Roco Kingdom is a new MMORPG for Android and iOS that strongly resembles Pokémon. The player takes on the role of an apprentice in a magical world where you can catch crazy creatures and engage in turn-based battles with them. Development began about a year ago.
What kind of game is this? Roco Kingdom is a new MMORPG with a completely open game world without loading screens. You create a character in anime style and explore this magical world, which roughly resembles the visuals of Genshin Impact.
- On your journey, you will encounter various creatures that you can battle and catch, similar to Pokémon.
- So far, 42 different creatures have been presented, some of which are already evolutions of other monsters. Blue orbs resembling Poké Balls are even used.
- The battles are turn-based. Each monster takes an action, then it’s the other one’s turn.
- There are various cities, and you will be able to fly around the world with some of these monsters.
- The developers promise a lot of gameplay depth and many tasks to complete in the world.
- The game world is based on Roco, a Chinese anime.
The game is being developed by a Chinese indie studio, which is supported by the gaming giant Tencent as the publisher. The game is being created in Unreal Engine.
The developers have already released several cinematic trailers throughout 2021. Recently, the first actual gameplay was also included. We have embedded this gameplay trailer for you:
“Better animations than Pokémon Sword and Shield”
How is the trailer received in the West? Under the video, several positive reactions are accumulating, mainly referring to the animations in the battles:
- One user comments under the video: “The animations are so clean. Wow.”
- Another wonders how a mobile game has such good animations: “Why does a game for iOS and Android have better animations than Pokémon Sword and Shield?”
- Yet another describes the game as a mix between “Breath of the Wild and Pokémon.”
When will the game be released? There is currently no exact release date. In a developer post, it is mentioned that Roco Kingdom “will not be released until 2040,” which is a very cryptic statement regarding the release. In general, the developers want to take their time until the game meets their expectations.
Will the game also come to the West? There is currently no statement on this. However, Tencent is a large publisher and has already released several games in the West, owning stakes in gaming companies like Epic and even the entire Riot Games studio. A release here would be quite possible given sufficient interest and success in China.
Since Pokémon was also enjoyed on the Game Boy in its early days, the game fits well on smartphones.
However, anyone who definitely wants to play a Pokémon MMO in the West can currently rely on Temtem. There, you can catch, train, and breed Temtem and battle against other trainers. We took a closer look at the game in 2021, almost a year after its release:
