Temtem

[Mumbling]

 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csx5aK5mZCI

So I've been following the development of a game called Temtem. It is very similar to Pokémon, with creature collecting and battling. However the big difference is that it can be played online with other players. It is coming out later today and I hope to get a chance to play it after work. I'm not a big fan of MMO's, but everything else about the game looks very promising!

Anyone else eager to play this game? I know it was mentioned on Discord, so I thought it would make sense to put a topic up on the forum

[Mumbling]

So I've played this game a little over 8 hours now and can definitely say that is is an enjoyable experience. It has all the things I would look for in a Pokémon-esque game. The creatures are not too detailed, but still lively enough that you'll want to have a bond with those pixels. The graphics might look bland to some, but I personally enjoy the colorful look of the game and don't really require much more detail from a game that's focused on capturing creatures and battling with them. The animations for the battles themselves are really nice and well thought out.

I think the biggest difference between Temtem and a good Pokémon game for me is that Temtem is a lot harder. I really have the need to go back and heal my Temtem after just a few trainer battles, and all "boss fights" with dojo leaders or your rival are seriously tough. I don't think I generally used "revives" in Pokémon, except maybe with the elite four. But I've already used plenty in this game. The game also forces you to work with all the creatures in your team, since some of them have good synergies together and every Temtem has a limited stamina bar, instead of PP, which indicates how many attacks you can use. This means you cannot spam your strongest attack 24/7 and you'll really need to consider the moves you use during a single battle.

I have yet to use any of the online features. So far I've been enjoying the game solo and have not had any trades or battles with other players. Basically the only thing I notice about the online aspect is watching other players run around the area.

My biggest irk with the game so far is the lack of a quest log. There are a bunch of (pretty fun) side quests in the game, but you can only see up to 3 quests at a time on the main game screen. There is a Quests option in the menu, but it is currently grayed out. I'm guessing this is just an early access quirk, though. I honestly can't wait to see where this game will go. Got me hooked

[Flathead770]

Looks like the people at the 1:21 mark know the power of Saku

I do enjoy the stamina system way more then PP. PP seemed to only really limit moves over multiple fights whereas stamina plays a much more prominent role within individual battles. This can also help make choice of what moves you want to be a lot more interesting as you now may want to have a weaker move that consumes less stamina to use between bigger attacks. The fact that you can still use a move if you don't have enough stamina (and have the difference cost you hp, and subsequently requiring a 1 turn rest) basically combines typical balancing mechanics Pokemon has used such as recoil resting after using moves such and Giga Impact/Hyper Beam rest.

Not that I'm interested in participating in competitive battles, but since the stamina bar (though not the actual number) is revealed for your opponent there could be some potential for some neat mindgames. If the opponent sees you don't have a lot of stamina may might think you won't use a big attack, but the trade-off could be potentially worth it and could create some toss up situations.

The synergy mechanic is neat as well with a move powering up in some way (whether it's more damage, higher priority, or now inflicts an ailment as well) can create some interesting switch out surprises (and combined with limited stamina could make switching out frequently a common thing).

Status effects also persist when swapping Temtem, making that doom status where it gets knocked out in 4 turns potentially iffy to deal with.

Mumbling and I have also played a bit of co-op now as that was one the big factors for me to try this out. You can basically do the whole story with a friend and that is really cool! So far though most of my issues with the game seem to be related to this currently. Hopefully they'll get the random bugs with this feature ironed out as well as change the reduced xp (not sure why that's even a thing). While co-op you can only have 3 Temtem in the party at a time (though you can change that in-between battles). I don't mind that too much as it makes you try and think about what would work best with your friend.

As Mumbling has said, this game is much harder then Pokemon. Some of it can be attributed to not fully knowing the weaknesses and such but trainers (ahem...tamers ) generally have Temtem that are higher levels then yours can sometimes rock almost full teams. Very much a welcome fact as major battles are generally won with a single Temtem remaining and feels much more gratifying to win.

The visual style works well too, nothing to complain about on that end, plus it's around half the price of Pokemon currently so it's a decent offer (and well timed considering Sword and Shield's lukewarm reception)