I haven’t played a game this much for about two years at this point, and I adore it. Game is a rough buggy mess, but unlike the $120+ AAA goyslop this game is honest about that and is the devs are quick to respond to issues, which is great. The salt is delicious and seeing people unironically say they can’t make lamb or ferret Pals because of Pokémon is amazing. Pokémon fans are a special kind of retarded, even casual fans who still buy the subpar shit that is TPC’s scraps.
The Pals are (mostly) highly creative and are adorable, especially Lamball and Chillet. I use Alpha Chillet specifically in my base as a cooler and seeing him curl up on top of the freezer makes me happy. Some are obviously Pokémon-likes, but quite a few are distinct and feel better than Pokémon’s designs, which itself has become highly derivative and stale.
Additionally, while not fully polished the combat is fun and I rarely feel luck plays a roll, unlike most turn-based Monster Tamers where luck is typically the deciding factor between two opponents. I do hope it can go into a more MonHun direction, but given the massive modding capabilities the game is promised I’m sure a combat rework will come up. A breeding rework too, I want more control over traits and egg comfort.
And that brings me to another key point: how in tune PocketPair is with gamers. How many games were released with LAN support + dedicated self-hostable servers in 2023? So far, at least via Steam, I cannot find a single one. The game is incredibly reasonable in price, which I am sure is part of why it made over $300,000,000 (I think they said their Steam player total was 12M). Not to mention their various based stances on the modern industry and the blatant balls on display for not just fucking with TPC but including so many obvious but appreciated references that all somehow blend together really well. It’s like a gourmet trash can filled with meth. I am probably addicted to this game on some level, and I’m happy it exists.
