Written by Leilukin
-First published on 26 August 2023
Last updated on 21 September 2023
First published on 26 August 2023
Last updated on 27 September 2023
There is no denying that Pokémon is one of the largest entertainment franchises in the world and the most influential series in the monster taming genre of video games, and thus inspiring many games in the genre. Cassette Beasts, an indie monster taming role-playing game developed by the England-based indie studio Bytten Studio, is not an exception, as it does share similarities to Pokémon.
+There is no denying that Pokémon is one of the largest entertainment franchises in the world and the most influential series in the monster collector genre of video games, and thus inspiring many games in the genre. Cassette Beasts, an indie monster collector role-playing game developed by the England-based indie studio Bytten Studio, is not an exception, as it does share similarities to Pokémon.
However, calling Cassette Beasts a Pokémon clone is doing it a massive disservice, because Cassette Beasts executes many mechanics and aspects of Pokémon games in different, and sometimes arguably better ways.
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@One of the most notable differences between Pokémon and Cassette Beasts is their mechanics to capture monsters. In Pokémon, you catch the creatures by using Poké Balls, but in Cassette Beasts, you do not actually catch the monsters, but you record the essence of the monsters into a cassette tape.
-A common criticism of the monster taming genre is the ethical question of essentially enslaving creatures by capturing and subjugating them into obeying you, as well as enganging in dog fighting by making the creatures fight each other, to the extent that even Pokémon tries to tackle it as the main theme of the story of Black and White, though whether the execution is effective or not is debatable. Cassette Beasts' method of recording monsters solves this moral dilemma of the genre from the get-go, because you are not actually catching the monsters in the traditional sense.
+A common criticism of the monster collector genre is the ethical question of essentially enslaving creatures by capturing and subjugating them into obeying you, as well as enganging in dog fighting by making the creatures fight each other, to the extent that even Pokémon tries to tackle it as the main theme of the story of Black and White, though whether the execution is effective or not is debatable. Cassette Beasts' method of recording monsters solves this moral dilemma of the genre from the get-go, because you are not actually catching the monsters in the traditional sense.
Gameplay-wise, a notable improvement Cassette Beasts has over Pokémon when it comes to monster capture mechanics is that in Cassette Beasts, when you are recording a monster, the percentage of success rate is displayed on screen. Furthermore, a monster that is in the process of being recorded cannot be knocked out, so you can deal more damage to the monster to improve your odds of successfully recording the monster. In Pokémon, you have to be extra careful about not knocking out the Pokémon you want to catch, and when you try to catch one, you can only hope that the RNG is in your favour.
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@Cassette Beasts, on the other hand, as an addition to its companion system and relationship mechanic, provides players the option to pursue a romance with one of their human companions after raising their relationship level to 5, the highest without romance, with unambiguously romantic dialogue and scenes.
-Even though I do not play monster taming games for romances, nor am I asking for Pokémon to add romance options to their games because I am too old to be invested in romances involving fictional children, romance options are a nice addition to a game that is made with adult players in mind like Cassette Beasts.
+Even though I do not play monster collector games for romances, nor am I asking for Pokémon to add romance options to their games because I am too old to be invested in romances involving fictional children, romance options are a nice addition to a game that is made with adult players in mind like Cassette Beasts.
They Did Not Need To But They Did It Anyway counter: 4
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@In addition to having canon LGBTQ+ characters, Cassette Beasts's voice cast also includes multiple openly LGBTQ+ voice actors, such as Allegra Clark, J. Michael Tatum, Kayleigh McKee, Liz Morey, Marin M. Miller and Risa Mei. In fact, both Captain Skip and their voice actor Marin M. Miller are non-binary and go by they/them pronouns.
-Looking for LGBTQ+ representation in monster taming games? Instead of waiting for corporate franchises like Pokémon to give you scraps, how about looking at indie titles that actually has canon LGBTQ+ characters like Cassette Beasts instead?
+Looking for LGBTQ+ representation in monster collector games? Instead of waiting for corporate franchises like Pokémon to give you scraps, how about looking at indie titles that actually has canon LGBTQ+ characters like Cassette Beasts instead?
They Did Not Need To But They Did It Anyway counter: 6
@@ -270,13 +270,13 @@While it is understandable to compare Cassette Beasts to Pokémon, Cassette Beasts has countless claims to forge its own identity apart from the pioneer of the monster taming role-playing game genre, as explained throughout this essay. As someone who has played Pokémon games since the Red Version from Generation 1, but has become jaded with the state of the series since Sword and Shield from Generation 8 and is losing interest in playing their recent titles, Cassette Beasts provides a perfect indie alternative for something different.
+While it is understandable to compare Cassette Beasts to Pokémon, Cassette Beasts has countless claims to forge its own identity apart from the pioneer of the monster collector role-playing game genre, as explained throughout this essay. As someone who has played Pokémon games since the Red Version from Generation 1, but has become jaded with the state of the series since Sword and Shield from Generation 8 and is losing interest in playing their recent titles, Cassette Beasts provides a perfect indie alternative for something different.
Frequent releases and rushed development schedules have taken their toll on the quality of recent Pokémon titles, resulting in cutting corners like empty maps, removal of National PokéDex, etc., and in the case of Scarlet and Violet, glitches and performance issues. Furthermore, as a multi-billion dollar corporate-owned franchise, Pokémon is primarily targeted at children and meant to be able to be enjoyed by everyone, so despite a few attempts to do something new, maximising profit is still prioritised over innovation.
Art that tries to appeal to everyone, even if not bad, tends to be bland and reluctant to take creative risks. Cassette Beasts is another evidence that indie games can be much more creative than AAA games.
-Therefore, if you think you have outgrown Pokémon and looking for a more sophisticated and mature monster taming game that actually treats the player like an adult, go play Cassette Beasts.
+Therefore, if you think you have outgrown Pokémon and looking for a more sophisticated and mature monster collector game that actually treats the player like an adult, go play Cassette Beasts.