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A solid retro-style monster-taming RPG for Mobile | Preview - Coromon

2K View2023-10-30

Coromon

9.2

Pixel GraphicsRetroDifficultStrategyTurn-basedCreature CollectorJRPGRPG

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✨Overview

Coromon is a delightful monster-taming indie RPG that captures the essence Pokémon while injecting its own unique flavor into the mix. Developed by TRAGsoft and Published by Freedom Games, Coromon offers a fresh take on the genre, blending sprite-based pixel art visuals, character and monster customization, and Zelda-like puzzle-solving elements.

It initially released on PC last year and is now making its way to mobile platforms on November 8, with a free demo and a one-time purchase of $5 to unlock the whole game. The free demo that I tried is actually out now for everyone to try here on TapTap, with progression to carry over to the full version once it releases.

📖Story and Premise

Coromon is set in the vibrant and technologically advanced world of Velua. As a newly hired Battle Researcher working for Lux Solis, a global research society, your journey begins smoothly until a mysterious force arrives. This event sets the stage for an exciting adventure as you build a squad of Coromon to confront a mysterious threat that endangers Velua.

The story is light-hearted, with a relaxed atmosphere and a dreamy, fun vibe. While it shares thematic similarities with the Pokémon franchise in its focus on creature collection and battling, Coromon brings its own unique twists to the narrative, especially with its player created protagonist who is well versed and well equipped by the time the game starts. There is also the powerful elemental Titans and a race against a shadowy organization seeking to harness their energy.

The narrative keeps players invested in the game's world. Coromon's story and premise provides a solid foundation for your adventure, encouraging exploration and development as you navigate through various zones and cities. The dialogues aren’t voice acted, but they’re brief and decently written enough to keep me compelled.

🎨Graphics and Art Style

Coromon employs sprite-based pixel art visuals, a style reminiscent of classic RPGs like Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda. However, it manages to infuse the classic look with its own unique flair. The art style is characterized by vibrant colors, strong outlines, extra detail in the animations, as well as emoji-like bubbles to show the characters emotions, all resulting in an experience that is both nostalgic and rich in character.

The overworld maps provide a top-down perspective, similar to earlier Pokémon games or 2D Zelda titles. The battle screens, on the other hand, are more detailed and take on the theme of the specific zone in which they occur. Village outskirts, an outdoor gym, desert region, rocky cave, or greeny woodlands, the background constantly changes to reflect the current location. This contributes to the game's overall charm and immersion.

🎮Gameplay

Coromon's gameplay revolves around the classic monster-taming RPG formula, similar to games like Pokémon, but with its own unique twists and features. You still roam around towns and the wilderness on a top-down view, with random encounters with Coromons when traversing through bushes and hazardous landscapes, as well as encountering other fellow trainers to battle. The battles are still turn-based, and feature different abilities for each Coromon in your lineup.

🦑Coromons

The allows players to collect over 120 charming creatures, known as Coromon. Each Coromon has its own unique attributes, abilities, and elemental alignments, which can be a factor in building your squad. The creatures' designs are creative and varied, making each one feel like a distinct addition to your team. You can personally name them as well, adding a deeper level of personal connection and immersion. Allowing players to establish a unique bond with each Coromon, making them feel like they are real companions on your journey.

The rarity system introduces a fascinating twist, with each creature having rarer variants of its type. Unlike traditional Pokémon games, the potential of Coromon is directly influenced by its rarity, creating an incentive to hunt for potent and even perfect variants. This rarity system not only adds a layer of excitement but also extends the replayability of the game. Additionally, Coromon offers an extensive evolution system, allowing common Coromon to evolve into larger and more powerful forms as they reach certain levels or complete specific quest chains.

⚔️Battles

Coromon's combat system features tactical turn-based battles that require careful resource management. Unlike traditional Pokémon battles, where you can spam your most powerful moves, Coromon's battles demand more strategy. Each action consumes stamina, including skills, status effects, and attacks, requiring you to make thoughtful choices to overcome your opponents.

The combat screens are well-designed, again with the background art reflecting the zone in which the battle takes place. A quick press of a button opens a window displaying essential information about your actions, your opponents' elemental alignments, and more. This feature is immensely helpful, especially for newcomers to the genre or the game itself, making the gameplay accessible and intuitive. Although one gripe I have with the battles is that the animations and narrations aren't skippable, so after a while it gets old and becomes tedious to watch over again and again, especially for inconsequential encounters.

🗺The World and Progression

I have only scratched the surface with the Demo version, but the full version of Coromon's world is vast, comprising six major zones and cities interconnected by routes. These cities and villages are filled with citizens, services, and a plethora of side quests to complete. In outdoors on the other hand feature various biomes and dungeons that come complete with Zelda-like puzzles and hazards. Exploration is a rewarding experience, with hidden loot and things to discover should you venture off the beaten path.

The unique exploration actions and modules for your “Gauntlet” you unlock during your journey enhance the experience by enabling more extensive puzzle-solving and exploration. These actions add an extra layer of interactivity to the world, instead of purely a travel from point A to point B.

Although my minor gripe is that the maps are too cramped and too linear when it comes to connecting the zones and cities. And I always feel like I want to explore more of everything and I was consistently being kept from doing just that.

The game starts off with creating and customization your own trainer, including hair, fashion, and more. It's a small but enjoyable aspect that adds a layer of personalization to the game. The game's progression and accessibility is robust, offering players choices in how they approach the game. You can immerse yourself in the story on the easiest setting for a stress-free experience, or focus on tactics and resource management for a more challenging adventure.

Coromon's mobile version introduces additional features, such as the Battle Dome mode, daily and weekly challenges to compel people to go back regularly to play, and support for 12 new languages. Not to mention you can completely play the game using the touch controls.

📊Technical Performance

The mobile version is already in a good state. A stable experience with no significant issues related to crashes or game-breaking bugs. I even had it minimized for quite a while and when I opened it, I was back in the game like nothing happened. No loading, no connection errors, or restarts. It helps that the game is completely playable offline. Coromon also features full controller support complete with UI navigation built-in.

⚖️Conclusion

Coromon captures the essence of classic monster-taming RPGs while injecting its own unique personality into the mix. Its appealing pixel art evokes nostalgia while offering a fresh perspective. The gameplay of Coromon is not groundbreaking nor innovative, but you don’t always need those qualities when the game understands its purpose and remains enjoyable at the end of the day. With its tactical turn-based battles, diverse creature collection, and an engaging evolution system, all available with a free trial and a $5 upfront cost to unlock everything else, without hidden microtransactions, trying out Coromon is a choice you can't go wrong with.

Mentioned games

Coromon

9.2

Pixel GraphicsRetroDifficultStrategyTurn-basedCreature CollectorJRPGRPG

Get