Coromon review

Like many battles between cultivated game creatures, Coromon swings pendulously. One moment you’ll adore its variations on Pokémon formula, the next minute you might curse at the superfluous amount of HP an opponent has.

As monster-taming games go, TRAGsoft’s Coromon gives a disagreeable first impression. Before the game starts, players are asked to link the game with their Nintendo accounts. But there’s no reason given for the request. It turns out that the purpose is to share save data with the Steam iteration of the game. But inexplicably, that’s never explicitly articulated. Should you opt out of the whole data sharing option, Coromon uses offline save slots, but the explanations of how this works aren’t completely clear either.

Following that concern, you’re asking to create an avatar for your budding researcher. While a character customization suite is a welcome feature for the genre, the lack of any on-screen button prompts and the slight clunkiness of the user interface is something that wouldn’t appear in a genuine Pokémon game.

Then, Coromon makes another massive mistake by overburdening the player with a twenty-minute, rather tedious lore dump. Sure, it all feels vaguely familiar- especially when you’re given a choice between a fiery Tortoise, a walking water shark, and an icy teddy bear. But you’ll probably be yearning to catch a few monsters rather than endure a simulated corporate onboarding process. I don’t remember Game Freak ever delaying gratification for so long.

Not Poké Balls, Spinners!  

Between leaving your mom’s house and your introductory training at the Lux Solis Research Facilities, various NPCs overload you with gab and gifts. Some of the latter, like the Gauntlet multitool that’s worn on your arm, have obvious functionalities. But when you’re given items like Foggy Scent, Spinners, and a Data Chip in rapid-fire succession, you might second guess your in-game vocational choice. Stay calm, almost all the parlance has a Poké-equivalent.

Fortunately, the overwhelming preparation eventually lets up. Sure, Coromon will occasionally remind you that your character is working for a corporatized monster-capturing realm. At one point, you’ll be asked to study several in-game manuals to prepare for a rather extensive multiple-choice quiz. But fundamentally, you’re given some much-needed autonomy to complete the game’s succession of assignment quests as you travel across six distinct biomes.

Pixels, Not Polygons in Velua

Coromon is aimed at players disappointed with Game Freak’s shift toward three-dimensional environments. If the pixelated pocket creatures of the Game Boy Advance-era produce pangs of blissful nostalgia, you’ll enjoy the game’s visual approach. Likewise, TRAGsoft keeps the plotline simple and close in spirit to most early monster-taming efforts. Here, your trek revolves around collecting essence from six different Titans who are scattered across the Velua region. As protectors of the land, Titans are attuned to nature. As such, they’re hesitant with letting some fledgling corporate researcher gather their essence. Expectedly, there’s a rival group who are after the same thing, although their interests are a bit more malevolent.

Just don’t expect the conversations to be engaging. Coromon’s trinkets are everywhere, so obsessives like me will check every flowerpot and oven across Velua. Sporadically, NPCs will share some of their possessions, goading gamers to speak to everyone. But their banter fringes on the banal, and the persistent puns probably aren’t as witty as the writers think. It’s evident that TRAGsoft was attempting to give the populace a distinct way of thinking, but I missed the persistently supportive allies of Pokémon. Here, dialog often felt like either thinly disguised tips or empty small talk.

Yes, You Can Catch ‘Em All, Even the Starters

But if you’re able to overlook the mundane banter, Coromon battles are likely to please. The game’s cast of 114 creatures belong to 13 different elemental and skill types and come in three varieties: standard, potent, and perfect. But wisely, the game’s digressions of turn-based, four-skill combat add enjoyment. Potential is an adjacent leveling-up mechanic, that allows players to freely assign points to each Coromon’s stats. Being able to fine-tune the progression of your Coromon might not seem like much, but it’s another contribution to forming that trainer-monster style relationship.

Similarly, you can also equip your Coros with orbs and fruits. When carried, they typically offer some kind of passive boost- often increasing a stat when your creature is in danger. But there are also some creative ideas, like items that lower the encounter rate or provide a bit of experience to any Coromon who didn’t participate in a battle. While orbs are permanent, fruits are consumed as soon as a specific condition is met.  Another remarkable innovation are weather states that can affect skirmishes.

But that’s not to say the game isn’t without a fair number of blemishes. Given the name of elemental-based types and the six Coromon party limit, it’s possible to approach a fight at a disadvantage. When it comes to showcase battles, higher-level enemies can one-shot your creatures. Both of these will goad you into some regular grinding. And while that’s part of the formula, Coromon takes it a bit too far to reach an approximate 30 hours of playtime.

Conclusion

But that aforementioned game length can vary. Similar to the self-imposed ‘nuzlocke’ rulesets for Pokémon, Coromon is quite flexible. Those with a shortage of patience might opt for reduced shop pricing and the replenishment of health and special points as a reward for leveling up. But masochists might want to turn on the permadeath option, which automatically releases a Coromon into the wild whenever they are KO’ed. Imagine losing an ally that you have been vigilantly cultivating for hours….

Across Coromon’s trek, my opinion of the game often fluctuated. Despite a poor first impression, the game’s procession of quests eventually grew comforting. But there were also several moments where I wasn’t enjoying myself and I resented grinding so that my creatures weren’t completely out-leveled. That said, Coromon is still one of the better Pokémon-likes. If you are compelled to catch ‘em all, this shouldn’t be a starter, but one you’ll probably want in the reserves.

Coromon was played on Switch with
review code provided by the publisher.