The MMO Temtem is about to enter its Early Access. The game combines the Pokémon principle with MMO elements. Can this lead to a hit?
When does Temtem come out? The Early Access for Temtem on Steam is scheduled for January 21. There is still no official release date for PS4, Xbox, and Switch.
Many players are eagerly looking at the MMO, as it fulfills the wish of many Pokémon players: finally a Pokémon MMO!
What is Temtem actually?
This is what it’s about: In Temtem, you run through a large world and can catch cute little monsters, which are called Temtem here instead of Pokémon.
The game calls itself an MMO, inspired by Pokémon.
Not only the little monsters have been adopted from Pokémon, but also many other features: starter monsters, battles, type effectiveness, monster evolution, and breeding are all already known from the Pokémon games.
This makes Temtem different from Pokémon: Even though many elements have been adopted from Pokémon, it is primarily the MMO elements that make Temtem so unique.
Everything takes place in an online world. There you can fight and trade with other players. Additionally, there are tournaments and a cooperative campaign that you can engage in.
Another central aspect of Temtem is housing. You can furnish and decorate your own house according to your preferences. You can also style your character as you wish. There are dozens of different customization options.
Hit Potential or Cheap Knockoff?
This is how the alpha of Temtem was received: First players were able to try out the MMO in an alpha and dive into the colorful world. The feedback is mostly positive and many players are impressed by the MMO.
The Temtems do not seem like cheap copies of Pokémon but have been developed uniquely. Additionally, the customization options for the character and the game story are praised. There are even voices claiming that Temtem was already better in alpha than Pokémon in general.
This speaks for Temtem: The interest in the Pokémon MMO is huge. This is also evident on Kickstarter, where the developers wanted to raise $70,000, but in the end, nearly $600,000 were collected.
Moreover, the desire for a real Pokémon MMO is growing louder. The Pokémon Company responded somewhat with Pokémon Sword and Shield by introducing multiplayer raids, but fans still seem to be unsatisfied.
Many people see these raids as a highlight in Sword and Shield and are asking for more MMO content. Temtem can provide this and therefore could fill a huge market gap.
This speaks against Temtem: Hardcore Pokémon fans may still look critically at Temtem. After all, they are not real Pokémon that you can fight with, but rather “just” Temtems.
This could be comparable to the discussion “Digimon versus Pokémon”. Many Pokémon players back then couldn’t relate to the Digimons; they were simply a bad alternative.
The size of the development studio could also become a problem. Crema relies heavily on donations from the community. Currently, they have been provided with a lot of financial resources because of this. If these funds are exhausted, it remains to be seen whether they will have enough of their own resources or receive large donations again.
Update 01/20: A few negative headlines were generated by the developers during the stress tests last weekend. There, players were able to test the servers before the Early Access. Multiple hotfixes had to be rolled out to rectify issues. If such problems arise at release as well, it could spoil the mood for many players.
Could Temtem be a great success? The chances are good that Temtem will become really big. On reddit, there are already over 10,000 users following the Temtem channel, and on Twitter, there are even over 40,000 followers. The mood on the portals is good. Many users are talking about how Temtem finally brings a worthy competitor to Pokémon to the market.
The massive Kickstarter campaign speaks for itself. The successful alpha is also a good sign.
In the end, it will become clear whether the small Spanish development studio Crema can meet the great demand and whether long-time Pokémon fans can set aside their game and want to get to know new monsters.
Do you want to get more insights into Temtem? Then check out gameplay here:
