I've been putting off this review for 2+ weeks because I simply cannot put all of my thoughts about Cassette Beasts in order. As such, I'm just going to break it all down into different pieces.
The Vibe: While there are many, many monster taming games out there—especially in recent years, as the Pokémon Outrage Machine (tm) continues to roll on—it's generally agreed upon that the most successful ones (Pokémon, Dragon Quest Monsters, etc.) capture a very specific sense of adventure, wonder, and self-expression. Cassette Beasts delivers on that in spades. Between Metroidvania-esque overworld abilities, character creation, 100+ exciting monsters, and an energy I can only describe via the 3rd generation of Pokémon, the excitement sets in from the moment the game begins.
Characters/Writing: The greatest compliment I can give Cassette Beasts is that the writing—both in terms of characters and flavor text—is undeniably clever and charming. It immediately introduces an adult-oriented tone, with actual thought and stakes behind everything happening, without ever stepping into the all-too-familiar self-depricating or edgy territory of lesser games. Cassette Beasts proudly declares "Our characters are adults, with adult feelings and adult problems" while tactfully avoiding becoming an Adult Swim parody of the genre it's living in.
Mechanics: This is probably the simplest talking point. Anything you could want from a monster taming game is here—a focus on weaknesses, evolution, capturing a whole horde of creatures, etc., and Cassette Beasts handles those things with complete confidence. Where it becomes its own game, however, is in its unique mechanics and how it layers them, creating a tactically-interesting and, oftentimes, genuinely difficult experience that requires the player to be present and pay attention to every battle.
Narrative: As I've already mentioned, the fact that the writing and world take themselves seriously goes a long way toward making the story enticing. The world building is handled exceptionally well and the overall narrative is a fun, creative, thought-provoking ride that ends with a few well-earned messages and morals.
Presentation: There's not much to say here other than that the music, artstyle, and SFX are stellar. The developers obviously had a well-defined stylistic approach, and they absolutely nailed every aspect of it.
Representation: This is the big one, my friends. This is the aspect that took a great game into a must-play into my favorite game of 2023 so far. The gender, sexuality, and racial representation in Cassette Beasts is among the best handled I've seen in the entire medium. At no point do any of those things become spectacles, at no point does a "wait, what???? You're GAY?!?!?" dialogue option appear. Every character just exists and are given the absolute freedom to just exist, with representational aspects coming up when relevant, in passing, or in even more subtle ways like a decoration in a character's house. They're written like real people, and they're given the respect of real people, especially in the relationship building aspect of the game. When you create your character at the beginning of the game (or change it at any point throughout) the pronouns you choose are represented appropriately in conversations, are never questioned, and are embraced completely by the writing. There are one-on-one moments with characters that are so heartfelt and validating in a way I've never seen in a video game before, especially not toward a player-created avatar. This is a difficult thing to describe without having experienced it, but believe me when I say that Cassette Beasts is inclusive in the purist way—by wanting players to feel represented, to see themselves in characters, and to be themselves among those characters. It's a truly incredible thing, and to me, it's the new standard for the medium.
In case it wasn't already obvious, I think Cassette Beasts is a miracle. It does what every newcomer to a genre should: it takes enough influence from its predecessors to know what works while also doing enough new that it becomes its own fresh, unique piece of art. This is my favorite game of 2023 so far, and it's permanently placed Bytten Studio on my radar. I can't wait to see what they do next.
The Vibe: While there are many, many monster taming games out there—especially in recent years, as the Pokémon Outrage Machine (tm) continues to roll on—it's generally agreed upon that the most successful ones (Pokémon, Dragon Quest Monsters, etc.) capture a very specific sense of adventure, wonder, and self-expression. Cassette Beasts delivers on that in spades. Between Metroidvania-esque overworld abilities, character creation, 100+ exciting monsters, and an energy I can only describe via the 3rd generation of Pokémon, the excitement sets in from the moment the game begins.
Characters/Writing: The greatest compliment I can give Cassette Beasts is that the writing—both in terms of characters and flavor text—is undeniably clever and charming. It immediately introduces an adult-oriented tone, with actual thought and stakes behind everything happening, without ever stepping into the all-too-familiar self-depricating or edgy territory of lesser games. Cassette Beasts proudly declares "Our characters are adults, with adult feelings and adult problems" while tactfully avoiding becoming an Adult Swim parody of the genre it's living in.
Mechanics: This is probably the simplest talking point. Anything you could want from a monster taming game is here—a focus on weaknesses, evolution, capturing a whole horde of creatures, etc., and Cassette Beasts handles those things with complete confidence. Where it becomes its own game, however, is in its unique mechanics and how it layers them, creating a tactically-interesting and, oftentimes, genuinely difficult experience that requires the player to be present and pay attention to every battle.
Narrative: As I've already mentioned, the fact that the writing and world take themselves seriously goes a long way toward making the story enticing. The world building is handled exceptionally well and the overall narrative is a fun, creative, thought-provoking ride that ends with a few well-earned messages and morals.
Presentation: There's not much to say here other than that the music, artstyle, and SFX are stellar. The developers obviously had a well-defined stylistic approach, and they absolutely nailed every aspect of it.
Representation: This is the big one, my friends. This is the aspect that took a great game into a must-play into my favorite game of 2023 so far. The gender, sexuality, and racial representation in Cassette Beasts is among the best handled I've seen in the entire medium. At no point do any of those things become spectacles, at no point does a "wait, what???? You're GAY?!?!?" dialogue option appear. Every character just exists and are given the absolute freedom to just exist, with representational aspects coming up when relevant, in passing, or in even more subtle ways like a decoration in a character's house. They're written like real people, and they're given the respect of real people, especially in the relationship building aspect of the game. When you create your character at the beginning of the game (or change it at any point throughout) the pronouns you choose are represented appropriately in conversations, are never questioned, and are embraced completely by the writing. There are one-on-one moments with characters that are so heartfelt and validating in a way I've never seen in a video game before, especially not toward a player-created avatar. This is a difficult thing to describe without having experienced it, but believe me when I say that Cassette Beasts is inclusive in the purist way—by wanting players to feel represented, to see themselves in characters, and to be themselves among those characters. It's a truly incredible thing, and to me, it's the new standard for the medium.
In case it wasn't already obvious, I think Cassette Beasts is a miracle. It does what every newcomer to a genre should: it takes enough influence from its predecessors to know what works while also doing enough new that it becomes its own fresh, unique piece of art. This is my favorite game of 2023 so far, and it's permanently placed Bytten Studio on my radar. I can't wait to see what they do next.
Underpants158
10 months ago