Each biome has a distinct feel as defined by its resident Titan, with weather effects, lighting, and terrain differentiating the lands of the Velua Region. These areas are playgrounds throughout the adventure, providing quests and challenges beyond being simple paths between waypoints. Special mention must be made to each of Velua’s settlements, which provide the most satisfying “RPG town” feeling I’ve felt since playing Dragon Quest XI. Each town is unique and filled with NPCs, quests, and tidbits of lore-building – you might discover a town overrun with ghosts, or a guy in a house that sells you illegal Coromon evolution materials. Most towns contain a Trainer Hub which lets you heal and swap out your Coromon, as well as participate in online battles. You’ll unlock the ability to warp between Trainer Hubs early on, making these oases a vital part of the experience.

Battles with wild Coromon are initiated randomly when walking through grass in the overworld or through dungeons, while battles with other trainers are initiated by walking into their line of sight. It feels a little jarring to return to random encounters after RPGs in more recent years have largely spurned them, but thankfully the encounter rate is low enough so as not to annoy. The battle system is turn-based, with you pitting one of your party of six Coromon up against the opponent. You’ll collect Spinners which allow you to capture wild Coromon once you’ve weakened them with various damage-dealing Skills. These require SP to use, meaning you’ll need to rest for a turn to regenerate SP if you run out – this system, along with some interesting status effects and unique Skill abilities, leads to a compelling battle system based around resource management. Particularly intense boss battles require both intimate knowledge of the turn-based battling mechanics as well as a strong and well-kitted out team. I found my team woefully underlevelled each time I reached a new boss encounter, necessitating some lengthy grinding sessions in nearby dungeons. While I don’t mind a bit of classic, mindless, cathartic level grinding, it was a bit frustrating to encounter difficulty spikes purely driven by level imbalances.

Now, we’ll obviously have to address the Rhynobuz in the room: it’s clear that Coromon takes almost every single one of its cues from the Pokémon series, from its design through to its core gameplay. The developers have not attempted to hide their source of inspiration, often inserting tongue-in-cheek references to the multi-million dollar franchise. However, with the slew of quality-of-life improvements and unique gameplay mechanics, Coromon truly sets itself apart as an iteration rather than a photocopy. Dated elements from Pokémon have been streamlined or removed. The type chart is simpler, with depth provided through the addition of types that are only assigned to Skills rather than individual creatures (eg. Foul-typed attacks deal extra damage to Water-types, but there are no Foul-typed Coromon). The insufferably opaque Individual Value system is replaced with “Potential”, which can be altered with the “Potentiflator” mechanic. “Shiny” creatures also have an actual purpose, with alternate colours on Coromon indicating higher Potential and making shiny-hunting a worthwhile activity. You can also set a bunch of difficulty options from the beginning, such as limiting your healing at Trainer Hubs or enforcing “Nuzlocke” rules.