Review: Temtem – The Monster Capturing MMO

Ever since its launch in 1996 and the explosion of popularity with the anime that starred Ash and his best friend companion, Pikachu, traveling the world capturing hundreds of different creatures, players have always wanted the possibility of playing with friends, capturing pocket monsters and battling against truly intelligent and strategic opponents that offer a real challenge to their team.

In other words: many people have always wanted a multiplayer mode in Pokémon. There are several ROM hacks, from good to mediocre, that allow players to do this, but no official entry in the franchise offers the option of massive co-play. But for those looking for an alternative, we’ll take a look now on Temtem.

You may have heard about it, a Pokémon-style game in which you capture little monsters and put them in battle against other tamers. A game that, surprisingly enough, is even available on the Nintendo Switch. Unlike its current competitor, Palwolrd, which probably won't have the same luck.

After two years in early access, version 1.8 is here. Developer Crema finally announced the official launch of the game. So, now that we have access to the final version, we can ask ourselves: Is it worth venturing into the Airborne Archipelago and capturing Temtem? Let's talk about the game and, if you have any questions, just leave a comment.

The beginning of the game is very similar to that of the Game Freak\Nintendo franchise. You’re a 10-year-old boy who is ready to go to the Temtem Taming Academy, learn the secrets of the little monsters and become the greatest tamer in the world.

You choose your gender, pronouns, add a hairstyle, eye color, a face from half a dozen predefined faces, some hair and some simple clothes. To have more style, you need to play, win challenges or invest some money. Once you do that, your mother greets you, your neighbors throw a party at your door and your rival, Max, is as excited as you are to get one of the three initial Temtem given to you by Professor Konstantinus.

The starters are: Crystle, a crystal-type monster, Smazee, a melee-type monster, or Houchic, a mental-type monster. Max, your rival, asks the professor if there are any digital-type monsters, which are new and much stronger than the other types, but the professor says no. He then shows you that he already has a Temtem of this type and challenges you to a battle. This fight ends with a single blow, after all, the digital type is really stronger. So, after that, Konstantinus gives you a second Temtem so that you have a duo. Max thinks it's unfair that you get two monsters and he doesn't get any.

So, you receive your Temwikia and begin your journey across the island of Zadar, encountering wild Temtem in the tall grass, people who need your help, places where you can heal your Temtem like medical centers, shops, and more. The adventure has just begun!

Temtem was born from players' desire to experience Pokémon in different ways, with double battles that were very well received with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, multiplayer play, battling and exploring the world with friends online, among other things. And, although Game Freak didn't listen to many of the things players asked for, Crema was attentive and learned all the lessons and delivered them to the players.

There are about 160 monsters, divided into types: Neutral, Fire, Nature, Water, Electric, Mental, Ground, Wind, Crystal, Digital, Melee and Toxic. Their designs are cool, but there are none that are memorable or recognizable. Not even their names are something you'll remember if you don't play with them all the time. I honestly don't remember the name of my starter!

Each one has its own specific strengths and weaknesses, and also has powers that can be combined and give advantages in double battles. This ends up giving a new layer of strategy to the battles that become increasingly difficult throughout your journey through the Airborne Archipelago and its 7 islands.

And this doesn't just mean that you should build your team strategically and with these bonuses and disadvantages in mind to face other players, because the gym leaders... I mean, the Dojo Masters will also give you a hard time. They come with strong and well-built teams to give players the challenge that they always asked Game Freak to put in the gym leaders. In addition, wild Temtem also come in pairs and help each other, providing bonuses and advantages to their allies.

Also, unlike the PP system of Pokémon that runs out as you use moves, here the resource is gonna be Stamina. It's very similar to PP, but poor management of it means that you can even lose your Temtem. Each move you use consumes a portion of the monster’s Stamina. Using too many stronger moves drains it fully and, if they run out, they start to consume the HP bar to compensate, and you lose the fight without even realizing that you've run out of battle resources.

Of course, as Temtems evolve, resistance and HP will increase, so it's worth keeping an eye on this so you don't lose a fight for nothing or even consider using it to your advantage, after all, you can even sacrifice your Temtem to deliver a devastating blow and turn the game around. It all depends on your team and the situation. And you'll probably have to use this resource a couple of times, as your opponents will do the same.

Despite the game's positive points, the game is still an MMO, and you’ll see a lot of things that are common in these titles, such as excessive repetition of missions and repetition of fights. You’ll visit the same Dojo Masters many times and challenge them more than once, visit and revisit cities that you have already explored to deliver and pick up missions countless times and yes, you’ll encounter the same wild Temtem in the tall grass over and over again, having to fight them or run away, or buy some items that make them keep away, but until then, it’s all over and over with the same animations of your tamer throwing the cards up in the air and your Temtem being put into battle.

This type of repetition is normal and expected, after all, there needs to be some content between one update and another, otherwise the game will become empty and drive players away. It’d be more interesting if players were led to new battles in new regions and new strategies, but the game's “MMOization” requires you to spend a lot of time on simple, repetitive tasks. The focus is on the fights, especially against other players, so PVE and missions are just something to do between one battle and another.

In addition, the roadmap that the team promised during the Kickstarter campaign is almost complete, with only a few new features and a legendary Temtem to be included in the game, which will cause the game to enter Maintenance mode, without adding new content. Although the Airborne Archipelago is made up of 7 islands and has a robust endgame and the most exciting battles are reserved for those who have already finished the story mode, the question remains: Will the game be able to keep its player base engaged enough to keep itself alive long enough?

Another detail is that Temtem requires a constant internet connection and I had some problems connecting to the server during the game, which could also be a problem for the future of the game. They’re gonna have to get a good structure to keep the game active and working well for all players. In terms of graphics, the game isn’t heavy, it won’t demand much from your hardware, but is that enough for it to run properly? Without frame drops or, mainly, lag? It’s something to note.

Pros

+ Light game with good visuals. It doesn't stand out, but it doesn't look bad;

+ Solid endgame with lots of content;

+ More difficult and strategic battles;

Cons

- Needs constant internet connection;

- Repetitive Battles;

Although developer Crema has learned well from the lessons ignored by Game Freak and listened to its fan base, implementing the new features that players most requested, the game still has the difficult task of remaining active for a long time in an era when many MMO games that require constant online connection are being rejected by players.

On the other hand, the game revolutionizes the monster-catching formula and delivers what players want. Only time will tell whether the game will remain relevant or not, and whether one day we will have around 600 or 700 Temtem like we have several Pokémon.