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<h1>How <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> is Much More than a <cite>Pokémon</cite> Clone</h1>
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<div class="center-text">
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<p>Written by Leilukin</p>
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<p>First published on August 26, 2023<br>Last updated on August 29, 2023</p>
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<p>First published on 26 August 2023<br>Last updated on 30 August 2023</p>
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</div>
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<details class="toc" role=”doc-toc”>
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<p>By the time <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> was released on April 26, 2023, the main video game series of <cite>Pokémon</cite> had reached its ninth generation with the release of <cite>Scarlet</cite> and <cite>Violet</cite>. <cite>Pokémon</cite> had existed for 27 years since the release of <cite>Red</cite> and <cite>Green</cite> versions in Japan in February 1996.</p>
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<p>However, despite remaining one of the best-selling video game series in the world, <cite>Pokémon</cite> has got the reputation of repeating the same formula in their games over and over. <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, on the other hand, utilises some features and mechanics that exist in the <cite>Pokémon</cite> game series with their own unique spin on them. Therefore, even the similarities between <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> and <cite>Pokémon</cite> are not as straightforward as you may think.</p>
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<p>However, despite remaining one of the best-selling video game series in the world, <cite>Pokémon</cite> has got the reputation of repeating the same formula in their games over and over. <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, on the other hand, executes some features and mechanics that exist in the <cite>Pokémon</cite> game series with their own unique spin on them. Therefore, even the similarities between <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> and <cite>Pokémon</cite> are not as straightforward as you may think.</p>
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<h3>Monster Capture Mechanic</h3>
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<p>The protagonists of <cite>Pokémon</cite> games become the new Champion of their region by defeating Gym Leaders or Trial Captains, then the Elite Four and the current standing Champion. In <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, the closest thing to an equivalent to Gym Leaders is the Ranger Captains, and one of the main quests involves defeating all the Captains across the map, but even then, you do not beat the Ranger Captains and become a Captain yourself for the glory of becoming the best monster battler, but to prove your ability to help the Rangers Guild to protect New Wirral.</p>
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<p><cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> also has a more mature and adult story than <cite>Pokémon</cite>. As a franchise primarily targetted at children, the main human characters in <cite>Pokémon</cite> are children, so the stories of <cite>Pokémon</cite> games are mainly about children's fantasy adventures to be the best Pokémon Trainer. On the other hand, the main characters in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, including your human companions, are adults, and the game is not afraid to discuss topics and issues relevant to adulthood, particularly through the stories of your companion characters. The story of <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> is also unabashedly left-wing with anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist messages, which I frankly doubt will get explored with such authenticity in a corporate-owned mega franchise like <cite>Pokémon</cite>.</p>
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<p><cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> also has a more mature and adult story than <cite>Pokémon</cite>. As a franchise primarily targetted at children, the main human characters in <cite>Pokémon</cite> are children, so the stories of <cite>Pokémon</cite> games are mainly about children's fantasy adventures to be the best Pokémon Trainer. On the flip side, the main characters in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, including your human companions, are adults, and the game is not afraid to discuss topics and issues relevant to adulthood, particularly through the stories of your companion characters. The story of <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> is also unabashedly left-wing with anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist messages, which I frankly doubt will get explored with such authenticity in a corporate-owned mega franchise like <cite>Pokémon</cite>.</p>
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<p>In addition, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>' story can get genuinely dark at times, most notably in the cosmic horror presented by the Archangels, the eldritch entities that you need to defeat in boss battles to gather clues about a way out of New Wirral and return home.</p>
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<p>While the primary draw of the <cite>Pokémon</cite> franchise has always been the monster creatures like other media in the monster-collecting genre, human characters do play a notable role in the franchise from the beginning: in the main series games, you play as a human trainer of Pokémon, battling other human trainers including your rivals, Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Champions and villains. In some games, you also occasionally team up with other human trainers in battles. However, the main series <cite>Pokémon</cite> games do not have any dedicated companion and relationship mechanic with human characters.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, human relationships are a major focus in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> both in story and game mechanics: you are accompanied by a companion character throughout your adventures in New Wirral, with 5 out of 6 of the potential partners being human; each companion character has their own story and quest for you to explore; each have a relationship level that can be raised by gaining experience points with them, and higher relationship levels make you stronger when you fuse in battle.</p>
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<p>Conversely, human relationships are a major focus in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> both in story and game mechanics: you are accompanied by a companion character throughout your adventures in New Wirral, with 5 out of 6 of the potential partners being humans; each companion character has their own story and quest for you to explore; each have a relationship level that can be raised by gaining experience points with them, and higher relationship levels make you stronger when you fuse in battle.</p>
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<p>Human characters in <cite>Pokémon</cite> interest me as much as the creatures themselves, because the Pokémon world is populated by both Pokémon and humans, thus I find the humans' relationships with the creatures and each other also an important element of the Pokémon world. Unfortunately, I often feel that human characters are an aspect of the <cite>Pokémon</cite> games that are underappreciated by the Western Pokémon fandom, who tend to focus more on the creatures themselves. Therefore, seeing a <cite>Pokémon</cite>-inspired game, especially one that is developed by a Western studio like <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, actually make effort in fleshing out human characters and relationships was the biggest pleasant surprise for me when I started playing <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> for the first time.</p>
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<p><cite>Pokémon</cite> has a spin-off game that focus more on human characters: <cite>Pokémon Masters EX</cite>, but the fact that it is a gacha game means it is a glorified gambling game that wants you to spend real-world money to gamble to collect the human trainers. However, that is not the case at all in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, since it does not have any microtransaction. In fact, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>' companion and relationship systems prove that <cite>Pokémon</cite> can do more with their human characters without predatory monetisation tactics.</p>
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<p><cite>Pokémon</cite> has a spin-off game that focus more on human characters: <cite>Pokémon Masters EX</cite>, but the fact that it is a gacha game means it is a glorified gambling game that wants you to spend real-world money to gamble to collect the human trainers. However, that is not the case at all in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>, since it does not have any microtransactions whatsovever. In fact, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite>' companion and relationship systems prove that <cite>Pokémon</cite> can do more with their human characters without predatory monetisation tactics.</p>
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<p><strong>They Did Not Need To But They Did It Anyway counter: 3</strong></p>
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<p><cite>Pokémon</cite> does not have a single canon same-gender couple in any of its games. In the shipping side of the <cite>Pokémon</cite> fandom, especially among LGBTQ+ fans, some same-gender pairing are popular, but it does not change the fact that there is no character in the <cite>Pokémon</cite> franchise who is officially confirmed to be gay or attracted to the same-gender.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> has canon LGBTQ+ characters. The most notable ones are the human companions, either. The game also has a pair of NPCs who are revealed in-game to be a married gay couple.</p>
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<p>On the flip side, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> has canon LGBTQ+ characters. The most notable ones are the human companions, either. The game also has a pair of NPCs who are revealed in-game to be a married gay couple.</p>
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<details class="spoiler-accordion">
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<summary class="spoiler-accordion__hint">Minor Quest Spoilers for <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite></summary>
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<p>Despite some attempts to tell more developed stories with more dialogue and cinematic cutscenes, as of <cite>Scarlet</cite> and <cite>Violet</cite>, none of the main series <cite>Pokémon</cite> games have any voice acting in their dialogue.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> has voiced dialogue. Even though the amount of voiced dialogue in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> is limited, voice acting helps to bring the characters to life and add more character to the game.</p>
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<p>Conversely, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> has voiced dialogue. Even though the amount of voiced dialogue in <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> is limited, voice acting helps to bring the characters to life and add more character to the game.</p>
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<p>It is more notable when you remember that being an indie game, <cite>Cassette Beasts</cite> could have completely avoid adding voice acting to save development budget, but the developers added it anyway.</p>
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