Cassette Beasts dropped in April for the PC and weabsolutelyloved it - now it’s hit consoles too! This blend of 3D adventure and Pokemon-style monster-raising has some interesting twists on the familiar tropes. It’s a rare terat to find a game that takes an existing formula and tries new things with it, but the usage of a cassette in the town to merge people with the animals and form creatures for battles is a great one and leads to a lot of fun interactions.
Cassette Beasts has a very vibrant art style, but also a darker undercurrent to it thanks to its dungeon design. While Pokemon has its competition-based gym structure, Cassette Beasts tasks you with surviving dungeons against horrific monsters that seem to be stuck in a form of limbo. The core action is familiar enough, but with a lot of experimentation being rewarded.
The usage of cassette markers like stop being used to switch out a monster is fantastic and enables a deeper level of combat while still fitting the title perfectly. The ability to have cassettes be more than just an expy of a Pokeball helps show how much work went into crafting the game and the level of care at making sure combat felt fresh in a well-worn genre. The world of Pokemon-clones has risen over the years, but this is the freshest take yet and the most fun I’ve personally had with a game of this type - including the Switch’s mainline Pokemon games and remakes, in many years. The humor-filled dialogue helps a lot, as does the game’s light-hearted tone.
This mix of the familar and fresh is a must-play for anyone who has been burned out on Pokemon games for a while - or who always wanted to try out the formula, but felt intimidated by starting a series over a quarter-century old. Cassette Beasts features a lot of different character types alongside elemental powers to deal out more damage either to enemies or from them. It’s a great-looking game with a slimplistic art style in theory, but buttery-smooth gameplay across the board. The soundtrack is also top-tier with a lot of variety and those looking for multiplayer fun can enjoy co-op too.
Now, after a bit over a month on PC, it has found its way to consoles. Beyond being available on PC Game Pass last month, it is now playable via Xbox Game Pass as well as available for purchase on Xbox platforms and the Nintendo Switch. The game’s pick up and play nature makes it a great fit for on the go gaming with the Switch or Steam Deck, which it works with rather nicely.
