A New Challenger Has Entered The Ring
The undisputed king of creature collecting games is without a doubt Nintendo’s cute but mighty juggernaut Pokémon. And for what feels like ages (I have been around since Red/Blue thus AGES) fans have been clamoring for an online world to explore and experience. And while the big N dipped their baby Pichi size toe into the water with some features in the last few Pokémon games, fans still have not seen that fully realized MMO- type experience in a world of creature collecting. At least that was the case before developer Crema, blessed the world with TemTem. Finally coming out of early access and into version 1.0, TemTem offers players a land of mystery, wonder and of course random people who say even randomier things and then demand you fight their creatures. “The more things change, the more they stay the same…,”
To their credit, the developers at Crema have never shied away from the fact that the other pocket monster game was a substantial influence for them. And on the surface, it would be extremely easy to just write TemTem off as being yet another formulaic clone but now with online. But you would be doing the game a huge disservice, as just beneath the surface is a well that leads to a deeper experience than what Pokémon currently offers. For starters the combat system in the Archipelago’s world of TemTem is 2 v 2 instead of the standard 1 v 1 battles. That right away opens the door to combos, and possibilities just being able to utilize various types. But the biggest change is that in TemTem abilities and attacks are based off stamina and not RNG. So, if an attack is going to hit for damage, then it will hit but if the player’s Tem doesn’t have enough stamina for the attack, they will suffer damage by way of ‘overexertion’ and will be forced to rest the following turn.
MSRP: $44.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $44.99
Just like in Pokémon, creatures will have use of 4 abilities in battle at a time. The biggest and most welcome change here is that as TemTem level up and learn new abilities, players won’t be forced to just ‘forget’ a learned ability. In TemTem they can choose from all learned abilities and equip the creature the way they want them to be equipped. Yet another boon for the Tem is equipment items which can be equipped to them and can provide bonuses such as providing a damage buff for specific move or a resistance buff against one. There is also the Coward’s Blanket, which enables EXP share to the entire squad, since an EXP share system doesn’t exist outside of that, which is a shame when it comes to trying to level up Tems early on.
And that is only scratching the surface as far as combat is concerned, additionally as players collect, trade and even breed their Tem creatures they will come to notice that each species has 2 traits that can be randomly assigned. These traits are another big way in which players can strategize their various Tem battle teams. For instance, my starter Tem, ‘Crystle’ had a trait called Amphibian; and whenever she was attacked with a water ability, she would get a buff to Speed and a double buff to attack. These types of things will become more important the further players progress, as the some of the later fights, especially those against the Dojo leaders can be tough.
Which brings me to the pacing of TemTem, its kind of all over the place. What begins easy enough, will quickly escalate into a boss fight, only to not have time to heal or anything before being thrown into another boss fight. And this doesn’t happen just once or twice over the course of the adventure, no this is a multiple occurrence. The biggest tip I can give players is to make sure they are always well stocked up with healing items. Because even when they think it should make logical sense that a healing station would be nearby, the game will throw a boss fight at them.
TemTem is an extremely well-made monster collecting RPG that in my opinion does enough to differentiate it from the competition; even if just. My biggest issue with the game is the label it has for being an MMO, while it is always online, and you will see other human tamers running around the world and can interact with them; once the story is done and players have collected all the creatures there may not be much left to do outside of various events and tournaments. The developers have stated that they are not planning for any more creatures, or any other expansions; that just seems like an odd stance for an MMO which usually continue for years through more content. If you can get past that, there is an enjoyable story, mechanics and loads of activities and creatures to collect. While players may not be playing TemTem for the next 10 years, if Pokémon games are your jam, then TemTem will offer you a great experience for the foreseeable future.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
