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As someone who saw Palworld more or less come and go, taking an unmistakable but, in the end, misguided shot at the Pokémon crown, one can’t help but be curious about Aniimo, a creature-catching RPG that looks to incorporate a lot of the same concepts while tactfully circumventing copyright law, a novel concept when compared to Palworld.
Of course, on the surface, it’s playing a lot of the same cards—there are Aniimo to catch, level up, and battle; however, where it separates itself from what is arguably the world’s biggest entertainment property is being able to form a link with the creatures, possess them, and further expand their skill set. It’s a more direct form of the indentured servitude we see in these catch ‘em ups, but it’s a unique approach at the very least.
Although the hands-on experience plopped me into its world without a lick of context, I managed to glean from some dialogue that the game follows the player’s journey as a Pathfinder, whose purpose is to research the curious creatures after which the game is named. The game’s story seems to pick up after a celebration in Irelia’s name doesn’t go to plan. Concerned that the planet’s energy is out of alignment, you set out to restore order.
Having only played for half an hour, it certainly seems interesting enough from a lore perspective. As Pokémon continues to mismanage its budget, I’m just glad the game has voice-acted cutscenes; however, this does make way for standard-fare dialogue boxes. And even if it does turn out to be a little bare bones, it feels like the kind of game they’ll be able to update and filter new story quests into.
The first thing I immediately noticed is that Aniimo is an involved open-world role-playing game. Not only is it the busiest heads-up display I’ve ever seen, but it also has a seemingly endless list of menu options. I looked at my watch, considered the time constraint, and felt overwhelmed. What’s promising, though, is that I felt the urge to press on even after my time had elapsed.
In fact, Aniimo, much more than even Palworld, is the unique, open-world riff on the Pokémon monster-catching and battling formula I’ve been hoping for.
One of Aniimo’s key features, and a real point of difference from the property it draws inspiration from, is the ability to “twine” with creatures, which is the game’s fancy term for possessing them. There are several benefits to being able to do this. Taking longer strides or using locomotion skills gets you across the land quicker than the Pathfinder’s skateboard. You’re able to engage in cracking real-time battles, and it’s useful for opening a dialogue with Aniimo, who, quite different from Pokémon, who can only parrot their names, have a complex language in need of interpreting.
Each battle I ran headlong into felt rewarding, like a clash of titans. The four Aniimo I had in my party, which you can freely hot-swap between in live battle, all had rather distinctive skills and abilities. There are shield breaks, charge attacks, and ultimate moves, which are accompanied by an often glitzy scene, and it’s a matter of whittling down the enemy’s rather tankish health until one of two things occurs. Either the opportunity presents itself to catch the worn-out Aniimo, or you can defeat them.
As I was geared to the eyeballs for the hands-on, I didn’t exactly feel the pinch in combat; however, battles did drag at times, which feels insane given the significant level difference during play. I hope that perhaps I’m doing it wrong by spamming the offensive abilities, and that battles aren’t the slog they seem to be.
Like Pokémon, where HMs and TMs can be used outside of the battlefield, Aniimo have abilities that open up avenues of exploration. Emberpup, for example, is a little fire and fluffball hybrid who can throw flames at vines to clear paths, or burn fields to create an updraught to ride and glide upon. The opportunities for engaging with the world of Idyll, through movement or otherwise, are plentiful.
As big and overwhelming as the game’s world of Idyll is, it sure is pretty. From its small townships, to its boundless fields, and right through to the mega city I made it to—complete with Aniimo shadow boxing in the streets while trainers chat up a storm—it’s well-realised and put together. While not nearly as egregious as Palworld’s blatant rip-off of creature designs, with over a thousand Pokémon out there, there are bound to be a few similarities. With that said, the creatures I encountered were all quite cool—I especially love the aforementioned Emberpup’s final evolution.
Outside of this, so many of the hallmark monster-catching tropes appear, from evolutions to egg hatching. As someone who fell off Pokémon years ago, Aniimo has exactly everything I’d be looking for in a more adult, complex take on the formula. It’s replete with things to see and do, perhaps to the point of decision paralysis; although I hope that, given the context of a fresh start, the game and its many systems should work in concert.
