Cassette Beasts (Computer)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): April 26, 2023
- Release Date (EU): April 26, 2023
- Publisher: Raw Fury
- Developer: Bytten Studio
- Genres: RPG
Game Features:
Whirring up in New Wirral
Upon waking up on a beach with no prior recollection of past events, you shortly find that you're in the island of New Wirral, and everyone here had the same cryptic beginning. With no means of knowing how you got here or how to get out of here, you decide to explore your surroundings.
You quickly learn that New Wirral is unlike any other island as it is populated by unique monsters. And that’s not all, with a special cassette player and tapes, you can record those monsters and transform into them yourself so as to defend yourself against hostile creatures. Transforming into creatures won’t only help you defend but also potentially figure a way out as you battle bosses known as Archangels. So you’ll team up with fellow companions and uncover the mystery of New Wirral in Cassette Beasts.
Retro-inspired, modern look
If you’ve played GameBoy or even DS-era Pokémon games, Cassette Beasts’ aesthetics will inevitably be reminiscent of these yesteryear titles. Controlling your pixelated character as they explore an open-world from a top-down perspective is a nostalgia-charged experience.
There are also parallels with Pokémon’s gym leaders and Cassette Beasts’ ranger captains. There are 12 of the latter who protect the inhabitants of New Wirral from monsters. You can further test your mettle against each of them and doing so will earn you a stamp; and collecting them all will make you an official ranger.
However, aside from its inevitable nostalgia, Cassette Beasts does pack a modern touch which is not far from the 2.5D look of titles like Octopath Traveler II. The 2D sprites venture in 3D environments which occasionally switch perspectives when you move into hidden areas to activate switches or find chests. Combined with the original, chilled soundtrack, the presentation of Cassette Beasts is rather original.
This originality, which distances itself from its inspiration, further extends in this indie title’s gameplay. While it will be hard to not draw comparisons to Pokémon, which itself defined the monster collector genre, Cassette Beasts features gameplay aspects that sets itself apart.
Most strikingly, instead of capturing monsters and subjugating them to your whims, in Cassette Beasts you’ll turn into monsters yourself. While in battle against one of New Wirral’s 100+ original monsters, you can record a monster with a tape (during a wild encounter in the overworld) and, if successful, you’ll turn into it. The wild opponent will still be in battle mode with you (as opposed to being captured) and you can choose to continue the fight or flee.
Moreover, you’ll also be able to use some recorded monster’s abilities while exploring the overworld in human form. This includes the likes of flying, swimming and climbing which are essential to progress across the map and solve puzzles.
These mechanics feel original and interesting. They are also well executed to set Cassette Beasts apart from other monster collector games.
Gotta tape ‘em all
You’ll want to record new monsters and expand your cassette library as adopting a strategic approach to the game’s turn-based combat will help you fare better. Based on its nature, a monster will have an element attached to it which can lead to positive, negative, or neutral reactions against another creature with a different element. You can also swap between other cassettes during battle should you want a specific approach to deal more effective elemental damage.
Monsters can further evolve into stronger forms as they gain more experience. You can also tune a monster tape’s moves with stickers. The latter can also provide additional benefits to your tapes.
Also different in Cassette Beasts’ combat is the companion system. You’ll almost always wander around with a companion who will also join you in battles in their own monster form. You’ll control your companion’s monster as your own, meaning you can instruct it to battle, use items and record wild monsters.
If your relationship with your other party member is at a certain level, your monsters can fuse during battle. The result is a buffed-up monster with elements from each base monster. While a fused monster can help with a strategic approach by merging elements, it doesn’t do much else. Movesets are the same as the original monsters while they could have introduced new, fused moves. This would encourage fusion in combat and make the latter even more interesting than it already is.
Is it the very best?
While Cassette Beasts does a commendable effort to stand on its own and offer a fresh experience, it’s not perfect. The plot can occasionally feel rushed and progressing the main narrative is also not always clear. You do get general indications for your next destination from NPCs in the form of rumours but it can be quite challenging to find the actual path there.
I had such issues early on, where I found some areas blocked by strong winds and was not sure how to proceed; or I found some areas to bomb but did not unlock any bombs to use. This led me to wander in the surrounding areas which led me to unexpectedly complete other quests/boss battles. This can encourage exploration and some might prefer this approach to venture New Wirral’s open world but it could still have done a better effort.
Exploration could further be facilitated with a simple zoom-in feature of the map. The latter can be quite small, especially if you’re gaming on a handheld, and a zoom feature would have fixed that. Speaking of maps, having more fast travel options, instead of having them far from each other, would also help in navigation, especially with the occasional back-tracking involved.
That said, Cassette Beasts is original in its own right, especially considering it’s an indie game. It delivers that Pokémon-like gameplay experience with a fresh coat of paint; something that’s welcome in the monster collector genre.
Cassette Beasts | PC Date Announcement trailer
Verdict
- Introduces original mechanics to monster collector genre
- Strategic combat
- 2.5D aesthetics
- Progression can be unclear
- Lacklustre fusion mechanic
- Lack of zooming in map
