Coromon is a charming indie game that has yet to announce its official date of release. Which is a shame because the little bit I did play in the demo just left me wanting more. With its beautiful pixel work and interesting storyline, Coromon earned a spot on my Steam wishlist. It does add several new interesting mechanics like character customization and individual monster statistic customization to keep things fresh. But despite these changes, its gameplay is still highly reminiscent of Pokemon making it the perfect game to play after you have caught all 809 of the current roster and are craving more.
Coromon Battle System
Coromon Battle Screen
When it comes to monster-catching games only two things really matter, the monsters and the combat. Coromon takes the core battles mechanics and art style that has made Pokemon a fan favorite and successfully made it their own. By adding assignable statistics to your captured monsters, the game allows for deeper role-playing choices and more complex battles. You can now beef up their attacks or amp up their defense, whichever you choose, whenever they level up. The battles themselves look vastly improved with animated sprites and full-screen background images. Two things that the pokemon franchise slacked on for many years. Both breathe new life into a classic battle system that, according to some, has begun to grow stale.
World of Coromon
Coromon Overworld
The world of Coromon plans on being a vast one, with many different regions and biomes to explore. Each with its own Coromon to discover and capture. One of my favorite parts of the Coromon trailer was the brief sneak peek of the biomes found within the game. Unlike older Pokemon games, Coromon offers diverse climates and colorful scenery in their overworld setting. The demo offers a small sample of several biomes within the confines of a lab, but the trailer shows them in their full fleshed out glory. With so many locations to explore, Coromon is sure to capture the hearts of any Pokemon trainer searching for a new region to conquer.
What’s Coromon About?
Starting Coromon Monsters
Like most monster-catching games, Coromon follows a young protagonist with a coming-of-age quest placed before him. You are given the choice of three starting Coromon and send on your way. To succeed, you must put together a squad using that monster and/or other monsters you capture. As you progress throughout the game and grow stronger, your monsters will transform into more powerful versions of themselves. Like Pokemon, part of the charm is being able to track down and capture all the creatures yourself. As you can imagine, as soon as the game is released we plan on hunting down all 120 of them.
How is Coromon Different From Pokemon?
As we said several times, Coromon is not all that much different than Pokemon. It was made as a tribute to classic monster-catching games, so they should have a lot in common. In fact, most of the changes to the gameplay are either more in-depth mechanics or simple quality of life improvements. For instance, this indie game has various built-in difficulty levels allowing more experienced players to have more of a challenge. It also allows for customization of your monster’s stats, making for more interesting and unexpected battles.
Besides these few minor adjustments to gameplay, most of the cosmetic changes look like they were made purely for legal reasons. For starters, the monsters are called Coromon and not Pokemon. If that one wasn’t a given. Another small change is that instead of a pokeball, you use something called a ‘spinner’ to catch and release your monsters. From what we saw in the demo they are essentially the same item, Spinners just look cooler being released.
Why Should I Buy Coromon?
When discussing Coromon, and any indie monster-catching game, the first question is always the same. Why should they buy this Pokemon-like game and not just buy Pokemon? And my answer is always the same, “Why not both?”. I might be a simple person, but when I find something I like I want more of it. By following a gameplay formula that has been proven to be successful with the 8 generations of the core Pokemon series, the game was made with a built-in audience. Anyone who has enjoyed playing Pokemon will also enjoy this lovable knock-off. Some gamers will even prefer the more in-depth leveling system seen here.
Gameplay Trailer
