One of the most popular video game franchise in the whole world, Pokémon is loved by millions of gamers all around the globe. But as much of a fun game and nostalgia hit as it might be for a lot of people, you can’t help but accept the fact that the titles do get a little stale after a certain point.
The stories in the Pokémon games aren’t too creative, the Gym Leader-Elite Four formula has been done to death, and the villainous teams become more of a joke with every passing generation. This is probably why there are tons of Pokémon-like games out there right now.
Sharing a lot of characteristics from Pokémon games like the monster-taming and battling aspects while keeping stories, gameplay, and mechanics fresh, Pokémon-like games can scratch a long-standing itch for a lot of gamers.
The 10 best video game alternatives to Pokémon
Coromon
One of the more recently released Pokémon-like titles on PC, Coromon has a lot going for it while keeping the majority of what made the originals so special.
In the world of Velua breeds a festering evil. As a member of an organization called Lux Solis, we need to collect as many Coromon as possible as an aspiring technology researcher and set out on a mission to investigate a group of six titans with our trusty Coromon by our side.
The game plays out in the style of a classic 2D isometric title from Nintendo, following the same turn-based strategy formula from the Pokémon games. The artwork of the world, its creatures, attack animations, and everything in between feel very fresh, however, and is an experience meant to be played through rather than talked about.
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
The rivalry between the Pokémon and Digimon franchises is a tale as old as time, and it is common knowledge that the former has always been at the forefront when it comes to the popularity race between the two. That being said, Digimon is an amazing franchise with tons of fun and innovative games, with the latest one being Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.
You begin your adventure in EDEN, a digital world controlled by hackers. As a newbie, you are driven to prove your merit and be able to tame the strongest of digital monsters. Like Pokémon, you have three starters to choose from, with plenty more cyber critters to catch on your journey.
The tamable creatures in Digimon are not nearly as kid-friendly as the ones in Pokémon. These beasts are clearly aimed towards an older audience, with more dangerous designs: guns, swords, blood-eaters, you name it.
Temtem
Probably the most faithful Pokémon-like out there, Temtem recreates the magic of the Pokémon world—and how.
The game includes teams of creatures you catch that fight each other, various regions to explore through, an evil group of baddies to take down, Gym Leaders—called Dojo Masters in Temtem—to defeat, and there’s so much more that mirrors the Pokémon experience.
The one main difference that this game has, however, is that it is an MMORPG, letting you play along with friends to take down the bad guys in your way and collect all the amazing Tems that your hearts desire.
Nexomon: Extinction
We’re talking about the second entry in the Nexomon franchise because it is simply better than the first, and the story is not really connected to the prequel, so you can play Extinction as a standalone title.
Nexomon: Extinction, like Temtem, has a lot of Pokémon characteristics: battle tamers, fight Nexomon in tall grass, use the world’s healing centers and shops: you know the drill.
What Extinction does do differently, and very well at that, is its writing. The dialogue in the game is quite snarky and makes a point to dissect genre tropes while constantly breaking the fourth wall at opportune moments. The game is pretty dark in some aspects, but since it doesn’t take itself very seriously, a Pokémon-like with its own identity.
Monster Sanctuary
Monster Sanctuary is a big departure from the other Pokémon-likes on this list as it doesn’t follow the Pokémon formula as closely as some other entries do. In fact, the game plays out as a 2D side-scrolling platformer.
Catch a variety of cool monsters to unlock various traversal options such as climbing landscape, swimming, and even flying. Use your monsters to engage in JRPG-style turn-based battles while leveling these critters up and unlocking their full potential by exploring their intricate skill trees.
Wolves, goblins, robots, you name it: Monster Sanctuary probably has a creature for it. This game boasts a surprising amount of depth while also showing off polished pixel art and charming animations. It would be a waste to not give this gem of an indie title a go.
Ooblets
If Pokémon wasn’t kid-friendly enough for you, then you’ve got this mixed bag of an indie title that is all things cute and nice.
Ooblets is a Pokémon-like in that it’s a creature collector, and also a farming and life sim—basically, Pokémon meets Animal Crossing meets Harvest Moon, except that the creatures in this game don’t really fight each other. Instead, you make your Ooblets engage in the friendly alternative of competing in dance-offs. See what we mean by kid-friendly?
If you get tired with the dance battles, you can also engage in building your home, making friends with the locals, or step up your farming game. There’s a lot you can do in Ooblets which will ensure you sink in tons of enjoyable hours into the game.
Siralim Ultimate
Let’s be honest, a lot of the Pokémon-likes out there can be shallow knockoffs, so if you’re looking for one with real depth and intricacy, Siralim Ultimate may be the title for you.
Not just a monster-collecting game, it is also a dungeon-crawler in the vein of the Diablo series. Travel through the procedurally-generated realms to acquire various resources with immense amounts of gameplay detail you can sink your fingers into: 700 different spell gems, 30 varied character specialization, as well as 30 unique realms—and the real kicker—over 1200 creatures to capture in the game. More creatures in a single game than Pokémon has added in over two decades.
Needless to say, with the amount of content to dive into in Siralim Ultimate, you’ll be playing this game for a long, good time.
World of Final Fantasy
If you’re just fresh off of the Pokémon franchise and want to delve into a new one, let’s say, the Final Fantasy series, and you don’t know where to begin, World of Final Fantasy might be the perfect start.
Being a mix of Pokémon’s signature monster-collecting and battling with the world and characters from Final Fantasy, World of Final Fantasy is the perfect transition for someone to enter the universe of Final Fantasy. It’s an adorable, light-hearted monster-taming and battling game for the newbies with tons of references in a game polished with Square Enix’s classic style to appeal to FF veterans as well
Use your monsters to solve puzzles and fuse them together to create new forms while bopping to the brilliant music in the background as you make your way through the lusciously-drawn environments—World of Final Fantasy has certainly got it all.
Related: Best PvP classes in Final Fantasy XIV Online
Monster Crown
Taking certain deviations from regular monster-taming games, Monster Crown also has you battle against the unique monsters in its world, but you don’t capture them. Instead, you need to make pacts with them to join your crew.
This is not the only unique aspect of Monster Crown, however. The game shows off a feature known as monster breeding, a term whose meaning you can deduce pretty easily. But you would be wrong if you think the breeding in Monster Crown is anything like in Pokémon: here, if you breed two different species together, they turn into an entirely new crossbreed.
Since there are more than 200 monsters in the game, there are over 1000 combinations of crossbred monsters that you can come up with.
The story in Monster Crown is also bigger in its scope, which deals with evil rulers, heroes, and their legacies, making the overall tone of the game much darker than what you would usually expect from a Pokémon-like.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
While the Stories series does take a different path than the mainline games in Monster Hunter, Wings of Ruin does stand on its own as a great JRPG which is accessible enough for newcomers but with intricate mechanics to keep a more experienced player base engaged,
In the game, you play as a Rider who primarily befriends monsters—called ‘monsties’ in the game—each with their own stats, elemental strengths and weaknesses, and skills that you utilize to engage in combat.
Wings of Ruin is all about protecting a special Rathalos egg on your adventures, along with a girl you stumble across named Ena. Did we mention that you play as the grandson of a hero named Red? Coincidence?
What’s great about the game is that even though there are a few returning characters, you don’t need to have played the previous game to understand this one, so you can fearlessly buy your copy of Wings of Ruin and try it out for yourself today.
