my wife did the soundtrack so this is the greatest game since they gamified slicing bread

Literally better than every pokemon game I have ever played. It is a peak product of the whole mon collection genre. It does not waste your time. Despite being in early access it is already a complete and full product with post-game, a full game story, and 100+ beasties.

I cannot stress this enough, this is literally better than every pokemon game released in the last 25 years.

Everytime I got some form of anxiety about something I have to do in a pokemon game, this game basically said don't worry about it. It is cathartic.

getting setup for pvp takes almost no time, no need to breed, no iv's, easy ev's, easy ev resets.

absolutely 100% biggest recommendation.

There is a literal rougelike mode built into the end-game. Its sick af.

long review incoming but i have a lot to say on this one.

i've been a superfan of Pokemon since i was a really young kid, and to this day, it's the only real media property i consistently engage with aside from a handful of in-depth A-Life/virtual pet titles. i've done my dabbling in competitive (gen 7 VGC, for those wondering what my comparisons are going to be) and shiny hunting and especially challenge runs, and really enjoy finding new and exciting ways to play pokemon. OCs, roleplay, the works. but every single one of these things- even if it's an intended feature from Game Freak- is hampered in some way, made Harder than it needs to be. everyone has talked about how prohibitively inaccessible competitive Pokemon is, to the point of people being turned off from the idea of playing the game on a more strategic level because it's just so awful to get into- and again, talking from experience.

to compare beastieball to pokemon, or to even call it a Pokemon-like, is a complete disservice, because it looks at everything that pokemon has baked into it and says that that's not necessary here. from the FOMO to the artificial playtime bloat, to gatekeeping features of the game towards only those who are willing to put in dozens if not hundreds of hours of effort that isn't even spent playing the game, and is often tedious and repetitive tasks that only exist to waste time, beastieball says "what if we said screw that, and spotlighted a hyper-polished hyper-focused narrative-based game design." every aspect of this game ties into core themes, both on a worldbuilding/lore perspective, and the sheer mechanical richness of the game promises not only a good experience for those who like strategic games, but also the opportunity to introduce this kind of depth to people who otherwise would have assumed "oh, that's not for me".

the way the level design works in this game is insane- i am playing with multiple friend groups right now, and every single person in those groups has had a different path through the game- while still feeling just as thrilled and engaged. we've been swapping tips and tricks and discoveries, and it has been one of the most fulfilling experiences i've ever had with a game- and one i think will stay! i don't feel like this game will have the "oh you missed out" feeling that so many do, and that's a breath of fresh air.

the beastie relationship and vibe system is incredible, not only as someone who has craved this in any game ever, but especially as someone invested in the A-Life genre of games. i have to wonder if the devs were familiar with 90's virtual life games, because a lot of the systems here have the same level of depth i haven't seen since PC games in that era, and i personally never thought i would see that again. it is finally, Finally a game where i can get invested in my little guys- and have every element of the gameplay support that!

i love every single design in this game, which isn't something i can say about any piece of media with a bestiary //ever//. i love every character, and every bit of writing feels like a breath of fresh air. the game's politics are upfront and just what we need in any year, but especially 2024, and it means the world to see. i have not beaten the game yet, but the only reason why not is because i feel like i'm allowed to actually slow down and enjoy the game, and do that for a long, long time.

if you play beastieball, you'll end up asking questions, many of which point to "can i do this?". even in early access, beastieball, more often than not, says yes, and allows you to //play//.

in a world of dark patterns and purposefully manipulative game design, i can't recommend this enough as the antithesis to that. 10/10