Pokémon is a most curious saga. Although Game Freak and The Pokémon Company insist on retaining the target audience of elementary school children, the truth is that the saga of pocket monsters continues to be a great attraction for many millennials who grew up with the first generations on the Game Boy . The Pokémon player has evolved over the years, but the franchise is without a doubt one of the most static in the video game landscape. Is there an alternative to Pikachu and company? In this post we will delve into the world of inspirations, plagiarism and decent alternatives to Pokémon games.
Is the Pokémon formula for the most veteran fans exhausted?
Every Pokémon fan worth their salt wants to sit down at a table with Game Freak and pour out their ideas . However, the creators of the saga have not shown the slightest interest in altering their “Torchic of the golden eggs” for years.
The Pokémon games have hardly changed their structure since their birth in 1996, and the difficulty of the titles has plummeted since then. The current titles can disappoint the adult public, because they do not pose a challenge . For this reason, the Internet is filling up with ROMs made by fans that, ignoring the company’s intellectual property, are looking for some players to recover their enthusiasm for the franchise. Today we will try to go a little further and investigate if there is a world beyond Pokémon . Is there a game that can overshadow it?
Pokemon clone games
There are companies that are aware of the discontent among Pokémon players and have made attempts to replicate Game Freak’s successful formula . In general, these two titles stand out:
Nexomon: Extinction
Graphically, this game is what the games in the main Pokémon saga would look like if the jump to 3D hadn’t been made. It preserves the aesthetics that we saw until the Nintendo DS games with a top-down perspective and very stubborn characters.
Nexomon: Extinction is a great game if you’re looking for an alternative to Pokémon and don’t want to complicate your life with new mechanics. On a playable level, the title offers an experience identical to that of pocket monsters. However, the game has higher difficulty . There are a total of 9 elemental types with their own table that works with a system similar to that of Pokémon
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As you may have seen, Nexomon does not hide in the least that it is a Pokémon clone . If you’re interested in checking it out, it’s available on a ton of platforms: iOS, Android, PC, Xbox, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
Temtem
This title is even more controversial than the previous one. Temtem ‘s approach is clear and concise: to be the game that Game Freak has never dared to make. Within its genre, Temtem is an MMORPG , that is, an RPG combined with a massively multiplayer online system. On paper, Temtem is great, but his greatest asset is also his greatest liability .
If what you like about Pokémon is exploration and fighting, Temtem will give you that and more. Its battle system is identical to that of Pokémon . In fact, they are better than those of Pokémon, because they are always double -Genius Sonority already reached this same conclusion with Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD for GameCube-, and they allow a lot of variability and strategies. So, where is the problem? Well, precisely, in settling for being a Pokémon clone . temtemit’s a game. Graphically he is very nice and has a lot of potential. However, he can only aspire to be ‘the clone of Pokémon’, so he completely renounces his identity in order to be an alternative for the most coffee growers.
If you want to try it out, you’ve had it on PC in Early Access for a long time. Its final version will arrive in September 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox.
Games inspired by Pokémon or similar
We have already talked about blatant plagiarism. Let’s go now with some games that are different, but have some mechanic or element shared with Pokémon :
Ooblets
Ooblets are very cute and kawaii little creatures that will help us explore the world of Oob. And like good fake Pokémon, they will also lend themselves to battle with other Ooblets to defend their master. Unlike Pokemon, Ooblets are mostly plants and spawn from the ground. Even so, and despite having combat mechanics similar to Pokémon, the game works by objectives and we could say that it is even more like Stardew Valley than Pokémon.
Seen this way, it seems that Ooblets is the definitive game, especially for its visuals, which are very nice. However, Ooblets is one of those titles that covers a lot and squeezes a little . By trying to include so many mechanics, it’s not a monster game, nor does it come close to being a life or farm simulator.
At the moment, the game is available for PC and Xbox systems.
Monster Sanctuary
We get out of the RPG and go to a Metroidvania . This title developed by Team17 shows us a world like that of Pokémon, in which monsters and humans live in harmony . However, the balance is broken overnight and our mission will be to restore order and peace.
In Monster Sanctuary we will not be trainers, but monster breeders . The fun part of the game is that we will have to investigate what has happened by exploring its various 2D settings and fighting with the monsters that we are raising. The battles are also turn- based and very Pokémon-style, but they are not done on a stage, but rather on the land that we are exploring. The title has its own personality, which differentiates it from those that are clones. If you are interested and want to play it, it is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Other alternatives if you are looking for greater challenges
Pokémon is a JRPG. Very decaffeinated, but a JRPG after all. And knowing this is important in order to look for alternatives . If what you like about Pokémon is combat, any JRPG that has turn-based combat should be for you. You may have never given a Square Enix game a chance — for example — because you didn’t play it as a child. But we encourage you to explore the market and give games of this genre a chance, regardless of whether or not they have monsters. If what interests you about Pokémon is strategy, challenge and mechanics, there are plenty of games out there waiting for you.
We will close the post with some curious alternatives that you could explore in order to give Junichi Masuda’s franchise a break. They are the following:
Dragon Quest Monsters
The Dragon Quest franchise was born a decade before Pokémon. He made it for the NES. Years later Monsters would come out, a spin-off that would quickly be compared to Pokémon.
On a mechanical level, these games share many elements with Pokémon , although it cannot be said that they copied anything – after all, they only applied JRPG systems that had been invented for years. The latest title in this line came out for Nintendo 3DS.
Shin Megami Tensei
We will finish with this Atlus franchise , which some define as ‘the shady Pokémon’. This saga was born long before Pokémon, but in the West, the game is not as well known as Persona, which is its spin-off . Explaining the lore of these games is tricky, but we’ll stick with the idea that it’s like Pokémon, but with demons instead of monsters . However, for all practical purposes, the Yōkai and other creatures that appear in this title are just like Pokémon.
Regardless of whether this idea appeals to you or not, you should give this franchise a chance, because we assure you that it hooks with incredible ease. Our recommendation is to start with Shin Megami Tensei V for Nintendo Switch or Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster , which is available on multiple platforms.
Shin Megami Tensei has everything good about Pokémon, but combined with combat mechanics that will make you think and strategize to stay in one piece. The demons are collected and classified in the Compendium, which is nothing more than a Pokédex. Our goal is to recruit them, get them on our side and strengthen them. In order for them to join us, we have to convince them in a negotiation – it’s not as simple as throwing a Pokéball. The conversations with the demons themselves are absolutely great, as some of them will rip us off and even make us jokes that will break the fourth wall. Once you have demons on your team, you can fuse them to create other more powerful creatures.
In general, this franchise offers gameplay worthy of an adult, with Atlus’ famous Press-Turn system , which rewards discovering the enemy’s vulnerabilities with an extra turn and plays against us if we don’t cover our weaknesses. Unlike Persona, the Shin Megami Tensei are more focused on combat, and we will have to do a lot of maneuvers and fuse a lot of essences to have competitive teams and be able to get out of some final bosses.
For the rest, they also offer an interesting plot, with serious scripts and moments that you do not expect. It is a niche saga, but being a fan of Pokémon and not giving any of the two games that we have mentioned a chance is practically sacrilege.