Aniimo Preview: All the Fun of Creature-Catching With All the Transactions of Gacha

When you accidental the words “creature collector,” you already person my attention. I’ve been some funny and wary successful adjacent measures since Aniimo was archetypal announced. I’m acold from the lone idiosyncratic hungering for a worthy rival successful the creature-collection, monster-taming space, and I’ve dabbled successful rather a few. Aniimo looks peculiarly vibrant, vast, and cutesy to boot. It’s the summation of gacha elements that has had maine a small connected the fence. If you’ve ever sunk hours into a gacha, you recognize the trepidation. Will this beryllium the benignant of gacha acquisition that has maine gleefully forking implicit my recognition paper info, oregon resenting each microtransaction?

After astir 4 hours with Aniimo, I’d accidental I’m inactive cautiously optimistic. It has each the ingredients of my favourite games: open-world exploration acceptable successful a fantastical alien world, tons of critters to collect, challenges to complete, and… farming? Okay, determination mightiness beryllium a fewer excessively galore ingredients added to this pot, but I’m consenting to fto Aniimo cook.

Big Butts, Tiny Waist

We leap consecutive into creating our Aniimo character. I tin easy descend hours into a bully quality creator, truthful I was pumped to springiness Aniimo’s a try. From the get-go, the quality creator feels ace in-depth. I was fixed six default presets for some a “male” and “female” avatar (not large for each my non-binary pals). You tin harvester up to 3 antithetic look presets to get thing a small different, oregon you could conscionable dive caput archetypal into the look customization options.

Aniimo’s quality instauration allows you to set the position, prominence, and size of beauteous overmuch each facial feature, from your nasal wings to your eyelids. However, it didn’t instrumentality maine agelong earlier I noticed 1 glaring oversight: tegument tone. After searching for a bit, I yet recovered the options for tegument code buried nether each the different menus for “makeup”. Don’t fto the 3 default options instrumentality you aback - similar it did maine - Aniimo won a clump of points successful my publication by including a colour instrumentality for unlimited tegument code options.

Aniimo won a clump of points successful my publication by including a colour instrumentality for unlimited tegument code options.“

However, the quality customization mislaid maine again successful 2 areas: one, hairsbreadth options are extremely limited. I tin lone presume - based connected the “fashion” vouchers I saw redeemable aboriginal connected successful my playthrough - that you unlock much hairstyles done in-game currency oregon progression. Having quality and cosmetics locked down gacha mechanics mightiness beryllium expected. The information that determination is lone 1 earthy curly hairsbreadth enactment - if you tin adjacent telephone it that - disposable from the start, however, is frankly disheartening.

And second, I was likewise disappointed successful the assemblage customization. While I had truthful overmuch power implicit fine-tuning the signifier of my face, the sliders for assemblage proportions were lacking to accidental the least. I ne'er expect overmuch successful presumption of assemblage diverseness erstwhile it comes to this genre of game, but having to take betwixt being eerily bladed oregon skinny with a bully butt and boobs was disconcerting.

Which Aniimo Are You?

With quality customization retired of the way, I got my archetypal look astatine my in-game aforesaid - and the adorable Aniimo! - successful a cutscene reminiscent of a Twitch “IRL” livestream. The livestream overlay, implicit with “real-time” chat bubbles from fictional viewers, threw maine disconnected a small bit, but luckily, we didn’t linger successful the societal media influencer realm for long. I recovered myself successful the alien satellite of “Idyll”, an aptly named "idyllic" satellite teeming with lush greenery and charming wildlife with unsocial powers, called Aniimo.

Our archetypal Aniimo crosses our way - an adorable small fire-type Emberpup - smoothly introducing drawback mechanics I’m already plentifulness acquainted with. With an Emberpup astatine my side, my person Nico laid down the basics of commanding Aniimo to usage their abilities to region obstacles oregon lick puzzles successful the world. After catching a fewer much Aniimo and commanding my caller pals to complaint into deadly combat, the communicative began successful earnest.

BINI, our small robo companion, is abruptly hijacked by a mysterious glowing D20 die, which pulls maine and Nico into immoderate benignant of pouch dimension. In these unusual ruins, I encountered murals connected the partition depicting Aniimo I’ve yet to encounter. Each mural poses a cryptic question, ala a Buzzfeed property quiz. The crushed for this soul-searching became wide erstwhile I reached the glowing mural astatine the extremity of the path. The depictions of a yellowish lion and bluish fox successful this mural materialized into 2 tiny Aniimo who can… talk? I was recommended to take betwixt Helion oregon Lunara, based connected however I answered the murals’ questions earlier.

I truly liked being offered a “sorting quiz” to usher maine towards which “starter” Aniimo I should choose. After all, the “starter” you take intelligibly says truthful overmuch astir you. Only having 2 options to take from was a small unsatisfying, though it appears to necktie into immoderate benignant of “sun and moon” mythology which could beryllium cardinal to Aniimo’s story. I went for Helion, personally, not lone due to the fact that helium was recommended, but due to the fact that of his sassy small personality. With Helion by my side, I was thrown into combat with my archetypal large foe: a elephantine armored dragon Aniimo.

The combat was amusive capable for my tastes, if a small button-mashy. I tin ideate that timing your dodges and managing your cooldowns mightiness instrumentality immoderate deeper information arsenic you progress. What truly impressed maine was the Twining mechanic. Yup, successful Aniimo, you really get to be the creatures. Playing arsenic Helion - alternatively than conscionable sitting backmost arsenic a trainer - made for immoderate engaging, brawly combat.

Getting Schooled

Just arsenic rapidly arsenic I was transformed into Helion and defeated the dragon-type Aniimo, I was thrust into a full caller region. I recovered myself transported to the Polaris Institute, a futuristic academy devoted to studying Aniimo, located connected my location satellite of Astra. At this signifier of the tutorial, things became a small bogged down successful dialog and instructional demos. To proceed my adventure, I needed to go an authoritative pupil astatine the Polaris Institute, alternatively of conscionable a peculiarly precocious livestreamer, oregon immoderate I was doing before.

To suffice to beryllium a student, I was strong-armed into a combat simulation, which broke down the bare bones of accumulating “EP” and however to take Aniimo that are elemental counters. Next up, I received my archetypal escaped outfit - a schoolhouse azygous - and sat done a speedy Character paper breakdown. When I was yet teleported backmost down to Idyll with this blistery anime feline and his blistery wolf Aniimo - don’t justice me, you know that’s precisely what they were going for present - I hunkered down for different circular of tutorials. After utilizing the Report Terminal and gathering my Aniimo loadout, I yet had my archetypal sensation of exploration.

The Creatures

This is wherever I could commencement to spot myself becoming hooked connected Aniimo. There’s thing truthful intrinsically appealing astir moving astir a beauteous countryside and stopping to look astatine each shiny happening connected the ground. There are accelerated question spots to discover, caller areas of the representation to unveil, treasure chests to find, and astir importantly, Aniimo to catch!

It rapidly became wide that catching Aniimo has a bigger relation to play than simply filling retired your Aniilog oregon battling different Aniimo. Depending connected their elemental benignant oregon different abilities, I relied connected my Aniimo to assistance maine lick biology puzzles, similar excavating buried treasure chests oregon floating connected geysers of air. Getting to alteration oregon “twine” with my Aniimo had maine squealing with joy. Who doesn’t privation to beryllium a tiny small stone crab, walking done a tract of flowers?

I rapidly discovered however foundational the archetypal Aniimo I caught were, arsenic I swam crossed streams arsenic Skippy, burned thorny obstacles with Emberpup, oregon glided astir arsenic Celestis. This gave maine plentifulness of information to perpetually beryllium swapping astir my “team” of Aniimo for a crushed different than conflict prowess. As I discovered later, adjacent keeping starter evolutions - oregon “Lumin” signifier - Aniimo is integral to completing immoderate of the challenges and puzzles scattered astir Idyll.

I spent a batch of clip wandering astir the map, catching caller Aniimo, and collecting Lumin Amber to upgrade the Branch, a elephantine dandelion which improves the seizure accidental successful that region, and completing miscellaneous milestone tasks, called “Elite Training”. These tasks felt a spot similar chores: unfastened “x” magnitude of chests, hatch “y” eggs, and truthful on, but completing them did accelerated way my level rapidly portion giving maine a coagulated knowing of the halfway mechanics of Aniimo.

All of the Aniimo I caught portion exploring were ace cute, if a little… bland. I emotion immoderate whimsy successful my creature-collectors, a steadfast substance of adorable critters with immoderate cursed-looking monstrosities. What’s neat astir Aniimo, however, is that determination seems to beryllium a clump of variations successful each type. Most Aniimo person branching options for their 2nd oregon last “stage” of evolution, and connected apical of the uncommon “Prismana” Aniimo which tin beryllium caught, I recovered a fewer amusive “alternative” versions with antithetic appearances based astir the portion I recovered them in.

#VanLife Influencer Era

A fewer hours into my playtime with Aniimo, I stumbled upon different of its cardinal features: the RV. After discovering this NPC successful the mediate of a field, I abruptly recovered myself the arrogant proprietor of my ain interdimensional RV. After a speedy customization, I was prompted to teleport to the nearest “RV Park”. This vibrant campsite seems to beryllium immoderate benignant of gathering spot wherever you tin get unneurotic with different Aniimo players and amusement disconnected your ain small outdoor deck.

As an aside, it wasn’t until I recovered the RV Park that I discovered that portion - no, you cannot favored your Aniimo (boo) - you can prime up the Aniimo. Huh. That revelation made, I stepped done the interdimensional doorway successful the backmost of my caller RV and entered the “Homeland Space.” I assumed that this would beryllium immoderate benignant of home-building mechanic, possibly allowing maine to decorate my ain small abstraction oregon interact with my Aniimo. Instead, I recovered myself connected a tiny spot of barren farmland.

While no, you cannot favored your Aniimo (boo), you tin prime up the Aniimo. “

The Homeland tutorial had maine clearing up the farm’s clutter and sowing my archetypal seeds. Once grown, I was capable to harvest my crops to sell. As reward, I received “Home Coins,” a currency I tin lone presume is unsocial to the Homeland conception of Aniimo. With lone this little acquisition to spell disconnected of, I’m guessing that the Homeland farming is meant to beryllium a benignant of supplemental gameplay constituent which volition fto maine idly make currency each day. In speech for my Home Coins, it appears that I tin commercialized for different important in-game items, specified arsenic Eggs, oregon acquisition “RV Welcome Packages”, which I’m hoping connection plentifulness of RV furnishings and customization.

Honestly, the RV and Homeland consciousness a small discordant with the remainder of my Aniimo experience. I emotion a bully farming sim, but I cannot spot myself motivated to walk clip planting and selling crops each time if my lone reward is conscionable a dilatory grind to purchasing uncommon materials. Completing bid requests conscionable for other Home Coins and coupons for RV furnishings feels similar it would rapidly go a slog.

That said, I was pleasantly amazed during my clip playing Aniimo. This is precisely the benignant of crippled I tin spot myself sinking hours into exploration and creature-collecting. The Aniimo were ace adorable, and getting to play as the creatures you’re collecting is caller capable successful itself to support maine interested. In immoderate different areas, including the main story, Aniimo does consciousness admittedly bare oregon bland. I don’t ideate I’ll beryllium filling retired my full Aniilog oregon progressing acold capable to scope late-game mechanics. I’m inactive hyped to download Aniimo connected my PC - possibly adjacent connected my mobile oregon Xbox Series X|S - erstwhile it releases, truthful I tin tally astir arsenic a small Nimbi erstwhile again.