The role-playing game is one of the best forms of escapism, transporting you to a world filled with dragons, wizards, and magical spells where you can be the valiant hero. However, if you’re getting a bit tired of having your ego stroked so much, Opal Squad’s Mediocre Monster might be just what you need.
Promoted as part of Square Enix’s “Collective” platform, Mediocre Monster stars Gob, a “random monster” who works for “the worldwide leader in monster outsourcing.” His job is to fake his own death as entertainment for heroes, leaving them loot and eventually leveling himself up to become a more formidable opponent. As he’s “promoted” by his boss Mr. Fluffy, Gob swaps color pallets: red is always scarier than green, but he still has to go down when the heroes “kill” him.
While Mediocre Monster uses a traditional turn-based combat system, Gob has to follow his own set of rules to make the heroes feel like they’re in control. If one of the heroes taunts him, for instance, he has to attack them on the next turn. When he’s dealt a critical hit, there are “acceptable faces” for him to use to show how damaged he is, and he even has to know which elemental attacks will damage him the most — at the end of the week, his pay is based on how well he followed these rules.
Should the game receive enough support on Collective (click “yes” on the game’s page if you’d be willing to support a crowfunding campaign), it will then move to the funding phase on either Indiegogo or Kickstarter. Currently, the three-person team as Opal Squad are planning to release Mediocre Monster on PC and Mac, but the team says that they are open to releasing the game on handhelds and consoles, including the PlayStation Vita.
