Coromon Switch Review – More Than Just Another Pokemon Clone

Monster taming games have become an extremely popular genre with Pokemon setting the biggest example of how one should be done. Many games in the genre don’t even come close, but it’s a different story entirely with Coromon.

Why? Well, let’s find out.

Coromon is a monster taming JRPG game that very clearly takes inspiration from Pokemon games of the Game Boy era. So many games have tried to knock Pokemon off of the top spot in the past (and present), but I don’t think any other title has ever come as close as this one. Coromon won’t knock Pokemon off its pedestal, but it certainly gives it a good go.

The start of Coromon sees you creating your character from a select few options – something that I have wanted in a Pokemon game for so long – and then setting off on your adventure of becoming a Battle Researcher at Lux Solis, catching and researching various Coromon that populate the Velua Region. Collecting the essence of the six Titans that surround the Region is your main task (this also replaces gym badges/battles for progress) but, in true Pokemon fashion, there is a big bad organisation attempting to take that essence for themselves to use for bad, bad things.

Coromon mostly sticks to the formula that we all are familiar with, with a few added changes to keep players on their toes. Players will choose from a choice of three Coromon, but they’re not the standard Water, Fire, and Grass types we are used to. We can choose from the fire type, Torgua, the water type, Nibblet and finally (and here’s the unusual one) Cubzero, the ice type. I went for Cubzero, because the name is simply awesome. All three are designed relatively well, with a nice mixture of cute and ferocious. Perfect.

The gameplay is what you might expect: fight, train, and catch Coromon; exploring a variety of types and partcicpating in turn-based combat in order to gain EXP and level up. Battles can be encountered through random Coromon encounters, as well as trainer battles.

During battles, players will be given four different options to choose from to use at their disposal: fight, party, item, or run – with the fight option being the most important as this will be where you can select what moves your Coromon will use during your turn. To add a slight change to the PP mechanic we are used to, PP is shared across all moves instead of each move having its own set amount to use. As well as this, when PP is low, players can use a turn in order to gain half of their total PP back which was a cool little option.

One aspect I really liked about Coromon is the way the level up system works. As you might know, when you level up in other monster taming games, you’re usually given stat boosts that you’re unable to alter. But in this one, you’re actually able to choose the stats you want to put your points into as you level up, which offers players a little bit of customisation in the way their Coromon grow.

See, Coromon takes an already great format and adapts it to make it a much less annoying experience. You are able to change the name of any of your Coromon from the main menu, as well as their move sets – which is extremely helpful. You also have a journal to keep track of all your tasks and quests, even for trainers who want to trade a particular Coromon for another, so you never forget the locations of things.

Coromon takes place across six different biomes, which all offer their own differences and unique Coromon to see, battle, and collect. The retro pixel-art artstyle is wonderful, vibrant, and full of detail, and it‘s world is an absolute joy to explore. With over 100 Coromon to discover and learn, there’s no shortage of content.

The Coromon themselves are designed extremely well, with each of them offering their own unique designs and names that are often either a play-on-words or relating to a popular topic. The same goes for their animations, which are all very well done and offer players a whole new cast of Pocket Monster to become acquainted with.

All of these things make playing Coromon a pleasure to play, but I cant help but shake the feeling that something is missing, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to playing Pokemon that it feels unnatural to be experiencing the same sort of game in a different way, but maybe that’s just me.

Overall, Coromon offers fans of the genre a new and exciting take on everybody’s favourite monster taming game. It doesn’t change the gameplay too much that it offers an entirely different gameplay experience, but it does enough to make it known that you’re not playing another Pokemon clone. The ability to alter your Coromons’ stats is a game changer for me, and the whole world (and its inhabitants) is a blissful experience. If you’re a fan of Pokemon, then you need to play Coromon.

Coromon Switch Review provided by Nintendo Link
Publisher: Freedom Games
Developer: TRAGsoft
Release Date: July 21st, 2022
Price: $19.99, £17.99
Game Size: 360MB