Temtem Preview

Temtem, the 3D PC Kickstarter success where you “capture the monsters in things” is finally coming out on Steam’s Early Access on 21st January. I was given access to the pre-launch build for a couple of days worth of play.

Full disclosure, I did back this on Kickstarter, but only at the level that gave me a code when the game releases, not access to the prior alphas or any awesome plushies. Also, this is basically a Pokémon game, but I haven’t played a Pokémon title since Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, which I reviewed.

The world of Temtem is a series of islands called Airborne Archipelago, that sees people embarking on an adventure to become the ultimate Temtem Tamer! But first, you’ll need to deal with Clan Belsoto, who are trying to take over the archipelago…

Even this camera angle is stolen to great effect from Pokémon

No, Temtem gets no points for having an original plot, or original anything really. But what it does get points for is pretty much everything else. Writing, sound design, visual design, online architecture, user interface…

After creating your character, you start off being woken up by your mum, or adoptive mum or something. People refer to her as your mum, but you call her by her name, so I’m not certain, though it doesn’t really matter. You go to the professor’s house, choose a Temtem, get whined at by your whiney rival who whines, and then you’re off!

Heading to the neighbouring town you’ll encounter people wanting to fight you in Temtem battles, as well as random encounters with wild Temtems. As with most games of this sort, there are the usual type and elemental advantages/disadvantages to consider during fights. Weaken a wild Temtem and you can throw a Temcard at it to capture it, and add it to your team, release it or send it to the storage terminal for later retrieval.

At least you don't have to give them to a nurse

One of the biggest changes to the familiar formula is how the battles are conducted. Everyone uses two Temtem at a time (unless they only have one). Whether it’s a wild Temtem, a single tamer or a pair of them, you’ll always start the battle by tossing two Temcards into the arena. Using certain types of Temtem alongside each other will boost the power of some attacks, so it’s always worth keeping that in mind.

Another change to battles is the stamina bar. Each move uses a certain amount of stamina, rather than limiting the amount of overall times a move can be used. You can use a move that you don’t have enough stamina for, but that will take health and make that Temtem unable to attack in the next round. You do have the option to let the Temtem rest and regain some stamina, or you can use an item which will also allow that. You could also swap it out for another Temtem instead.

This seems as good a point as any to mention that this isn’t the best game for someone who has never played a Pokémon title. I played some co-op (more on that later) with someone who had never touched the series outside of Pokémon GO, and also unlike me he didn’t read all of the tips that show up whenever you encounter something new. I’m fully familiar with how the way a monster looks can signal what type they are - he consistently used attacks that Temtem were strong against. The stat buffs and debuffs, similarly, he wasn’t 100% certain that Def Up meant defence up, and the rest.

I was very tempted to leave. Often...

For a future version of the game, I’d recommend the tooltips get written in the Tempedia (a directory of Temtem you’ve encountered) or something. At least then if people like my co-op partner were struggling, they’d have a way to re-read the tips they skipped past or forgotten.

As the Temtem alpha that I played was only available for a few days, I unfortunately only got as far as The Gifted Bridges - the third “route”. This was because I wanted to play some co-op, and decided to head back to pick my partner up instead of waiting for him to catch up. This meant that I had to fight tamers that I had already fought - as he hadn’t yet. This was especially frustrating as he kept running into them when I was trying to heal my squad…

Regardless, it let me see why exactly Temtem has you fight using two Temtem. When you’re in a co-op battle, you both toss one Temtem each into the fight. What I hadn’t realised until way too late, is that you only have access to three out of your squad of six in a battle. Outside, you’re free to move all six around as you please. However, if your partner loses all three of their Temtem, you throw in a second and keep fighting, commanding both on your own.

On the plus side, you still get the experience

Alternatively, your partner can choose one of your Temtem instead of throwing in another of theirs, forcing you to solo the fight before theirs are all knocked out. As there’s no communication in battles, they can do this completely without your knowledge until you realise that the game is waiting for you to make a second move. There is text chat in the overworld, however. Also, thankfully, the game is very lightweight. It loads up in moments, and doesn’t hog system resources so you can have a Discord call going at the same time.

As well as playing co-op, you can challenge others to either a casual or competitive battle. I didn’t get a chance to try it out, not wanting to trounce my boss too badly, but it allows you to ban the use of certain Temtem before the fight. You can also trade with others - items, Temtem, money… It’s nice and seamless, but if you mess up then you’d better hope your trade buddy will give it back. On the plus side, the game won’t allow you to trade certain items, and if you want to give someone all of your money it takes a while to do so. It only goes up in 10s, so when I was giving my boss 800 so he could buy a bikini top it took a while.

Which brings me to customising your tamer. You’re given a load of clothing choices, and can buy different ones too. You can change your outfit and the colours at any time, or just run around in your undies if you want. Despite what my screenshots might suggest, the hair options are quite varied - it was utter coincidence that we both chose very similar looks. My outfit, of course, was entirely purple because I have to represent the 3rd Street Saints in any and every game.

And my boss wanted to wear a bikini top and knickers

One thing about Temtem I haven’t touched upon yet is the quest system. In my experience with that other series, you’re kinda given things to do and never followed up on. Forget that this NPC wanted a specific monster? Well their life is ruined forever. Temtem has a list of quests on the left side of the screen, so you can’t forget what you’re doing. Not played in a few weeks and now have no idea what to do? Temtem’s got you covered.

The music is inoffensive and upbeat, though my boss admitted to finding it annoying. Different tastes, I suppose, though I never found myself humming along. If you’re not a fan of The Sims-style chatter (grunts and grumbles), then you’ll hate this. Again, I’m not offended by it, and only main NPCs actually make the noises - random tamers were silent.

Graphically, the game is cartoonish and brilliant. The character and world designers have clearly worked hard and come up with great Temtem designs. They’re all adorable, and I want all 100-odd (currently) as plushies. My only issue is the weird colour filter that gets put over everything when you’re in certain areas.

Two things that I didn’t get to experience in my play with Temtem was breeding and Clan Belsoto. I had reached a point where I was hearing from NPCs about the antagonists, but hadn’t actually met them. However, I am looking forward to playing a ton more when the game launches into Early Access on 21st January. I spent over four hours with the game, and am eager for more Temtem.