Though Pokemon has been a staple in the gaming industry for three decades, it has rested on its laurels for much too long. Between the lackluster graphics that appear to be .jpeg images instead of modeled buildings, and many gamers craving the edge of older Pokemon games, the prestige of the Pokemon name falls flat for many, myself included.
That’s why games like Palworld swept the charts when early access opened up, and it’s also part of the hype behind Aniimo. Monster-catching mechanics in games are exhilarating, and these projects are inspired by the nostalgia Pokemon instilled in many gamers as children. However, most of us aren’t children any more, and we’re ready for something bigger–something designed for our grade level.
Forget A New Pokemon Generation, We Need Aniimo Evolutions
Instead of instilling a sense of wonder with each Pokemon game’s release, I’m left worrying that each one will once again be the same as the last. Only recently have Pokemon games attempted to change, but its open world attempts feel hollow and misplaced, while its graphics are still way below its Switch (and Switch 2) peers.
Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream Was Always Going To Be Woke
Get ready to create and inhabit the fruitiest island in video game history.
Aniimo presents much more advanced graphics and an open environment with fully modeled structures on par with modern gaming. Pawprint Studio made this labor of love as a dream game for their development team, and it’s aiming to be free-to-play at launch. You’ll play as a Pathfinder, a student researching the mysterious and adorable Aniimo creatures on the Idyll Continent.
Ten-year-olds leaving home on their own to collect gym badges and pocket monsters is great, but it’s not a narrative that fits in our society anymore. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet may have aged up the protagonist slightly, but Aniimo takes it a step further and introduces your protagonist as a college student looking to research these curious critters in a foreign land.
The story of Aniimo focuses on collecting all the critters you can, but there’s more to it than the typical ‘gotta catch ‘em all!’ energy. There’s a reason to study the Aniimo and their evolutions, with more to battles than releasing the monsters to fight for you. You’re a researcher seeking to better understand how the Aniimo and the Prismana energy on the continent coexist and evolve together. You can twine with the Aniimo–which is a fancy way to say you fuse with them.
Controlling the Aniimo directly in battle is a game-changer. Not only do you get to actually use the skills you learn, but it gives a more personal touch to the Aniimo’s bond with the Pathfinder. They have to be in sync, otherwise they won’t succeed. Forget Pokemon not listening to your commands–you and your Aniimo are two sides of the same coin.
Aniimo Blends Monster-Collecting With Farming
Not only can you twine with your captured Aniimo to use them in combat, but many have special features that can help you explore the world. You can use these Aniimo to climb, swim, and glide around.
The environments are a breath of fresh air, painted with whimsical flora and giant dandelions. And you’re not traveling alone this time, either. Similar to Dark Souls, photo templates can be left behind to give other Pathfinder players clues or colorful screenshots in-game.
Once you unlock the RV, you can travel around with friends to participate in co-op events or build a home base together in the Homeland.
Everyone knows that exploration is better with friends, and Aniimo makes sure you can share the adventure with the people you care about. Whether you’re a hardcore collector of all things new and intriguing or you’d prefer to farm at home with your beloved Aniimo, you can do as you please.
As someone who loves the cozy genre, commonly made up of farming sims, this only makes Aniimo more of a dream game. Between real-time battles and the detailed collection system that determines what time, weather, and location conditions certain Aniimo can be found in, there’s always something new to discover with your friends.
Aniimo Is A Monster-Collecting Game For Grown Ups
Aging up the protagonist is the right move, as well as adding open environments and a more pressing narrative. Rather than sending school kids off to collect all the monsters they can, Aniimo chooses to make it a personal mission with a higher purpose–all wrapped in the appeal of livestreaming your adventures to an adoring audience that desperately wants to join you in Idyll, the Aniimo’s home continent.
Rather than just capturing the Aniimo, you can record them and broadcast adorable videos to the NPC viewers as well, allowing you to catalog the Aniimo even if you’re out of pods to capture them for your collection so you don’t miss out. There are even more variants of Aniimo to find across the map, depending on the region you’re in.
The power that enables Aniimo to thrive–Prismana– is a resource the humans want to harvest for themselves, and when you’re swept up into an ancient device to meet the once-gods of the Aniimo, it seems like there’s much more at stake than a gym badge or a test grade. It feels like Aniimo is a love letter to what Pokemon is remembered for, but an evolution that can stand on its own.
The emphasis on exploration and co-op is especially encouraging, as you’ll gain access to an RV you can meet other players with to have camping adventures across the Idyll Continent. I’m excited to see what the future holds for Aniimo, and I can’t wait to play the full thing when it launches free-to-play later in 2026.
Ubisoft Makes More Mistakes Than I Do In My Personal Life
Ubisoft, baby, what are you doing?
