Ignoring this is unfinished, this has so much potential. Right now the economy needs a lot of work (I understand MMOs have to be kinda grindy and they don't wanna devalue items on market, but do clothes and dyes REALLY need to be that expensive?), but overall campaign quality and battling? This kicks modern Pokemon's ass. Side quests are well done, lengthy, offer important rewards, and there's a ton of them. Regarding the AA, it reminds me of Alola in some ways, but each island has a very distinct personality. Deniz and Cipanku are especially great and while Omninesia and Kisawa don't stand out quite as much, only Tucma kinda sucks (and honestly, it's kinda supposed to, it's a lawless, toxic wasteland where you crash after being shot down by terrorists, you lose a bunch of stuff, the locals threaten to murder you, and when you try to get help, you're thrown in jail because your dickhead rival stole your identity). Battling is great and arguably better than Pokemon due to 2 major factors: the stamina system and no RNG, with the former making power move spamming much more difficult since if you deplete your stamina bar, you take damage and lose a turn. This means Tems make full advantage of movesets and have to switch more often, so you'll make use of your full party. The lack of RNG is due to the lack of critical hits and standard evasion chance. Ignoring the temporary evasion status buff (which is a guaranteed evade for so many turns), moves always hit. The battles are purely skill-based: no cheap wins and no cheap losses, ideal for a healthy competitive game.
Battles are 2v2 in campaign as well. 2v2 has always been a deeper format in Pokemon, so doing a campaign in that style allows Temtem to show off just how challenging this gameplay can be. Temtem is not crushingly difficult (I've wiped once, against the Tucma Dojo master) but it's much tougher than Pokemon. If it weren't for the abundance of healing centers, the game would be very difficult. Later on, you'll rarely escape trainer battles with your full team still alive and healing items are rare/pricey. The upcoming Nuzlocke mode is gonna be nasty.
Monster designs aren't as good as Pokemon's on average, but many are still quite good. Tems like Oceara, Momo, Adoroboros, Platypet, Saku, and Gyalis make you want to go Luma hunting for them. They certainly don't feel as iconic or whatever, but they're pleasant to look at nonetheless.
I really want this game to do well and I think it will once full launch comes. The potential market is massive and I already want to see where it can go given years of support. Nothing can kill Pokemon, but this has the potential to be one hell of an alternative.
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