Aniimo Is Everything I Want in a Modern Pokemon Game Despite Its Flaws
As a longtime Pokemon fan, I had to check out Aniimo once it finally launched. And the more time I spend in its world, the more I find myself wishing that Pokemon would borrow some of its ideas. That isn’t to say Pawprint Studio’s creature-collecting RPG is perfect. It has flaws, its free-to-play structure has raised legitimate questions, and the online conversation surrounding its monetization has sometimes overshadowed what the game actually delivers. At its core, Aniimo is surprisingly good thanks to its creature designs, open-world exploration, visuals, and storytelling.
What stands out most is how Aniimo approaches the creature-collecting formula without treating players like children. You play as a Pathfinder exploring Idyll, rather than another 10-year-old beginning a conventional Pokémon journey. This allows for a different tone in its story, characters, and world. After spending hours exploring, catching Aniimo, and learning its systems, I see a game that gets several things right that I have wanted from Pokemon for years. Its weaknesses need to be pointed out, but every Pokemon fan should at least give it a chance.
Aniimo Understands What Makes Creature Designs Exciting
One of the first things that stood out to me was the creature designs in Aniimo. Pawprint Studio understood how important this is to the genre, and the game offers a diverse and distinct array of creatures. With over 200 Aniimo based on environmental conditions, weather, phenomena, and time of day, players can find all types. Discovering new locations and the Aniimo that live there is one of the driving forces of the game’s exploration focus.
What I want from Pokemon is a greater sense of discovery when encountering its creatures. Aniimo’s open world makes this possible, and it doubles down with its capture mechanics that require players to find, approach, and catch creatures. It even features a progression system that is far more in-depth than the Pokedex, giving players further reason to thoroughly explore every environment. Pokemon has experimented with open world, but Game Freak’s attempt just doesn’t compare.
The visuals also help make these encounters feel more exciting. Aniimo presents a colorful fantasy world with creatures designed to fit different environments, and its presentation makes exploration one of the primary attractions. Multiple times I stopped what I was doing because I saw something on the horizon and had to check it out. Anyone who has played a single Pokemon game knows that visuals are one of the most lacking aspects of the series, which is truly a shame because it has such potential.
Aniimo Gives Creature Collecting More Purpose
The biggest difference between Aniimo and a traditional Pokemon experience is how it lets players interact with their creatures. Through the Twine mechanic, players can essentially become an Aniimo they have collected, using its abilities to navigate the environment, solve puzzles, and overcome challenges. At best, Pokemon lets you ride your Pokemon, have a picnic, or let them follow behind you out of their Pokeball. This is easily one of my favorite aspects of Aniimo.
I am not saying that we need to become Pokemon, but I desperately want more ways to have our Pokemon interact with the world. This would give more value to a Pokemon other than its stats and moveset, as they can use abilities to open new routes, solve environmental puzzles, or change how you travel through the world. Game Freak has made some effort toward this, but the pace is crawling. To have a game come out of the gate and do it right away shows what Pokemon is missing out on.
Aniimo also includes a variety of activities beyond catching creatures. There is obviously catching Aniimo, battling, exploring, and changing your look, like in Pokemon. But some of the more exciting features are a personal RV campsite, growing crops, and decorating their homeland. I’ve always wanted to be able to have a home base in Pokemon, decorating it and making a place to keep my Pokemon that isn’t simply a PC box. Aniimo has absolutely nailed this aspect, and Game Freak could learn a thing or two.
A More Mature Story Shows What Pokemon Could Become
Another major difference is Aniimo’s storytelling, primarily in its protagonist. Rather than placing players in the familiar role of a young child beginning their first Pokemon journey, the game casts them as a Pathfinder exploring Idyll and searching for answers. This sets up the narrative of exploration, discovery, ancient mysteries, interacting with other Pathfinders, and befriending Aniimo. This is distinctly different from Pokemon’s formula, and offers a major tonal shift.
I have spent years playing Pokemon, and I still enjoy the excitement of discovering new creatures and exploring unfamiliar regions. However, the series could benefit from a protagonist who is older and faces more mature challenges. This is not to say that Aniimo is automatically better in its storytelling, as it is quite basic. But its premise demonstrates a different approach to the genre that I really enjoy. I want a Pokemon story that gives its characters more complicated motivations, stronger personal conflicts, and a world that feels affected by their choices.
Aniimo has a lot of strengths, and Game Freak should look to them when developing Pokemon Winds and Pokemon Waves. This isn’t to say Pokemon fans should ignore Aniimo’s F2P live-service structure, in-game purchases, various premium currencies, and potential gacha elements. These should be reasonably questioned, but they do not take away from how much fun Aniimo is. It is not a replacement for Pokemon, and it still has room to improve, but it offers a vision of what a modern creature-collecting RPG can look like. I hope Game Freak pays attention to what works here, because Pokemon has the characters, creatures, and history to build something even more ambitious.