Battles are extremely fast in my experience, and enlivened through a TP system that lets you take multiple actions at once before enemies get a turn. Squeezing in some cheap attacks while budgeting TP for heals or defensive plays adds a refreshing layer of strategy to the well-worn turn-based system. You can also spend TP swapping to other Tama, enabling cross-party combos.
For my starter, I passed up a wind-type bird and fire-type dog in favor of an earth-type kobold dragon called Kobou who I’ve named Phira and quickly fallen in love with. The pixel art is classical and rock-solid, and all the creatures I’ve encountered – and seen in trailers and screenshots – look fabulous. I can’t wait to see Phira’s evolutions.
To get new Tama, you just beat them in combat and hope they ask to join you afterwards. You can dramatically increase the chance of this happening by gifting Tama their favorite foods and other objects. This system is a little random, but it’s also a fun blend of JRPG recruitment and relationship management, and it doesn’t feel nearly as arbitrary as the recruitment conversations in the likes of Shin Megami Tensei.
I see why Anode Heart popped off on Steam the way it did. It’s got secrets to find, NPCs to recruit, and creatures to collect. With clear love for the genre, it cuts through the tedium of some modern catch-’em-alls. The full game is $17.99 and you could run it on a baked potato. Give the demo a go if you’re on the fence.
Our own Sam Lovedrige calls fellow creature collector Moonstone Island “the Pokemon meets Stardew Valley RPG I didn’t know I needed.”
Source: gamesradar.com
