Our first impressions of Coromon are brought to you by MGN and Heartbeat Moments. What is MGN? That is the Multi-Gaming Network, that’s us. We’re constantly providing you with gaming news, guides, reviews, and more from the MGN YouTube channel and from our blog MGN.gg – so check us out.
What are Heartbeat Moments? I’m glad you asked. Heartbeat Moments are something we’ve developed to bring our blogs to life. Say you’re particularly interested in the story or sound design, you can click the timecode next to that section in the blog, and the video will automatically be pulled to that part so that you can read and watch about your specific interest! How great is that?! Okay, moving on to Coromon.
Coromon is first and foremost a monster capture and monster training game presented in a retro-pixelated art style. It’s full of charm and adorable creatures and moments, but don’t let that fool you. There’s plenty of depth there as well, both in the story and the gameplay. Fights are not the simple “I’m stronger, therefore I win” variety. There’s actual strategy, planning, and depth involved.
The art style is very reminiscent of something like Octopath Traveller. The pixelation is executed in such a way that you feel nostalgic for that classic 90s monster capture game, but done well enough and with enough finesse that it doesn’t feel dated, much like Octopath, and that’s a good thing.
So, is it different enough from those other games in the genre to warrant you picking it up? Our first impressions are going to be broken down into four categories:
- Story
- Sound
- Gameplay
- X-Factor
The X-Factor for our impressions are different from game to game, review to review, and today we’ve decided to stick with those differences between Coromon and other games. Like I said, is it different enough? If it is, is that a good thing? Do the differences make it better or worse? Let’s find out.
3:12 – Story 8/10
The first thing I want to say about Coromon is that you will notice almost immediately that it’s hilarious. Yes, the story is there, and early on you’re given enough to interest you in playing the game through, but what I love about it thus far is that it weaves in the humour naturally with the story-telling.
It isn’t over the top or jammed down your throat at every possible opportunity, the developers have fit the humour when it suits and it sticks the landing for the most part. It’s cute and I like it. So, let yourself enjoy the story and you’ll get some light-hearted chuckles along the way.
4:04 – Sound 10/10
The music is relaxing and whimsical. It puts you in a state to just sit back, relax, and let the charm of Coromon mellow you out. The game has little details like birds chirping when the train disturbs them, so the developer has obviously put a lot of thought about the little things, and in those moments you can tell that they love their game.
If I had to give you a comparison, I would say that the music is executed well in a similar fashion to Stardew Valley. It’s relaxed when it needs to be, like planting your vegetables, or in Coromon’s case exploring and getting exposition. It’s exciting when you’re in the mines, or in Coromon’s case, battling with your monsters. The highest praise I can give Coromon is that the sound design was done just as well as Stardew’s.
5:10 – Gameplay 11/10
Coromon is deep. It might seem like a simple monster capture, monster battle game, but where it stands out from other games like Nexomon is in just how deep you can go. You’re given the opportunity to make the game as easy or difficult as you want and that is a really welcome feature absent from some of the AAA games in the same genre.
Like I said, deep. You can customize your character, there are stat growth curves, there is stat customization, there are puzzles, there are multiple regions, there are challenge modes in the difficulty. Everything that you’ve been dying to get out of the big guys in the genre, you’ll find your wish granted in Coromon. So, for me, with those things fulfilled I can’t help but love Coromon for giving their audience exactly what they want, all in one game!
6:19 – X-Factor 9/10
I’ve already covered a lot of how Coromon is different from the other games in the genre, especially against the big two: Pokemon and Digimon. But is it different enough to the point where if you’ve played the latest releases of those games already and are enjoying them, would you shift to spending your time on Coromon?
The answer is a resounding yes. You’re going to get more out of your experience playing Coromon.
How can I say that? Because I have those other games, and play them regularly, but I find that I’d rather be playing Coromon. I am eagerly awaiting the full release and I know that my Steam play time is going to be a ridiculous number.
Why is that? Well, like I mentioned, Coromon is extremely deep and will provide a genuine challenge depending on your chosen difficulty. Also, the developers and publishers of the big two aren’t flexible or very interactive with their audience and is another thing that Coromon does better. That makes the future of the game very exciting.
So, if that sounds like something you’d be interested in, give the demo for Coromon a try. And be sure to add the game to your Steam wishlist so that you can pick it up as soon as it drops.
Next:
Godstrike – First Impressions Game Review
Credits
| Program | Founding Writers |
| Author | Luke Cowling |
| YouTuber | Luke Cowling |
| Publisher | MGN |
| Game | Coromon |