Pokemon fans will have a new contender for the genre dominated by Game Freak's best-selling franchise. Temtem, the Kickstarted creature-collecting MMORPG, is heading to Early Access on January 21, 2020 with over 75 creatures in its early stages, and plans to surpass 160 in future updates.
In Early Access players will be able to trade and collect Temtem, including shiny Temtem, battle in PVP, play the entire game in co-op, take on four boss dojos, customize their character, breed Temtem and explore three islands. Later updates will include additional islands, a ranking system for PVP, player housing with more customization, in-game events, and "up to 161+ Temtem."
Collectively, it sounds like everything Pokemon fans expect from the genre and then some, seeking to plug some holes Game Freak has failed to address according to some portion of the Pokemon fanbase.
Temtem raised over half a million dollars on Kickstarter and the game's developers, the Madrid-based CremaGames, proudly boasts an active Discord channel with nearly 40,000 members including many already playing the game's alpha. CremaGames is inviting more players to sign up and stress test the game's servers by visiting the official website.
For a visual preview of the game and its Early Access form, they've released a new trailer.
While Pokemon remains the biggest entertainment property in the world, the community has been somewhat split on its latest release, Sword and Shield, with some fans adoring the series' first true sequel on Switch, while others feel the developers didn't take the concept far enough for the first console release of a mainline Pokemon game. After 91 reviews on OpenCritic, the game has settled into a "Strong" 80 average, with 69% of critics recommending the game.
Temtem won't have the name recognition or the beloved character out of the gate, but certainly they're hoping to capture the imagination of the genre's fans who are looking for a true Pokemon-like in an MMORPG game universe.
