Game: Beastieball
Genre: Strategic, Turn-based RPG, Indie, Early Access
System: Steam (Windows)
Developers: Publishers: Wishes Ultd | Klei Publishing
Controller Support: Full
Price: US $24.99 | UK £20.99 | EU € 24,50
Release Date: November 12th, 2024
A review code was provided, and many thanks to Wishes Ultd.
I had the opportunity to touch on the early access demo for Beastieball, an indie-developed monster-collecting JRPG with a fresh twist, a couple of months ago, and I was pretty impressed with the potential. Now, we’re diving in to give it a bit of a deeper look. It’s a look that was slightly sidetracked by real life, for many more reasons than whichever one you might guess, but which also made a light-hearted but thoughtful game all the more appealing.
To refresh where we are with the game, Beastieball is very much designed for gamers with fond memories of Pokemon’s varied countries and even more various adorable critters to catch. But where Beastieball plants its flag is in utterly embracing the underlying gag behind most monster-collecting games: from the Pokemon Leagues to the rising ranks of wardens in Monster Sanctuary, you’re engaging in a sport. Beastieball goes full ESPN with that understanding, and the real-life warts of sports, incredibly, become part of its engaging, Gravity Falls-esque storyline.
Gotta Beastieball Them All
You can’t have a monster collection game without a bestiary of critters you actually want to collect, and Beastieball is well aware of this. Its world features creatures that look, especially in the early game, a little more grounded than Pokemon’s, focusing on drawing from nature instead of adding in a lot of mythology and folklore. This makes for a world of critters that feel even more hilariously at odds with the fact that when you recruit a new beastie, you’re tossing them a team jersey to wear.
My only regret is that the jerseys aren’t visible in normal play, because my life would greatly benefit from looking at a rodent the size of my hand wearing a member’s only jacket in some horrific, bowling alley-quality shimmery fabric. But it’s a minor regret and the mental image remains, attached to creatures easy to love, yet not as surprising to discover eating crackers straight out of a dumpster.
Shinies and evolutions are also featured in Beastieball, adding an opportunity to make your preferred team even more unique, and to give you a reason to root for your favorite beasts. One note on evolution, however, is that, understandably, a beastie will undergo what I assume are the ‘yips,’ acting sweaty and anxious for a game or two before triggering its actual evolution. The first time this happens, you might be confused. Sweatiness is a real status effect, and you might keep trying to throw the curative on your critter. Fortunately, you won’t be allowed to waste any items, so just hang in there. They’ll power up shortly.
Take A Journey With Your Beasties
Beastieball’s world, despite being a scratchy, angular, cel-shaded environment, should be especially appealing to fans of Cassette Beasts. Although that game was pixelated, the slightly retro-natural grunge look echoes in Beastieball’s environments. It’s a world that includes light platforming and puzzle-solving to travel efficiently, like so many of its peers, and unlocks the skills you need at a pretty familiar pace.
The occasional issue with jumping remains an issue for anyone who’s not tops at guessing spatial distance between jumps in video games. Still, it’s very much an intermittent issue and continues not to impact the gameplay. Mostly, the only real quibble is that your first few regions of travel have some dry, brown, jaggy-looking areas to cut through, which are either less than alluring to look at or unpleasantly remind me that my region is entering month two of a historic drought. But that’s not all areas, and like its fellows, Beastieball will take you to a variety of ecospheres, replete with local wildlife and equally wild locals living their lives.
Sport!
As mentioned in my previous visit to Beastieball, I am not the woman you go to when you want an update on how the Philly Eagles are doing (they’re fine, I guess?). Still, I admire the enthusiasm and history behind sporting events. Beastieball jumps in with both feet, though, from its ESPN-style fonts and scorecards to sponsorships and league pay. The jerseys we’ve already touched on, but that’s part and parcel of making sure you’ve got a cohesive team ready to go from city to city, crawling up the ranks of the Beastieball league so you can earn the notice of the biggest players.
There’s a neat theme to the running storyline, where the greed and elitism of the league are ironically destroying the environment that’s so crucial to the sport they’re profiting from. It’s not so blatantly hammered as to be unfunny, switching instead to an absurdism that’ll have you going ‘hahahahha — hey, wait’ about real-life sports issues.
The real meat to getting through all of this, though, is the way Beastieball itself is played. Turn-based, with beastie-type advantages from the elemental to the physical, it’s less about overpowering the opposing team. It’s more tactical than most mon games, and they’ll demonstrate to you early on how a clever player who understands the beastie moves of both teams can clean up on a team dozens of levels higher than yours.
The key is in its volleyball-style matches, which gives each side four squares to work with and two beasties in play apiece. You’ll have a bevvy of options available, from setting up volleys to switching beasties out. Buff moves and gimmick shots that’ll shift your team around so that your opponent can’t manage to win a point off you. And that’s done in two ways: Either managing to spike the ball into undefended territory (the key to those easy tactical wins against tough teams), or knocking out opposing critters with a hefty whack to the face with the ball. It may be a little confusing at first, but the results are a joy to watch happen.
Conclusion
Beastieball on early access, has shaped up to become a fresh, interesting new take on the monster collection game, one where your team of beasties will quickly feel like a real team. It’s easy to become invested in their success and yours, and it’s great to finally play an adult roped into this situation because, dangit, somebody’s gotta step up to help the town not lose its nature preserve.
With a goofy, engaging cast of characters, a total dedication to the sports setting, and loads of wonky but adorable creatures, Beastieball feels and plays like a game that sets out to do something new with a clear vision of what that goal was. While it’s still very much an indie game, with a couple of rough spots and an aesthetic that might not click with everyone, I’m hoping Monster Collection fans will give the game the look it deserves. I’m happy to see how this one turned out, and I hope the developers enjoy success here and with their next endeavours.
Final Verdict: I Like It A Lot
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