Cassette Beasts Is So Much More Than A Pokémon Clone Done Right
Cassette Beasts is the perfect alternative for Pokémon fans looking for something new, but it is so much more than a polished Pokémon clone.
Ever since the late 1990s, Pokémon has been a beloved franchise that has swept the world, from the ongoing anime to the vast collection of games. As such a pioneer for turn-based role-playing games, it was only inevitable that it would inspire a whole host of games that would come to be known as Pokémon clones. While there are plenty of games that deserve this comparison and label, from Coromon to Temtem, there are others that have earned undeniable credit as their own entity away from Pokémon. This is exactly the case with Cassette Beasts.
While Cassette Beasts has clearly been inspired by Pokémon in certain ways, the 2023 game has taken various concepts in unprecedented creative directions and put its own stamp on them. As Pokémon goes through its numerous struggles in trying to adapt and unlock its true identity in this modern era, Cassette Beasts has stepped up and provided that welcome alternative that Pokémon fans can enjoy. Cassette Beasts is so much more than just a Pokémon clone done right though, and deserves recognition as such.
The Current State Of Pokémon
Pokémon reached its ninth generation in 2022 with the releases of Scarlet & Violet, but they were largely divisive and raised some concerning questions about the franchise moving forward. The open-world direction of the Pokémon games was ambitious, but after promising complete freedom in play, Scarlet & Violet delivered potential rather than results. A lack of level-scaling meant that players were still forced to take on the Gyms in an order resembling what the game wanted, which felt like a major missed opportunity.
Performance issues were at the forefront of the Scarlet & Violet release, and this has had a huge impact on the overall perception of the games. Long-time Pokémon fans are now unsure of where the franchise is going, and the inevitable Gen V remakes arguably need to be the best games of the entire franchise to appease the current concerns. This lull between Scarlet & Violet and their late-2023 DLC, is the perfect time for Pokémon players to seek alternatives, and Cassette Beasts actually resolves a lot of these issues.
What Is Cassette Beasts?
Cassette Beasts can simply be described as a monster-taming game that draws inspiration from the Pokémon series, but this would not be doing the game justice. Cassette Beasts introduces players to the island of New Wirral, a mysterious place where people are transported to, away from their previous lives. There, they have to learn how to survive, both alongside other humans and when encountering dangerous monsters.
Like in Pokémon, players than raise their own team of monsters and battle others in order to progress, but the similarities aren't as straightforward as that. Cassette Beasts takes things back to the familiar overhead perspective that older Pokémon games utilized, and a more-retro vibe is certainly hammered home through various other means.
Cassette Beasts Does Share Similar Concepts With Pokémon
Every similarity between Pokémon and Cassette Beasts is justified and ultimately expanded upon. At face value, Cassette Beasts has players taming and battling with monsters, overcoming various milestone challenges similar to the Gym Leaders of Pokémon, while playing through turn-based battle mechanics. They even gain access to new areas of the open world through learning new abilities.
The stats in Cassette Beasts are essentially the same, with HP and Speed existing in the same form, but with Ranged Attack, Ranged Defense, Melee Attack and Melee Defense being clear representations of Special and Physical from Pokémon. Monsters can learn new moves, change forms and utilize specific type matchups, but these all have their own unique twists, that simply helps Cassette Beasts stand out and away from Pokémon's shadow.
How Cassette Beasts Is Different
Type Matchups Are More Sophisticated
The first of many similarities between Cassette Beasts and Pokémon comes from the monsters having types, and them having specific relationships among themselves. However, while in Pokémon these matchups generate superior, reduced or zero damage, Cassette Beasts' system is much more sophisticated and clever. The chemistry system instead looks at elemental types of both the attacker's move and the defender itself, and comes up with one of numerous status effects.
Depending on the move faced, the defending monster can get a buff, a debuff, a type transmutation or simply nothing. Prime examples of the chemistry system revolve around Fire-type moves. They can melt Plastic-type monsters, transmuting them into the Poison typing, while Fire-type moves hitting a Water-type, will generate steam that ends up passively healing the defender. The chemistry system is logical and impactful, allowing players to come up with all sorts of cool strategies.
Recording Beasts Is A Great Alternative To Catching Them
In Cassette Beasts, players essentially turn into their monsters, rather than calling them out of their Poké Balls. Without the need of a Poké Ball-like item with this premise, players instead record monsters during wild encounters, and then have them saved on cassette tapes. A major difference from Pokémon is that because of these cassettes, the monsters themselves don't have their own explicit numerical levels.
In Cassette Beasts, the player levels up, and this then scales the monsters' stats. There is instead a star leveling system for each individual monster, unlocking new moves and eventually granting them the ability to be remastered, Cassette Beasts' take on evolution. Gone are the old days of grinding Pokémon from low levels, as Cassette Beasts instead offers a way of improving the player's own character, and then being able to pick and choose anything they record.
Cassette Beasts Has A More Mature & Adult Story
Cassette Beasts has plenty of fancy mechanics that will appeal to fans of Pokémon-like games, but it really excels in its mature storytelling. Cassette Beasts presents an unsettling and mysterious world, where people are trapped on New Wirral with seemingly no way to return to their respective homes. It follows the struggles of humans and ultimately their acceptance of their situation. Yet with the player's arrival, some strive to fight back and seek a way off the island, with this newfound sense of hope really adding to the game's overall charm.
Rising up and fighting against the unknown is made utterly compelling in Cassette Beasts, as the game ultimately wills players into seeing it through to the end. Players even get companions during their adventures, but it goes way further than the temporary companions introduced in the Gen IV Pokémon games. Every potential partner has some significance to the main story, and players can further their relationships through traveling with, battling with or doing additional quests for these characters. Fusion is another method of not only improving these relationships, but in making these bonds feel valuable in the grand scheme of it all.
Fusions Add So Much More Variety To The Monsters
To Pokémon fans, fusion will look like Cassette Beasts' answer to gimmicks like Mega Evolution, Dynamax and the Terastal phenomenon, but this simple concept has much more depth than could be anticipated. Fusion sees the player and their traveling companion fuse together to form one larger combined monster. This monster has an amalgamation of both move-sets with significantly improved stats. Once the fusion is defeated, both individuals then return to the battle. Fusions can be made with allies, but also faced off against in the wilds of New Wirral.
With 120 monsters in Cassette Beasts, there are over 14,000 fusions to be made. Fusions are fascinating and formidable, adding even more depth to this already-creative marvel.
Cassette Beasts Is A Masterpiece Away From Its Pokémon Comparisons
While comparisons to Pokémon are warranted, Cassette Beasts has countless claims to being its own success story away from the pioneer of the monster-collecting role-playing genre. The retro feel of Cassette Beasts calls to the Pokémon fans of old and can instantly reawaken a passion that has since been lost in the recent open-world era of Pokémon.
Rom Hacks have introduced concepts like the Nuzlocke to Pokémon in recent years to add a fresh new spin on the franchise, but Cassette Beasts has randomization and permadeth built in as unlockable options. While they are obtained through finishing the story, players can still access them early through inputting classic "cheat codes" on the menu, another nod to a past era of gaming. Cassette Beasts has emotional depth, mechanical complexity and hours of enjoyment to provide a standout gaming experience. It is the perfect alternative for those feeling shortchanged by recent Pokémon releases, yet it is so much more than just a Pokémon clone done right.