It's Temtem! Or, well, parsed as 'temtem'. It's a multiplayer online game that's clearly meant to evoke Pokemon, except, y'know, MMO. It released early in 2020 and I think was intended to compete with Pokemon Sword & Shield... and it sure is an interesting game. I've personally not played it, but friends of mine have and they did talk a fair bit about the game. I'm honestly just kind of waiting for the game to be fully complete before playing it, I guess?A lot of the premise is basically... well, basically just Pokemon, but with some things changed. And honestly, coming from a huge Pokemon fan, that's kind of a compliment. And I am actually a huge fan of the very 'soft' vibe that the 3D models have, which sort of reminds me of... Wind Waker, I guess? I dunno. As usual, I'm going to and review the monsters with my admittedly minimal knowledge of the game from watching youtube let's plays and worth of mouth, as well as the wiki. If nothing else, I really like the graphical aspects of this game, and the shape of its region. It's a bunch'a floating islands! As of the time of writing (which was around a month ago) the game is still in an Alpha patch so this is like, around two-thirds of the Temtem that are in the game. Check out this pretty anime trailer!
Anyway, let me talk about the Temtems!
Oree & Zaobian:
I haven't really played the game a lot, just a little from what my friends have shown me, this is an unobtainable Temtem, used by your primary rival character. I do really like Oree with its huge eyes, huge ears and chunky gatling-gun arms. It looks like it could be buddies with Wall-E or Baymax! Oree is cute, and I think it's designed partially with being one of the game's mascots in mind. It's a cute robot friend!
Its evolution, Zaobian (Chinese for 'photograph') is a lot less cute, having a full-on proportionally human-shaped torso. It keeps a lot of the details that Oree has, but I like it a bit less. It does communicate being a lot stronger, though. Oree and Zaobian are also the only representatives of the 'Digital' type (so basically, robots?), which is an artificial type compared to the rest of the other naturally-occurring 'tems in the game. It's odd that Oree and Zaobian are basically not only unobtainable, they are also the only representatives of one of the twelve types in the game? Okay, then.
Platypet, Platox & Platimous:
Oh shit, I actually know this guy! This was one of the widely-circulated fake 'Sword and Shield leaks' where someone drew very convincing, Nintendo character model style artwork of what they claimed to be the starters of the new Pokemon game. The water starter looked exactly like this, a cute adorable baby-blue platypus with huge eyes. Apparently the Temtem development team used the design with permission from the original artist, and hey, Platypet might not be a Pokemon, but it sure is a Temtem!
Definitely love the attention to real-world platypus biology in its typing, too. Platypi produce venom from their legs, and so the entire Platypet line is Water/
Swali & Loali:
Aaaaa a cutie. Swali is a cute little caterpillar wrapped up in an adorable black... leaves? Proto-wings? Whatever they are, it has that adorable Swadloon vibe and those cute anime eyes really do make the look a lot. Temtem doesn't have an equivalent to Pokemon's "Bug" type, and Swali is rolled into what, to Pokemon fans, would be a combination of "Grass" and "Bug", the "Nature" type. I can dig with that name, Nature is like a term that a lot of other RPG's use. Swali itself is described as being simultaneously a chrysalis and also growing on vines like fruits, so I guess it's a plant-animal fusion?
I do really, really likes its evolution, Loali, too. It's unmistakably inspired by a butterfly or moth or some sort of real-life insect, but its anatomy is clearly original to the game, being an adorable little sphere-head with anime eyes, antennae, and six wings that splay out like a cape. That's a very, very awesome and memorable silhouette, and while liking the bug critter is kind of a given for me in these sort of creature-collecting game, I feel like Loali does look very, very adorable. (Loali is Nature/Wind, which is the more elemental-themed equivalent to Pokemon's "Flying").
Tateru:
I guess this is the Pikachu equivalent, the adorable, nice-looking rodent that looks like a cartoon animal and is not that aggressive? It sure is cute, I guess, and fits well with the more pastel-themed aesthetic of the Temtem world. I guess it's like some sort of ambiguous rabbit-marmot? It's of the 'Neutral' type, the equivalent to Pokemon's Normal. I don't have much to say here, but I also don't have much to say here about Pokemon's own 'just an animal' mons.
Paharo, Paharac & Grandpah
Wasn't there a fun colourful bird in Pokemon Uranium fan-game named Pahar, too? These birds are pure-Wind-types, and they sure are cute, colourful creatures. Paharo has a huge little leaf-mask which gets turned into a spiky face-masks when it evolves into Paharac and Grandpah. As the Tempedia notes, Paharo actually uses the green leaf as camouflage, but as it evolves the green feathers basically end up being useless for camouflage and are just used for decorative purposes. Not the biggest fan of how Paharac and Granpah don't look too different, honestly, but as one of the more mundane ones early on in this list, sure, I can roll with that.
Bunbun & Mudrid
These two are dual-type Earth/Crystal creatures, which is to say that they're Pokemon's equivalent to a Ground/Rock type. "Earth" does carry a more traditional-RPG elemental connection to it than "Ground", and "Crystal" is, I guess, a way to give the Rock-type equivalents a very distinct look from the others in having, well, light-blue crystals jutting out of their body. Sure? Also, Bunbun and Mudrid are dirt bunnies. I really like the little necklace of mud or something they have. Not too much to say here, they're a lot less boring than the Paharo line!
Hidody & Taifu
Another cutie! These two are pure-Nature types, and Hidody is like this weird ambiguous blob with anime eyes, little caterpillar legs that don't even reach the ground, and a collar of leaves. That's adorable, and apparently Hidody goes around into people's houses stealing cookies. I still like Swali better as the weird plant-bug hybrid, but Hidody's cute! Not so much for Taifu... which I do acknowledge have a very interesting body proportion with those two big antennae and stubby limbs on that body. It sure is a unique look, but there's just something... off about Taifu. I don't hate it, though, I just find it kind of weird.
Fomu & Wiplump
Another cutie! I think Temtem as a franchise does 'cute' very, very well, and the lighter pastel colours are just very pleasant to look at. Fomu is an ambiguous cute little blob with a c: face, a unicorn horn, and just constantly secreting little cloud-like vapour "like a steam engine". Since it keeps making vapour, Fomu needs to stay near water and basically move around with water propulsion from its butt-steam-engine. Kinda cute, this one isn't based on any specific real-life organism, I don't think, but is a nice little take on a monster themed around gas or clouds in general.
The pure-Water Fomu evolves into the Water/Wind Wiplump. I'm not sure about that name, it kinda sounds like an insult, but instead of looking like a Munna-esque blob, Wiplump is... a fairy dragon? That's the vibe I get from it, anyway, with its cute little angel wings and its dinosaur-esque face. I don't have much to say here other than I do kind of like it a fair bit.
Skail & Skunch
Skail is like, a mean-looking squirrel creature with a weird tail? And when it evolves into Skunch, it adapts the 'I can stand on my powerful tail' pose that kangaroos can do? Skunch becomes a Normal/Melee creature, with "Melee" being an interesting obvious equivalent to Pokemon's "Fighting" type. They're mean rodents, and despite being seemingly based on rodents and a generic fighting style, Skunch's moveset is filled with move names that have ninja sounding names. If it's meant to be a squirrel ninja, sorry, I'm not really seeing it?
Goty & Mouflank
Goty is a cute baby goat. Who's a cute baby goat? Goty is, yes you are. Again, as I keep saying, Temtem does 'cute little monster baby' very well. Mouflank is a pretty cool more badass-looking ram monster, and I feel like Mouflank does look better as a goat monster compared to the likes of Paharac and Skail. Not much to say here, a right pleasant-looking duo of Neutral-types. Again, I do appreciate very much that Temtem's designers recognize the importance of having a good balance of 'mundane slightly-weird animals' and 'over-the-top crazy designs'. That's the recipe to having an interesting bestiary, I feel.
Rhoulder
A Neutral/Earth creature, Rhoulder's pretty simple. It's a rhinoceros with a very cool little scalloping texture on its body, and I do like the neat Ceratopsian armour-like head shape it's got going on. There's not much to say here, but it's very pleasant looking, and, like Rhoulder above, looks familiar enough to the base real-world animal but also different enough that it looks like it belongs in the Temtem world.
This is, I believe, one of the starter Temtem. Houchic and Tental are
Apparently Houchics start off as emphatic, good-natured children before they grow into shrewder creatures as Tentals before ultimately turning into the wise Nagaise. So the line goes from a nice kid to a rebellious teenager to a wise adult? Okay. I kind of like the weird oven mitts that Tental has, even if I actually kind of feel like they might've played the 'psychic tentacles' up a fair bit more. If it isn't in the name and descriptions, I wouldn't have caught that those were meant to be tentacles and not, well, anime hair. Not my favourite starter by any means, but certainly one that fits very well into the aesthetic of thig ame.
Orphyll & Nidrassil
I like snakes, and this sure is a snake that combines the cute snout with a more fearsome face. I kind of feel like they could've done more instead of just adding two leaves from its 'chest', but I suppose Pokemon has many snake Pokemon that are literally just purple cartoon snakes, so okay, fine. Orphyll evolves into the very cool three-headed Nidrassil, which I really do like. These are Nature/Toxic, which I guess means that these snakes are maybe part-plant, too? You can never go wrong with snake monsters!
Banapi & Capyre
These are kinda cute, being like mountain goats that are our very first Fire-types on this list. I do like the huge eye-covering dollop of giant hair in Banapi's design, and while Capyre is pretty serviceable, there's just something that I find a lot less interesting compared to something like Mouflank. Apparently, Capyre is also a trickster? I do appreciate that these are like... I'm not entirely sure what animal their basis is, Banapi and Capyre list goats and bulls as their inspiration but they're more like weird fox-goat hybrids, huh?
A trio of pure-Crystal types. And I think perhaps the easiest way to showcase the 'Crystal' theme. They have crystal growths on their body! I like Lapinite a lot, it's a cute cartoon bunny with a mohawk made of crystals and two pairs of bunny ears. Azuroc and Zeroneth look a bit too humanoid and I realize that I just praised Nagaise for being a cool humanoid monster, but I dunno. I just don't quite like these guys so much? Zeroneth is pretty cool, though, I must admit. I guess it's the arms and the slightly hunched-forwards pose? Also love the gigantic crystal-growth tail they've got going on. Not my thing exactly, but not something I dislike either.
Hee hee, these look silly, and I love them for it. Bigu is pure-Nature, and he's like this weird snail-thing with a snail shell and little octopus-suckers on its belly? And it's got leaves jutting out of his hair and little stubby arms? Bigu looks comical and I think it's just supposed to be an amalgamation of a lot of random snail-monster tropes or something. It has a very Ragnarok/Seal Online vibe to it. I do really like the fact that the tempedia tries to hammer home that Bigu is constantly underestimated and people think that because it's slow, it's kind of weak.
Bigu evolves into the Nature/Water Babawa, and goes from being a snail to a... plesiosaur? Hell yeah, I can definitely dig it. In addition to being a 'sea snail', it also looks like a pretty badass sea creature! The tadpole tail and the larger, dinosaurian body shape makes it a lot more impressive, but I do like that it still retains those weird octopus-suckers on its chest. Babawa is actually a pretty cool creature. I like him a fair bit.
Another baby! Kaku and Platypet are actually some of the first designs that my friends that played this game showed me and I'm like OOOOH WHAT A PRECIOUS. Based on some sort of flying helicopter flying-seed (like the Jaracanda tree's seeds), I absolutely love that Kaku's main body is like this Neopets-esque blob body with little stubby arms. I love that. And the fact that Kaku is using those petals as basically additional limbs? Additional limbs that can wrap around him and protect him? Kaku is precious.
I like Saku a lot less than Kaku for that reason, but on the other hand I do totally approve that this is what Kaku evolves into. The tiny blob body is now a lot larger and looks like a happy frog that flies around with its little floating seed-flower thing. Saku's Nature/Wind, obviously, and really reminds me of the Pokemon Skiploom in all the best ways. It doesn't just rely on the flower-rotor either, but also apparently inflates its body to fly. Fun!
Valash
It sure is a badger-man with huge crystal arms. Kind of like Lucario, and that probably means that Valash is pretty popular. Animal-men 'mons are honestly just not my thing, but I will go on record on saying that Valash's anatomy and giant crystal claws are way more interesting to me than the Pokemon Lucario or Zeraora are.
Barnshe
A Mental/Wind Temtem that's like some sort of bird dancer lady, but I'm not a fan of this one. I guess it's the face that really throws me off. Apparently Barnshe can fly, but it's so proud of its mental powers it lands on the ground and uses it a lot.
Gyalis
Oh shit this is cool and yeah, I know, I have a type for what I consider cool in monsters. I can't help it! Gyalis is a Crystal/Melee Temtem. She's a rock-mantis monster that knows kung fu! And she's got a fancy crown of floating crystals over her head! A very cool design overall. I like the mantis arms, I like the jointed bug legs, the face, and the little not-wings that jut out of her back. Apparently, Gyalis gets a bad rap and everyone thinks that she's an evil scary monster because of movies. Sort of like pit-bulls, I guess, because apparently they're as adorable as a housecat if properly cared for. A very cool mantis monster.
Occlura & Myx
Okay Occlura is really cool. I'm not sure what is it about this sort of aesthetic -- two glowing eyes in a formless void within a fanged maw -- that I really like a lot. I guess it's Kingdom Hearts' Heartless that ended up making me like this aesthetic a lot? Occlura is a pure-Crystal creature, and I do like that it kinda looks like a kid wearing a full-body hoodie. And it's got a Hearthstone symbol on its chest, I like it. The Occlura are creepy but actually harmless, and are apparently used to mine stuff with their huge teeth.
Occlura evolves into the Mental/Crystal Myx, and... I went from not liking the design to really liking it. The 'fang' that surrounded the two glowing eyes have evolved into a far messier lamprey-like maw of crystal teeth, and I do like the fact that the 'hoodie' from Occlura have broken up and split into some sort of funky floating trenchcoat. Or, well, multiple pairs of wiggly tentacle arms that function like a cloak surrounding that very cool black inner body. A very cool design that still keeps a lot of what's charming about its pre-evolution, and I actually low-key really like these two.
Raiber, Raize & Raican
It's a lion cub themed around fire that evolves into a fire-themed lion and then even more to a bigger fire-themed lion. Again, it's basically kinda cool (even if Raize and Raican doesn't look that different) but ultimately it's kind of an obvious one, innit? There's nothing wrong with being obvious and kind of basic. But at the same time I kinda wished that they did something more, y'know?
Pewki & Piraniant
AAAAAAAAAA BABY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO. Look at this baby. Look at this Pewki. Look at this goofy-ass motherfucker hammerhead shark with its huge googly eyes and its adorable little smile with little fangs and its snubby little body with tiny fins and a huge pink tail. Look at this thing. Look at it. It's perfect. As its full 3D model shows its entire body is basically the hammer-shaped head and I can't believe this is the first time I've ever seen a hammerhead shark be done like this. A perfect shark baby.
And Piranaiant does lose some point for the simple fact that it's not the perfection that's Pewki, but it's still a fun angry-looking fish with the hammerhead look being basically interpreted as being flat in the other direction and acting as like a visor. Like rear-view mirrors or something. I like it, but not as much as I do Pewki.
Osuchi, Osukan & Osukai
So Osuchi is like, a chipmunk, I guess? With rocky spikes and a hammer for a tail? It's a pure Earth-type, and as it evolves it becomes Earth/Melee. Osukan sort of looks like a character from Sonic the Hedgehog, but with approximately 50% more rock armour. And then it evolves into the four-armed, thicker-bodied, Hariyama-headed Osukai, and it's like based on martial arts or something. Pretty cool, even if I'm not the biggest fan of them.
Saipat
Saipat is a different platypus. It's a platypus with a sai. And a hat made out of a clam shell. A Water/Melee creature, Saipats are emphasized to be easily-underestimated, because they're actually badass knights. They're cute, and I guess they're like cousins to the Platypet line? Not the biggest fan of a creature relying so heavily on accessories, but in this case I kinda like just how ridiculous this is.
Pycko & Drakash
Aaaaa another baby. Having the proportions of a four-legged larger reptile like dinosaurs or komodo dragons, Pycko has the most adorable tail from the Fat-Tail Gecko or the Gila Monste. And honestly, that would be enough to make me like it. The colour scheme is very pleasant, the cartoon baby dragon face is adorable, and this critter is apparently Earth/Fire, as communicated by those very two-dimensional flame effects from his cheeks.
Pycko evolves into the bipedal Drakash, and... it's actually a pretty cool design in that it loses none of what made Pycko so adorable. The gangly limbs look great, the had looks appropriately badass without trying too hard, and most importantly the fat gecko tail is still there. I approve!
Crystle, Sherald & Tortenite
The regional starters are placed very far apart in the tempedia, and I don't really see any real practical reason for this other than 'we got to be different from Pokemon'. Crystle is my favourite of the three starters, and he's a cute little turtle with a big-ass chunky head made out of crystal. The Tempedia make great lengths to tell you that while it looks like a crystal animal, it's way more of a mineral creature than an animal. Its evolved form, Sherald, is pretty much what you expect. Bigger, badasser-looking proportions and spikes. And its final Crystal/Toxic form is Tortenite, who stands on two legs. I do like the long, wide arms and the tapering crescent-shaped horns. I'm not sure where the toxic part comes from, none of the tempedia entries really explain that part to me. A cool crys
Hocus & Pocus
Kinda cool as pretty interesting psychic beings, I guess? The floating red orb is cool, and the whole lavender-horn-and-yellow-cloth thing that I'm not sure is even physically connected to Hocus and Pocus' anatomy is cool. Apparently, the tempedia notes that the Hocus and Pocus line are selectively bred and kept as basically aristocratic weapons for the older houses, which is... kind of an interesting route with fictional superpowered animal pets that I don't think Pokemon has ever taken. Design wise they look actually pretty cool, like some ambiguous mixture of various spirits.
Sparzy
He looks like one of Stitch's cousins. I kinda dig this guy. That face screams 'I'm a mischievous ass', the neon-blue and metallic-blue colouration is pretty cool, and I actually do like the gangly vibe of this punk-looking critter. This dude is our first Electric-type, and I like him. He's apparently unavailable in the game like Oree, but you fight a bunch of him as NPC enemies.
Mushi & Mushook
I can't not like mushroom based creatures, but Mushi is actually very adorable. That angry face, and those bunny-ears that also double as arms is pretty cute. The Mushi are pure-Toxic, and they feed on Crystal Temtems exclusively. It's kind of interesting that the thing that feeds on crystal monsters... is a mushroom! A very fun fleshy 'hat' mushroom, too.
I don't really like the Toxic/Melee Mushook, which goes from being a cute mushroom monster just some lanky dude with a mushroom hat, but I love that his punching gloves basically resemble those edible shiitake mushrooms with cuts on the cap.
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And, as usual, I get so rambly so this is going to be yet another two-parter. One of these days I'll find a video game bestiary I'll be able to complete in a single sitting. Whatever the case, though, while I'm not impressed with the entirety of Temtem's bestiary, I feel like the hit-to-miss ratio is heavily in favour of being hits. And, sure, Temtem does have its own... unique style that is distinct from Pokemon. But I like that. I like the variety, I like what a different aesthetic team can come up with, and I really like a lot of these creatures. So far my favourites, I feel, have been the creatures that lean more towards being weirdo animals like Pewki, Pycko, Platypet, Kaku, Loali or Babawa, but then you have designs like Occlura, Myx and Fomu that really stand out. Overall, a pretty fun romp down the available Temtems.
It's always fun to see you review monsters your unfamiliar with.
ReplyDeleteIt's always fun to look up bestiaries of games that I'm not the most acquainted with! Temtem, at least, I've watched a bunch of friends play, but even then I've probably only seen, what, twenty or thirty of the monsters before actually sitting down and opening the wiki pages? It's always a fun little exercise.
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