As a toddler of the 90s who was virtually raised by Pokémon, Cassette Beasts was made for folks like me. I purchased the sport when it launched again in April, however with 2023 being so stacked with gargantuan AAA releases, it sadly fell to the wayside and began gathering mud just like the tons of of different unplayed video games in my assortment.
Cassette Beasts not too long ago surpassed 350,000 players across all platforms, and its first DLC, Pier of the Unknown, launched in October to a glowing reception. So I made a decision now was the proper time to lastly give the sport a attempt, and I’m so glad I did, as a result of I used to be immediately hooked.
Its putting retro aesthetic, Metroidvania-style open world, and refreshing tackle the monster-battling method mix to kind an attractive, vibrant, and unexpectedly heartwarming journey that places newer Pokémon titles to disgrace. After 20 hours with Cassette Beasts, I’ll by no means look again, and when you’re a retro Pokémon fan like me, you owe it to your self to play this sport.
Not only a carbon copy
At its core, Cassette Beasts is all about accumulating and battling monsters, however there’s way more to it than meets the attention. Utilizing a 90s-style cassette participant and headphones, you rework into one in all 140 titular Cassette Beasts—quirky monsters saved on cassette tapes—to battle wild creatures, different characters, and the terrifying VHS era-inspired Archangels that function the principle villains in Cassette Beasts’ surprisingly grownup story.
Whereas it seems to be like an old-school Pokémon sport on the floor, Cassette Beasts performs very in a different way. You possibly can transfer in all instructions, soar, and after grabbing your first Metroidvania-style power-up, you’ll be able to glide. It is a welcome twist that makes exploring Cassette Beasts’ island of New Wirral really feel trendy, participating, and enjoyable from the get-go.
New Wirral is pretty small, however the entire map is a puzzle in and of itself. There’s a single main settlement, Harbourtown, that serves because the staging level on your adventures. Greater-level areas are gated behind pure boundaries you want new skills to beat, like dashing and swimming. You unlock traversal skills by copying (capturing) the monsters that use them, incentivizing you to revisit older areas after you get stronger, like a real Metroidvania.
Fight is a blast, too—there are tons of of strikes to unlock, and because you’re the one reworking and battling, it’s you that ranges up reasonably than your beasts. This implies each beast you gather is immediately viable, and gone are the tedious days of grinding with an XP share. These options all resolve issues with the Pokémon video games that I by no means realized wanted fixing, and the result’s a completely participating expertise that may really feel contemporary and acquainted for followers of the style.
Satisfying RPG programs with participating fight
That’s removed from the whole lot Cassette Beasts does to shake up the method. Battles have exceptional depth and make Pokémon really feel primary and underbaked by comparability. You at all times combat with a companion at your aspect, so that you’re free to experiment with synergies from the get-go. Combos really feel worthwhile to find and pull off: You stand up to 16 means slots as a substitute of solely 4, and monster varieties cleverly work together with one another in a method that Pokémon merely can’t maintain a candle to.
In case your Lightning means hits an Earth-type enemy, you modify its kind to Glass. Hitting the now-Glass-type with an Air means inflicts Resonance, and doing this thrice shatters the glass and immediately knocks out your goal. There are tons extra enjoyable interactions like this: Hearth melts Plastic-types, turning them into Poison-types, and when you hit a Poison-type with a Steel-type, the Steel-type turns into Poison-tipped and offers contact harm.
These mechanics preserve fight feeling contemporary and attention-grabbing into the late sport, however what makes Cassette Beasts actually particular is its Fusion system. After filling up your Fusion Meter, you’ll be able to fuse along with your companion to create a singular, ultra-powerful beast along with your strikes and stats mixed.
Fusion is basically your final means, and it feels superior each time you utilize it. The soundtrack’s tacky vocals kick in, you acquire entry to devastating fusion assaults, and the entire thing appears like a legendary scene from an anime like Dragon Ball Z. Epic moments like this have been at all times lacking from the retro Pokémon video games, and Cassette Beasts rightfully places them middle stage.
A grown-up tackle a childhood favourite
Regardless of being so vigorous and upbeat on the floor, Cassette Beasts’ themes, story, and general tone are way more mature than Pokémon. With out spoiling something, characters can and do die. There’s delicate profanity within the soundtrack, and all of the characters you encounter are adults, with grownup points. Your companions have careers, relationships, and households, they usually typically take you without warning with genuinely heartwarming bits of dialogue.
Cassette Beasts’ grownup themes are prevalent in each side of the sport, however they by no means develop tiresome. The Landkeepers are the very best instance, Cassette Beasts’ equal to Pokémon’s Staff Rocket. They’re smug property brokers who, fittingly, additionally occur to be vampires. The Landkeepers are obsessive about claiming as a lot of New Wirral’s housing market as doable to allow them to cost exorbitant lease costs, and their complete storyline is delightfully cynical. This could let you know the whole lot you might want to find out about Cassette Beasts’ target market.
Pokémon’s fresh-faced protagonists are iconic, however Cassette Beasts’ down-to-earth undertones inject a dose of realism that hits near dwelling and feels good for a millennial gamer like me.
A blast from the previous that’s related now
Cassette Beasts is a must-play for each Pokémon fan, particularly when you’re nostalgic for the 90s and 2000s. The wealthy retro vibe pervasive in its soundtrack and visuals can have you eager for years passed by, and this vibe is paired superbly with a refreshing evolution of the monster-battling method that cleverly rewards your creativity with crunchy combos and satisfying synergies.
With an attention-grabbing overworld, deep fight, relatable characters, and a remarkably mature story and themes, Cassette Beasts is a wonderful sport from begin to end. It expertly evolves the method Pokémon established almost twenty years in the past, and I’ll by no means return. I can solely hope Bytten Studio releases extra DLC or a sequel, however for now, all I can do is wholeheartedly advocate the sport to you, as a result of it’s completely definitely worth the $20 price ticket.
