Is it kosher to post in a topic this old if I'm actually the creator of the whole game it's about?
I just want to chime in on a few things, to anyone in this thread who's still around now.
Looking at Mortasheen, I realize some people would think that it's trying to subvert childish, innocent, cute monster games by being gruesome and morbid, but the truth, trust me, is almost the very opposite.
I cannot take seriously almost any work of entertainment that goes for "dark and gritty." To me, they're bore fests at worst, unintentional comedies at best. I virtually always prefer things to be cute, silly, colorful and fun.
Mortasheen's "dark and gritty" leanings are basically pure parody. They're intended to seem like over-the-top, completely corny attempts at being scary, and lots of them are outright jabs against overdone monster cliche's. Underneath its superficial air of horror, Mortasheen is intended to be wacky, innocent and even kind of kiddie. Virtually none of the monsters are really evil or malicious, and I imagine the setting's tone to be more like Courage: The Cowardly Dog (or the earlier comparison to Nightmare Before Christmas) than, say, Warhammer 40k or Silent Hill.
All in all, it's MOST DEFINITELY NOT intended to be some "cooler" or more "mature" alternative to pokemon. Pokemon is, as far as I'm concerned, the most untouchably pure and beautiful thing to ever emerge from video game culture. Like Emiscary said somewhere above, only one or two monsters are even vague pokemon references, and all other similarities are intended as a loving, respectful homage to my all-time favorite game series. I almost haven't played a non-pokemon video game in nearly ten years now.
As for the monsters being overly gross, I realize this might make me sound hokey, but I really honestly design them all around what I personally consider cute and endearing. There are really no living organisms I find creepy or ugly. I've spent my whole life studying deep-sea invertebrates and brain parasites, and find nothing but awe in their diverse forms and habits - even if they'd want to tunnel into my flesh. I also grew up with characters like the Madballs, Rat Fink, Boglins, the Toxic Avenger and other gooey monsters who were really just friendly, misunderstood weirdos.
That's really what Mortasheen is all about, I guess; how cool it is to live in a universe full of very, very different forms of life.
We're still working diligently on the role-playing game, but I'm not allowed to give a ballpark release date yet. Eventually, I'd want to do a video game, but I wouldn't want it to come across as a pokemon knock-off. I'd probably aim for a slightly different genre and very different mechanics.
Again, I apologize for bumping something from 2012, but I hope you guys can understand why it mattered that much to me.