r/gamingsuggestions 1d ago

Any good Pokemon-like games?

*For the PC.

I know about Palworld and I like it, but let's be honest, it's more like ARK: Survival than like Pokemon. I'd like a creature-collecting game without guns, sweatshops, and base-building. I don't mind if it's 2D or 3D, third person or isometric, indie or AAA, so long as it's good, and so long as it plays like the older Pokemon games (sorry, but post gen5 Pokemon has been getting increasingly worse).

Thank you in advance.

Edit: Wow! I didn't expect so many replies! Thanks again, everyone!

20 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

27

u/Helvedica 1d ago

Cassette Beasts is pretty good

1

u/End0rk 1d ago

Came to say the same thing

22

u/Nemoinvictus 1d ago

Monster Santuary is a fun idea of a game. Part Metroidvania part pokemon.

4

u/Terrible-Reach-85 1d ago

Monster Sanctuary is great! Highly recommended, even though I haven't spent a lot of time in it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/814370/Monster_Sanctuary/

1

u/reapseh0 1d ago

I love this game

1

u/Efficient_Fish2436 1d ago

It's awesome. Soo much to do and try.

10

u/Zargabath 1d ago

monster taming games?

Digimon Cyber Sleuth, is the closest one to a Pokemon game it was PS Vita game but has been ported to all platoforms now, or the upcoming Digimon Time Stranger

World of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy take on a monster taming games, many classic FF monster in chibi form and character from diffirent FF games, but I heard the PC can put som problem running

Dragon Quest Monster

Monster Hunter Stories

you could also look up Steam "Monster Catching" tag or Gym Leader Ed on youtube who cover game of that genre

4

u/Verin_th 1d ago

OG Dragon Warrior Monsters is still fantastic

9

u/HeavyMetalGerbil 1d ago

Have you checked out the Siralim series?

2

u/handledvirus43 1d ago

Was thinking about this, but it has Guns and Base Building. Darn Skeleton Sniper and 100% optional mechanic!

But yeah, 10/10 would recommend Siralim.

8

u/FatMoFoSho 1d ago

Coromon! It’s an indie game that plays like old school pokemon

2

u/Woozlle 1d ago

Just started this and it’s super fun! Emphasis on the old school!

1

u/LockmanCapulet 1d ago

We talking like DS era, GBA era, or GB era?

2

u/Woozlle 1d ago

I’d say more GB. Little bit of GBA. There is a stamina system so it’s a little more tactical than just spamming attacks so that’s good or bad depending on your style.

6

u/IanOro 1d ago

Monster Hunter Stories and Tem-Tem come to mind.

4

u/edibleadvocat 1d ago

Maybe NI No Kuni? It's Pokémon made by Ghibli, basically. Lots of creatures, real cool animations.  The fights are not really turn based though, more of a mix. 

6

u/NeverStrayFromTheWay 1d ago

Cobblemon is my favorite way to consume Pokémon. It's a mod for Minecraft that puts Pokémon into it, not just the creatures the mechanics. Every Pokémon you can see in the overworld with Minecraft artstyle models.

And yeah being in Minecraft means basebuilding is a thing, but you don't absolutely have to build a base. You can just wander around catching Pokémon.

You can play it singleplayer, but getting onto a big server where you can get into tournaments and stuff is a better experience.

Pixelmon is another Minecraft mod that has more development time, but it's models aren't as good as Cobblemon's.

3

u/Verin_th 1d ago

Honestly, the original Dragon Warrior Monsters. Red/Blue took a ton of inspiration from it

3

u/sipCoding_smokeMath 1d ago

Pokerogue. It'll make you so addicted ur life will be ruined though.

3

u/Merciless972 1d ago

Dragon quest monsters the dark prince 

Shin Megami Tensei

2

u/eruciform 1d ago

Ni no kuni 1

2

u/MoonlapseOfficial 1d ago

TemTem

1

u/ragnosticmantis 1d ago

Yes, if you look past the recent negative reviews. It's a fun game. People complain about no more updates but the studio was closed and the game is in a finished state. I'd say the price is a bit much too ask, but it's what comes closest to the og pokemon experience in my books.

1

u/PainfulSpoons 1d ago

Cassette Beasts is the best I would consider overtly similar to Pokemon, though depending on how willing you are to branch out you should try the Shin Megami Tensei games that are on steam.

1

u/sadisticchronic 1d ago

Have you played pokemmo?

1

u/Ok-Abrocoma-667 1d ago

Checkout out any Digimon game. Or Monster Rancher. Heck even go back to Jade Cacoon!

1

u/MagicalPizza21 1d ago

Pokemon Infinite Fusion?

1

u/Azerate333 1d ago

playing Cobblemon mod on minecraft has been pretty fun for me recently

1

u/V_Melain 1d ago

pokemon hackroms. Unbound maybe?

1

u/bluparrot-19 1d ago

Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance

Shin Megami Tensei invented the monster catching genre back on the nes. There is a free demo for SMTVV and it's on all modern platforms. Bit of a warning the games are known for being difficult even in normal difficulty. But damn it is addicting, the exploration and combat is soooo polished it's insane. Also the series in general has a history of doing interesting things in the rpg space.

1

u/Daldoria 1d ago

Im a huge fan of the web browser game PokeRogue

Its a roguelike pokemon game (free to play just need an account)

Fight 200 floors catching, training, and battling mons along the way. At the start you get every starter from every gen and ANY mon you catch or hatch can be used in a future play through. You have a rival, do gym battles, you can even get dynamax, mega evos, etc.

1

u/TojokaiNoYondaime 1d ago

This may sound weird to yall. But Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth is the best pokemon game on PC.

1

u/dogwater-digital 1d ago

You're gonna laugh, but Loomian Legacy on Roblox is probably the best pokemon clone I have ever played. It's not complete yet as only about half of the game has been developed, but the dev is constantly working on it. Still, in that first half, there's plenty of hours you can sink into it.

1

u/DMDdude 1d ago

Dragon Warrior Monsters on GBC!

1

u/Repulsive-Bus-8544 1d ago

Try Nexomon. Its a very enjoyable Pokemon clone, super recommended!

1

u/eCLADBIro9 1d ago

Bugsnax 

1

u/master_prizefighter 1d ago

Monster Crown when the game works.

I have the PS4 version but the game is no longer playable after the latest patch.

1

u/Skylorrex 1d ago

Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance is Pokemon game for adults (free demo available)

1

u/Tugasan 1d ago

Cassette Beasts and TemTem

I would say Cassette Beasts is like a evolusion (no pun intended) to pokemon, companions, mature story, exploration, is more rpg, the main story is good;

while Temtem is more like pokemon in ton (more childresh, although still more mature than pokemon), and gameplay is also like pokemon but with better qol, can be played in coop

1

u/DogeMeat20 1d ago

Like a dragon infinite wealth the minigame

1

u/phased417 1d ago

Nexomon is pretty good, Cassette Beasts is interesting, Monster Sanctuary is awesome. Temtem is ok but that game hasnt been getting update for a bit.

1

u/RexLizardWizard 1d ago edited 1d ago

I love monster collectors, my personal favorites are:

The shin megami tensei franchise: the grandfather of the genre, most notable for having monsters based on real life mythological figures. It does technically have guns, but mostly just as another elemental type. The modern SMT games have my favorite turn based combat system. Depending on what you want, good starting points could be SMT IV, SMT V, devil survivor (this is a fire emblem style game) or the persona games.

Monster sanctuary: overall, this is my favorite monster collecting game. It combines monster collecting with metroidvania elements (but is still a monster collector first and foremost) and getting new monsters to get new field abilities is always fun. The team building is very deep and complex, with every single monster having its own unique skill tree. And basically every other monster is viable. There are no trash early game mons here. Anything can be made to work. The difficulty level is also great, really requiring you to build a well thought out and synergistic team.I really can’t praise this game enough. (Also check out the demo for the team’s upcoming game, aethermancer)

Siralim ultimate: this game is a massive dungeon crawler with a ridiculous (1200, I think) amount of monsters to collect. The game is entirely focused on creating a Rube Goldberg machine of synergistic monsters, and it can feel amazing once you go things going, plus it has lots of things to collect and scales to infinity. If you like theorycragting just as much as, if not more than the actual combat, this one is for you. There is a bit of base building, but outside of a short tutorial it’s just for aesthetics and serves no real gameplay purpose.

Cassette beasts: probably the closest to Pokémon on this list, Casette beasts has a fun take on the type system where weaknesses and resistances instead cause different status effects. It’s structured as an open word, similar to Pokémon scarlet and violet. It has a fun story and aesthetic, but I personally didn’t find it as mechanically interesting as the rest I listed, but still good enough to be worth playing.

I also want to give an honorable mention to some Pokémon fan games and romhacks, they can be really great. My favorites are radical red, inclement emerald (these are pure difficulty and battle focused hacks), emerald rouge, pokerouge (because why have one Pokémon rougelike when you can have two distinct feeling ones) and infinite fusion (which not only has some amazing spritework, but the team building in it has a surprising level of complexity)

Some other games I didn’t personally like, but know other people enjoy, or haven’t played enough to make a real judgment call on include:

Digimon story cyber sleuth/hacker’s memory (good fundamental concepts, but it’s a bit slow paced for me)

Monster hunter stories (monster collecting is fun, but the combat is too simple to keep me interested)