Monster raising RPGs have been an impactful part of my gaming life since I was really little. Whether it's the big players in the genre like Pokémon and Digimon, or indie games like Cassette Beasts, I've been playing these kinds of games for just about my entire life. It's a concept I adore, befriending all kinds of interesting critters and working and fighting alongside them, so I'm always on the lookout for new games like this to try. I recently got an opportunity to try out a new entry to the genre called LumenTale: Memories of Trey. I'd heard of the game a while ago when it was much earlier in development, so I was definitely super excited to finally give it a go.
Story
LumenTale is set in the land of Talea, where humankind lives alongside creatures called Animon. Talea was once a prosperous empire where people and Animon lived in peace and prosperity, but following the passing of its emperor, a civil war erupted between the northern half, now known as Logos, and the southern half, now known as Mythos. Part of the former empire's military stepped up to stop the war and become the protectors of the world's inhabitants, both human and Animon. These protectors came to be known as Lumen, and are notable for bonding with and fighting alongside Animon partners. The north and south remain divided and culturally distinct even after the amount of time has passed, with Logos focusing more on technological advancement, while Mythos sticks firmly to tradition. Despite tensions between the two, the Lumen maintain a relative peace in Talea.
The game has you play the role of Trey, an amnesiac cyborg. Despite not remembering who he is, Trey quickly discovers an unusual affinity for Animon, as well as familiarity with the devices known as Holoken, the most essential tool for any Lumen. He ultimately decides to become a Lumen himself and set out on a journey across Talea, hoping to find clues to his own identity and regain his memories. He receives his first Animon from the foremost researcher of the creatures, a man named Kapan, and is joined on his travels by Kapan's nephew Ales. Early on in the game, you'll make a choice on whether your journey begins through Logos or through Mythos.
Visuals and Music
The music in this game is nice. It fits the atmosphere of the game well without distracting you from what you're doing, and at the end of the day that's exactly what I want from a game soundtrack. It's cinematic when it should be and unobtrusive otherwise, and I could see myself adding some of the tracks to my regular playlist. Overall does its job very well and is definitely up my alley.
More important though, is the visuals of the game. This game is beautiful, and I can say without a doubt that I absolutely adore the aesthetic of LumenTale. The game has a mix of 3D-rendered environments and 2D-pixel art sprites for the characters and Animon, reminding me a little bit of a higher resolution version of the fifth generation of Pokémon with more modern graphical effects, but with a distinct style all its own.
I'm also finding myself to be a big fan of the monster design. LumenTale's Animon are a unique bunch, and I've found most of the ones that I've encountered thus far to be utterly adorable, with the first partner that I chose, Mewaii, remaining my favorite. I haven't seen all of the creatures this game have to offer yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to encountering the whole variety that Talea has to offer.
Gameplay
LumenTale, first and foremost, is a monster collecting RPG. The Animon spread throughout the world aren't just a part of the setting, but an integral part the game as a whole. After all, Trey is a Lumen, someone who raises Animon and battles with them.
Animon
So with that said, I'll start with the central critters themselves. There's a whole bunch to collect and raise throughout the game, and they've all got things setting them apart from one another. They have a set of stats that determine their effectiveness in battle:
- HP - How much damage an Animon can take before falling
- Attack - How strong an Animon's physical attacks are
- Special Attack - How strong an Animon's non-physical attacks are
- Defense - An animon's resistance to physical attacks
- Special Defense - An animon's resistance to non-physical attacks
- Agility - Determines turn order and effects accuracy
Every Animon has an inherent level to these stats that can vary even between members of the same species, and a set of stats that can be increased as the Animon levels. The latter are manually distributed and can be redistributed whenever you're not in a battle, so it's possible to change up the stat distribution of one of your Animon if you decide to change up its strategy, or switch which kind of Attack you focus on as it gets access to more physical/special attacks. I was really happy that I could rearrange these at will, since I've never been a huge fan of the fact that respecs in most games have a hefty cost, if it's an option at all. It really allowed me to explore more options with my team while I was still learning the ropes.
Every Animon also has a passive ability, an attribute, an element, an amount of SP, and a set of moves that it learns as it levels. The passive ability applies some sort of effect to the Animon or its party, and can include things like changing the cost of moves to improving certain stats. The element determines weakness and resistance; every Animon has elements that it's weak to and ones that it resists, which is determined by its species. I'll cover SP and Attributes later on when I talk about battles themselves, and moves will get more detail then, but for now I'll mention that an Animon can have five moves active at once, which you can swap from the ones they know whenever you're not in a battle. It's also possible to upgrade some moves using the items rewarded from battles.
Variety abounds in Talea, with over 130 species of Animon to fight, collect and train, distributed across a total of 5 attributes and 13 elements. Animon can even have a hidden secondary element that is inherent to the specific individual rather than the species. Several of these species even have multiple versions of themselves depending on whether they're encountered in Logos or Mythos, along with a variety of species only really appearing in one or the other. Because of this, your team of Animon partners throughout the game will likely be quite different depending on which part of Talea you choose to first explore. I really like a good amount of variety in my creature collecting games, and I think LumenTale has hit exactly the right amount of it without getting overwhelming.
It also isn't too difficult to change up your team at various points in the game. Experience is gained by your entire party, and it seems like it scales based on level, so lower leveled members of the team will have little trouble catching up. You can also recycle unneeded items or the scraps from failed crafting attempts to get some more experience. The very first Animon I received was constant through my entire journey, but I swapped the other members out several times depending on what I was going to face, or just at a whim if I thought an Animon I met was cute or interesting. My greatest enemy is decision paralysis, so I was glad that the game was more than willing to let me change my mind at any point.
Battles
With your partners by your side, you'll battle against other Animon, whether they be wild, or those belonging to other Lumen. The battles are turn-based, with the order determined by the agility of the battle's participants. On each Animon's turn, you can use an attack, with each attack costing a certain amount of SP, use an item if your Animon is holding one, or pass the turn. You can also use an Animon's turn to scan an opponent to learn its weaknesses and resistances, or in the case of wild Animon, attempt to capture it. I mentioned SP earlier, every Animon has an amount of it, and your party's SP will be pooled together. Each attack costs some amount of SP, so you can only use moves adding up to an SP cost within your party's total each turn. You can also use an extra SP for a move to apply a secondary effect based on the Animon's attribute, which can include things like healing the party, doing extra damage, or bypassing resistances. Some items and attacks can increase your SP pool, as well.
Your party will contain 6 Animon, up to 4 of which can be active at a time (though less can used if you want). You gain something called TP, either by landing a critical hit, or hitting an opponent's weakness. When you gain an amount of TP equal to the amount of active members of your party, you get an extra action. This can be taken by any member of your party, and costs no SP, so it's a good opportunity to use your most powerful moves and take advantage of your attributes. This can be a source of pain, too, as opponent teams are also able to use TP actions.
As they battle, Animon will gain experience, which will lead them to level up, becoming stronger, gaining access to new attacks, and possibly even evolving to a new form entirely. Keeping your Animon strong will be especially important as you face off against some of Talea's stronger Lumen, or against powerful bosses that can have multiple health bars or multiple phases.
Outside of Battle
The overworld has more to do than just walking around too. This centers primarily around the Holoken, the most important tool to any Lumen. When you're in the overworld, you can throw it for a few different reasons. If you have it in Bilia mode, you can throw it at an Animon in the overworld to attempt to capture it, and you can specify which kind of Bilia (the items used for capture) that you're throwing. And if your aim is as bad as mine, there's no need to worry, because you won't lose a Bilia if you don't manage to hit the Animon in the first place. When you do hit one, it'll prompt a Quick Time Event, which when executed properly, greatly increases the chances of capture. If you fail to catch one though, it probably won't be happy, and will come after you and be unable to be caught again unless you stun it with your Holoken in Animon mode.
In Animon mode, throwing it at a wild Animon will perform a pre-emptive attack, allowing you to start a battle with the enemy already damaged, or allow you to stun an Animon you've failed to catch in Bilia mode so you can try again. If your own Animon are strong enough compared to the wild one, you might even defeat it without actually entering the battle. Progress through the game will also grant you certain elemental abilities for Animon mode, that allow you to interact with certain parts of the environment by throwing your Holoken with an Animon of the appropriate element selected. A lot of areas are only accessible by doing this, so it's important to keep in mind. Some other things can be interacted more generally through throwing the Holoken too, regardless of mode. This can be things you need to interact with to solve puzzles, or containers and objects you can break to get items.
Misc. Gameplay
The game has a couple other things that don't quite fall under the other categories. Some places have mini-games that you can play, or you might meet someone that needs help with something and get a sidequest. You can also find or buy booster packs for in-game trading cards that you can collect, which I have to make a great effort to resist emptying my in-game wallet on. There are fountains around the world where you can rest to heal your Animon or pass the time to a certain time of day, and while you're there you can also use various materials you've found to craft items, whether these be various kinds of Bilia, or food and potions to use to boost or heal your Animon.
Conclusion
There is so much more that I could say about this game, but I'm just here to give you a taste and let you know if you should check it out, which I can tell you without a doubt that you should. I'm a big fan of monster raising games and have been playing them for most of my life, and LumenTale has quickly become one of my absolute favorites. The visual style is unique, the monster designs are cute, and I enjoyed the game's story quite a bit. The only thing I'd like to see added is a way to speed up the animations in battles if I'm farming for experience or attack upgrade materials, but that's an incredibly minor thing that's pretty well offset by the fact that a pre-emptive attack can net you an instant win if your team is strong enough.
Aside from that, the gameplay is exactly what I'm looking for in this kind of game; it's got just the right amount of depth without getting overwhelming, and gives me a good amount of options to work with that I'm sure will lend to plenty of replay value. If you like collecting and raising creatures to battle alongside you, I cannot recommend LumenTale enough. I feel it is genuinely one of the strongest players in the genre right now, but if you don't want to just take my word for it, there's a free demo on Steam you can try for yourself!
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