Abomi Nation
- September 28, 2023
- Orange Pylon
In Abomi Nation, build and customize your party from over 175 unique Abomis, each with their own elemental types and abilities. Master the turn-based battle system that emphasizes 1-on-1 combat and utilizes powerful attacks to exploit opponents' weaknesses. With permadeath battles, every decision counts as you fight to protect Abomi Nation from a powerful threat.
Reviews
- Abomi Nation offers a unique and charming take on the creature-collecting genre, combining roguelike elements with Nuzlocke mechanics that keep gameplay fresh and engaging.
- The game features a transparent battle system that clearly displays damage calculations and type advantages, making strategic planning easier for players.
- Customization options for runs and difficulty levels enhance replayability, allowing players to tailor their experience to their preferences.
- The game suffers from performance issues, including slow frame rates and frequent crashes, which can detract from the overall experience.
- Many players find the dialogue and story elements repetitive, lacking depth and variety, which can lead to a less engaging narrative.
- Runs can be excessively long, with some players feeling that the pacing is too slow, making it difficult to maintain interest over extended play sessions.
- gameplay75 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a blend of familiar Pokémon mechanics and new roguelike elements, featuring permadeath and procedurally generated maps that offer varied experiences. While many mechanics are polished and intuitive, some aspects feel repetitive or underdeveloped, and technical issues like unresponsive menu options can disrupt the experience. Overall, players who enjoy Pokémon's Nuzlocke-style gameplay may find this game appealing, despite its rough edges and occasional frustrations.
“Very refined gameplay - nearly every single mechanic is incredibly polished, fun to use, and you are encouraged to use it without demanding it.”
“It has fun creature designs, a bevy of customization options for your runs, and some forward-thinking mechanics.”
“The gameplay feels well designed and usually when something happens, I only have myself to blame for that mistake.”
“I really tried to like this game given my absolute love for creature collectors, but Pokémon-esque mechanics don't mix well with roguelikes, in my opinion.”
“The gameplay is slow and the framerate is bad, so the game feels like it takes forever while you're not even accomplishing much.”
“It's definitely rough around the edges, and certain gameplay elements, like talking to your abomis and overworld exploration, are really the only mechanics that feel barebones.”
- story40 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered simple and repetitive, focusing on a basic good vs. evil narrative that may appeal more to younger audiences. While some players appreciate the brief and straightforward plot, others find it lacking depth and engagement, especially given the frequent cutscenes and limited character development. Overall, the story serves as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a central focus, with mixed opinions on its effectiveness in enhancing the experience.
“The creatures, or abomis, all have amazing designs, and while brief, the story is quite nice.”
“The story isn't much, but it's clearly not the focus; a very simple good vs evil affair with some real nice moments in its finale.”
“A simple but solid story with no major plot holes.”
“There's little to no story for the game, which made it really hard for me to stay engaged with.”
“Don't come here if you're looking for anything complicated with the story; cutscenes are often repeated to death, and the monsters themselves have enough variation to be interesting and engaging, the attempts to make them into fully fledged individuals fall flat.”
“You would think someone trying to write a story-focused roguelike would be aware of this problem and at the very least write a ton of variants for the canned dialogue to make it less likely people see a repeat.”
- graphics26 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a unique and colorful construction paper aesthetic that many find charming and reminiscent of classic Pokémon styles, though some may initially view it as odd. However, the lack of graphics settings has led to performance issues, particularly on lower-end systems, causing frustration among players. Overall, while the art style is generally well-received, the technical limitations detract from the experience for some users.
“The art style manages to be enjoyable while also feeling distinct from Pokémon’s, and virtually all the abomis are delightfully cute.”
“The art style may look weird to some people at first, but I personally find it charming and it'll surely grow on you.”
“I love the mystery dungeon-esque feel of this game, the art style of the abomis, the designs of the abomis, the wealth of options for the runs and within the runs...”
“No graphics settings for a game released in 2021.”
“The worst part (at least from my experience) is that the game has no graphic downgrade options, meaning potato PCs/laptops are out of luck and have to play the game as if it's in slow motion.”
“The game chugs on an integrated GPU the couple of times I tried to play it on one, and a lack of graphics settings does aggravate that issue.”
- replayability16 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game offers high replayability due to its customizable runs, varied difficulty options, and random elements such as starters and world generation. Players appreciate the simplicity compared to similar games, which enhances the experience and keeps each run feeling fresh and engaging. Overall, the replay value is considered a significant strength, making the game both intense and enjoyable.
“Very accessible and replayable - many different options to customize your runs and difficulty for your preferences.”
“The full randomness to the starters, world generation, shops, and party members along with the temporal store adds plenty of replayability too.”
“A nuzlocke inspired monster-tamer that has replayability and doesn't waste your time.”
“The only advantages I can see Abomi Nation having over Pokémon is that every run is different, making it more replayable. It's a lot simpler with fewer types, no immunities for said types, not as many special moves (priority moves, weather conditions, etc.), and each type has a status condition which itself is immune to.”
“The full randomness to the starters, world generation, shops, and party members, along with the temporal store, adds plenty of replayability too.”
“Replayability is a huge plus.”
- grinding13 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 85 % negative mentions
Overall, players have mixed feelings about grinding in the game. Some appreciate the lack of grinding, noting that leveling is capped before boss fights, which keeps the pacing enjoyable and prevents tedious encounters. Others find certain aspects grindy but feel the overall fun of the game compensates for it, particularly enjoying the group leveling system that eliminates the need for extensive experience grinding when swapping characters.
“Honestly, I didn't find it terribly enjoyable, but that's because I wanted something that focused more on collecting and absentmindedly grinding levels than desperation and high-stakes battles.”
“Surprisingly, in a season of 'mon game every month,' I actually enjoyed this one the most (SMT V was too grindy, and Monster Rancher simply wasn't for me, and I got turned off from BDSP because of perma-exp share being back).”
“The last few are a bit grindy, but the game, I think, is fun enough to compensate for it.”
- emotional12 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight a dichotomy in the emotional aspect of the game: while some players find the characters to be shallow and lacking depth, leading to minimal emotional impact, others report profound experiences that evoke genuine feelings of loss and connection, particularly during gameplay moments that resonate with personal experiences. Despite the limitations of character development, the game manages to create memorable and heartfelt moments, making it a recommended experience for those who can navigate its emotional challenges.
“Overall, an amazing game that made me cry over virtual monsters. I would recommend it despite the flaws I pointed out; it's got a great battle system and is just a blast to play!”
“Heartbreaking runs, but it helps to learn how to cope with the loss of a loved one.”
“I lost one in a boss battle, and my abomis took the night to honor them and cheer their name. That was pretty wholesome.”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while the main menu track is highly praised for its intensity, some players find the overall soundtrack to be unmemorable and occasionally annoying. Despite these criticisms, the music does not significantly detract from the overall gaming experience.
“The main menu song goes hard.”
“I have a few nitpicks (mostly the slight bareness in the overworld, and the music not being particularly memorable), but they don't detract too much from what is a very pleasant experience.”
“Music is kinda annoying, not gonna lie, and the control scheme is a little bit of a nightmare, but that's fixable.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game is widely criticized, with many users reporting significant performance issues and bugs that require attention. Overall, there is a consensus that the game needs substantial improvements in this area.
“There are definitely some things that need work though - mainly, the bugs and optimization in general.”
“Right now though, there is an issue of optimization.”
“Yeah, sorry, I too am one of the people having terrible optimization.”
- stability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have several bugs, indicating that it is not entirely stable. Users consistently note issues that affect gameplay, suggesting a need for further refinement.
“The game is kind of buggy.”
“The game is kind of buggy.”
“The game is kind of buggy.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features charming character designs that enhance its appeal, contributing to an enjoyable overall experience. However, the reviews do not provide specific insights into the depth or progression of character development.
“A very charming game with fun character designs.”