As a long-time fan of creature collectors (and occasional player of free-to-play gacha games), I’ve had my eyes on Aniimo ever since it was first announced. While we still don’t have a firm release date, I had a chance to play the most recent closed beta on PC, and came away mostly impressed.
The free-to-play open world adventure is heavily inspired by Genshin Impact (which was itself inspired by open world Zelda games), but it’s the creature collector aspect that really hits all the right notes, with exciting real-time combat and creature merging.
Read on for my early preview of the Aniimo closed beta!
After customizing my character, I’m dropped into a beautiful but small tutorial area, where I learn how to catch Aniimo. It’s basically the same as throwing a Pokéball: just tap a button to enter catching mode, aim, and throw the Aniipod. A percentage appears denoting how successful the capture will be, which factors in whether the Aniimo is asleep, or fleeing, or has its back turned, as well as the quality of the Aniipod I’m using.
From the very start the world of Idyll is colorful and gorgeous
After collecting my first several Aniimo, I’m drawn into a temple area where I can choose between two powerful Light type Aniimo, Lunara and Helion. I’m then thrown into a boss fight where I quickly learn to dodge attacks — and how to Twine.
Aniimo’s combat and exploration are entirely real-time. Aniimo can fight on their own with my character offering buffs, healing and minor attack support. But the real fun begins when I Twine.
Twine to Win
Twining costs nothing but the tap of a button to merge with my Aniimo. I then control them directly, including dodging, flying, dashing, and employing their skills, for as long as I wish.
Twining is hugely fun and should be a major selling point for the game. Who wouldn’t want to become their Pokémon and battle it out, versus simply ordering them around?
Aniimo skills rely on cooldown as well as energy points. Each Aniimo has two primary skills, plus passive skills and traits, and an ultimate they can unleash. And the skills are delightfully flashy – no lame Tail Whips here! Budclaw can unleash a green laser beam, Emberpup leaps up and tackles enemies with a firey explosion, and Lunara summons a miniature moon to slam down on foes.
And yes, certain types are more effective against others. Water moves are better against Fire types, whereas Light and Magic are super effective against each other.
My alpha Stellarys battles another alpha
Twining also benefits movement, exploration, and questing. Different Aniimo can be equipped as climbers, fliers, and swimmers, which means I’ll automatically transform into them if I need to do any of those things. And no, they don’t even have to be in my active battle party, which is a major plus!
Many quests or hidden areas also require me to Twine with that particular Aniimo so I can speak to others of the same type. And finally, Aniimo moves can be used to clear paths and solve simple puzzles, such as using Emberpup’s fire to clear branches.
After the big battle, I’m taken to the main city of Astra, the social hub of Aniimo. I chat with a few NPCs and learn the basics of movement and combat. But then I’m quickly sent back down to Idyll, the main open world where the bulk of the game takes place.
The flashy city of Astra has several shops
Breezy Plains
The map of the Breezy Plains continent is divided into multiple zones that helpfully show what level range they’re appropriate for, guiding me into certain areas whenever I feel strong enough, just like an MMORPG.
Plus, the map even showcases which Aniimo are in which areas, and hints as to which only appear in certain weather conditions, or after certain quests.
The Breezy Plains region is absolutely enormous, with lots of fast travel
It’s a huge region, and the level range goes all the way up to 50!
The beginning few areas are bright and colorful, with rolling hills, big caves, and field of purple flowers. The native Aniimo tend toward the cutesy side, such as the Nimbi sheep, flowering Iris, and my personal favorite little guys, the crabby Budclaws. Collecting Aniimo is a major part of progression, and soon I’m brimming with hundreds of Aniipods.
Collecting Aniimo is a major part of progression
There is a main story to follow, mostly teaching me the ins and outs of various features, such as the regional Branch, and to look out for Lumin Ambers. Lumins are collectibles scattered around the world, sometimes in chests guarded by aggressive Aniimo, other times in hidden areas, or requiring some light platforming and racing.
By gathering Lumin, I can empower the region’s Branch and level up the region, unlocking new benefits, such as manually changing the weather (which changes Aniimo spawn) or triggering a weekly encounter with a Sparkling Aniimo egg.
As I level up and explore, I discover more Aniimo, though there’s a greater emphasis on different variants of the same Aniimo.
For example, Chirpi, a cute little bird, comes in a basic white form as the Wind type. Exploring near water, I discover a rarer (and quite fast) beach variant, which has blue and white coloration, and a dual Wind/Water type.
Some Aniimo variants are quite rare, such as Sparkling versions, making them fun to hunt and collect.
Iris has lots of different variants
Eventually I head over to the town of Bloomville and progress through a rather boring story of making potions for a flower festival. One section involving twining with a Flutternym butterfly was especially long and tedious. The lack of voice acting and emphasis on chatting with lots of characters didn’t exactly endear me to the story. Easily the least enjoyable part of the game.
I also discovered I had my own home base, and not just the custom RV I initially was introduced to, but an entire private farmland area!
First there’s the RV park, where I can presumably hang out with friends and other players in a relaxing area. From there I can hop into my own private Home area, where I build up farmland and recruit my own Aniimo to work the various fields and manufacturing devices.
Hello, Palworld!
The humble beginnings of my Home farmland
I can design it all to be fully automated, unlocking better crops and processes, and earning money and useful progression items.
Don’t Gacha
While the game’s UI, menu structure, and progression systems scream HoYoverse gacha game, none of the Aniimo themselves are locked behind a gacha system. They want you to actually play and hunt them down, after all!
The only gacha-related component I found was through the Stamp Rush market. Players earn stamps (basically coins) through various activities and progression, then exchange them for some blind boxes, which include rare items, exp boosts, etc.
From what I could tell, the premium store is limited to cosmetic costumes (and cute accessories for your Aniimo!), as well as fancier Aniipods, including ones that guarantee capture, and ensure the captured Aniimo is higher-quality.
The Companion Handbook is Aniimo’s Battle Pass
There’s also an optional battle pass called the Companion Handbook, that features free and premium rewards. Most of the rewards including helpful items that evolve and boost Aniimo (which can also be found more rarely in the wild), as well as the occasional Aniimo egg. Real-money payment and prices weren’t available in the closed beta.
While I enjoyed the basic gameplay of exploring, capturing, and real-time combat with Twine, I was admittedly off-put by the overwhelmingly saccharine sweetness of the world and Aniimo themselves. Nearly every creature I came across is overly cute and wide-eyed, as if manufactured in a Cute Factory, and the world is almost too bright and colorful.
Other creature collectors certainly have their fair share of cute and cuddly creatures, but I found them to be almost the only options for me during my first 10 or so hours (making it to my current level cap of 35).
Safe to say that Lita will become a fan-favorite NPC
Judging by the trailer, there are some nifty dragons, armored dudes, and insect robot creatures that I absolutely want to get my hands on, but I presume they’re much higher level and rarer creatures. And yes, evolving most Aniimo into their later forms takes rare material that will require some grinding and careful choosing.
I was also disappointed that almost all Aniimo I came across were completely non-aggressive, at least in the first four or five areas I visited. This adds to the cutesy, cozy vibe — but I wouldn’t mind some more danger and action, either!
Despite these complaints, I was impressed with Aniimo’s gameplay, polish, and modern progression systems, and look forward to checking it out on full release later this year.
The Aniimo closed beta is currently on PC. Aniimo is due to release later this year on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and mobile devices. It’s rated E10+.
