Well, Bally/Williams has a couple of games without a licensed theme that are still one of the best ever after 20 years...
Sure a licenced theme is nice, but be honest, MB for example, could just be themed like BBB, aliens playing instruments in a spacebar, and still be epic...
Whereas Stern has shit games with uber licenses...
Boutiquegames should just focus on innovation, quality and gameplay, instead of dumping cash and time into a license.
And for spooky, sure godzilla, blablabla...
Want big monsters? Get a nice starting cartoon/comic drawer, say "I need big monsters in a city" and give him carte blanche for the artwork...
Oooh, and if you want to rape Stern, give us nice gameplay pins for 4-5k, instead of that 10k pin from the highway leaving guys.