Pokemon Sword and Shield, even though the games aren’t out yet, have received bad press from fans and media. Whether it be the limited amount of Pokemon available in the national dex or the Nintendo Gamecube graphics, fans of the series seem to be sick of the repetitive rehashing of the Pokemon universe. Enter Temtem.
Temtem is a massively multiplayer creature-collection game by Crema. It had a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, with almost $600,000 pledged out of a $70,000 goal. No need to worry about dodgy Kickstarter scams, either, there is already an Alpha released on Steam with the most recent (and rather large) update hitting the shop on June 15th.
Temtem is a lot like Pokemon. Like, basically the same game. A “Total rip off,” said one YouTube commenter, “and I’m completely fine with that.” You start off as a kid trainer who wants to collect the so-called Temtem, cute creatures who live in harmony with the humans on the island. Those Temtem battle each other, there are Temtem types (like Fire, Water, Nature etc), and everything works on a turn-based system. Even the graphics are reminiscent of later Pokemon games.
However, there is a lot Temtem does differently. It’s almost as if the studio at Crema has taken everything Pokemon could do better, or stuff the fans have been asking for, and does it. The world of Temtem is massively multiplayer – you interact with other trainers, and can even partake in the story in co-op mode. Customization in Temtem is Animal Crossing in nature, something fans of Nintendo’s Pokemon have wanted for as long as the series has existed.
One of the most interesting aspects of Temtem is the focus on competitive battling. Pokemon has had a competitive online battling scene for many years, though often the pro players run on Gen III Pokedex before things started to get crazy with the later games. Temtem introduces a ranking system and the option to ban certain Temtem. Regular tournaments will run, as stated when the game smashed its $500,000 target.
As of yet, the game is still in Alpha. A big 0.2 update released on June 15th, which added a new area, additions to the story, and a number of performance fixes. Like all Kickstarter projects, you need to take everything with a grain of salt, however, so far Temtem looks like a strong contender for the future of the Pokemon series.
