Abomi Nation (PC) Review

For those that are unaware, in the Pokémon community there are many different types of challenges done to make the experienceharder (and also make it more interesting for streamers/watchers). Of these, there is one called 'Nuzlocke' which has a series of rules, but one of them is if a Pokémon is ever knocked, it is considered dead, and is thus "removed." Abomi Nation features that prominently as part of its design.

The overall game is very simplistic - graphic-wise, in terms of maps, when it comes to combat, and generally everything. Styled as a 'roguelike' (though to be perhaps a bit cynical it seems like half the games out these days tout this tag) where the maps are random, players must battle through to try to beat the game while not losing anyone. Battles are handled in a simple affair of taking turns, picking basic or elemental moves, doing some damage, and trying to outlast the other monster. The graphics are completely bare bones. hile the monsters may or may not look cute to some, the backgrounds and 'world' are barely one step above a single plane of colour.

One of its strengths is ironically its writing and story. Don't expect anything like a great space opera, but there is some good discussion about the nature of sacrifice and death of comrades that totally belies the innocent appearance. In contrast, the weakness of this is that it still feels like a beta version in many ways. Some of these include a button mapping that doesn't work, lack of controller support, and other small issues like how slow battle attack animations are. Monsters start with three to four moves, but most of them are simply worse versions of themselves, which defeats a lot of the point.

Those looking for a monster-gathering challenge will probably be surprised by how this is it fairly competent. It is nothing mind-blowing or revolutionary, but it stays in the genre fairly well and gives players what they want. The real issues are simply if things could be customized better, faster speeds, and controls that work would go a very long way. What makes it hard to recommend though, is it doesn't do anything that good. Its ok, and ticks the right boxes, but it is not going to draw in that many players beyond a very narrow scope.