hidden side-stories within the game. You aren’t required to play through these, but some add background information to the main story. In the underworld is a council in which four members keep track of the humans who enter their territory, as they have a neutrality pact with them. Throughout the story, you will run into them a couple of times, as they are curious as to what Roy is doing with Meg. One member is connected to their story more so than the others. This is a common theme with Meg’s Monster, as there are a lot of secrets hidden within the game that are slowly revealed as you play along.
Meg’s Monster is a very touching video game that tells the common story of a very lonesome and closed-off person slowly becoming more relaxed as he meets another bubbly and affectionate person. While Roy starts the game disliking Meg, he slowly starts to open up to her as she helps him realize that having friends and being in touch with one’s emotions isn’t a bad thing. However, the battle strategies in this game make it more unique to play. All together, the game does a very good job at keeping you from putting it down. Almost every character, though each having flaws, is likable and easy to understand and relate, despite looking entirely different from humans.
Meg’s Monster is a short, but very fun game with a very sweet moral to its story, and it’s impossible to not get attached.
