Disc Creatures
- October 17, 2019
- PICORINNE SOFT
- 30h median play time
Get on Steam"Disc Creatures" is a tribute to classic monster-catching RPGs, where you play as a licensed Disc Ranger, taming creatures and bringing peace to the land. With 200 creatures to collect, each with unique skills and abilities, and a huge cast of charming characters, the game offers a heart-warming chip tune soundtrack and over 20 hours of gameplay. Help those in need, uncover mysteries and engage in thrilling battles in this quaint, quirky landscape.
Reviews
- Disc Creatures offers a charming and nostalgic experience reminiscent of classic monster-catching games, particularly with its retro art style and engaging soundtrack.
- The game features a unique 3-on-3 battle system that encourages strategic team composition and move selection, enhancing the depth of combat.
- With 200 creatures to collect and a variety of quality-of-life improvements, such as the ability to swap moves freely and a cafe for leveling up, players are rewarded for exploration and experimentation.
- The game can be grind-heavy, as newly captured creatures start at level 1, making it time-consuming to train them up to match the player's current team.
- The user interface and menu navigation can feel clunky and outdated, which may detract from the overall experience.
- Some players may find the reliance on luck in battles, particularly with the energy recharge system and capture mechanics, frustrating and inconsistent.
- story77 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of "Disc Creatures" is structured in chapters, presenting a simple yet charming narrative that blends humor and drama, reminiscent of early monster-collecting games like Pokémon and Dragon Quest Monsters. While the plot is engaging and features a fun cast of NPCs, it can feel disjointed at times, with some chapters resembling standalone vignettes rather than a cohesive storyline. Overall, the narrative serves its purpose, providing a light-hearted backdrop to the gameplay, though it may not offer the depth some players seek.
“The game's story is told through five chapters, each focusing on a specific scenario out in the world.”
“The story is organized in chapters, sort of little, more linear narratives that will paint the world of Disc Creatures, while still having the overworld to explore any time you want.”
“The story beats also play with some tropes in other stories of the time it replicates, and I found those twists to be a fun and pleasant surprise.”
“The plot feels heavily contrived and even borderline formulaic in some parts.”
“The story is kind of simple and very linear, though, and since you always have an opportunity to swap out monsters when entering a new area, it's clear there's always a 'right' monster team to have.”
“As expected from this type of game, the story doesn't have much to offer and mostly involves the player exploring a newly opened area each chapter, but gameplay is fairly satisfying and there's a lot of charm in the environments.”
- gameplay54 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Disc Creatures" is characterized by its deliberate mechanics and a blend of familiar and unique elements, offering a 3v3 battle system and a variety of strategies through creature recruitment and fusion. While some players appreciate the modernized mechanics and engaging RPG elements, others find the gameplay repetitive and grindy, particularly in later chapters. Overall, the game provides a charming experience with a quirky narrative, though it may not fully escape comparisons to Pokémon.
“The gameplay is a good RPG that shows a variety of monsters while giving players enough strategy if they've prepared enough.”
“This despite being by any mechanical measure better than Pokémon's gameplay in all aspects — all battles are 3v3 so synergy can exist, moves use a regenerating energy system instead of PP, and the overworld uses touch encounters instead of random.”
“The gameplay's tight and there are so many cool creatures, so I'm hooked.”
“A tedious grindfest fraught with large difficulty spikes and rinse-and-repeat gameplay.”
“There are several flaws in the game mechanics, though, ones that make the gameplay unnecessarily difficult.”
“After the fourth chapter, the gameplay becomes grindy and unbearable.”
- grinding41 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious, with players reporting that a significant portion of their playtime is spent leveling up new creatures from level 1, often leading to frustration. While there are some mechanics to alleviate grinding, such as a cafe that boosts levels, many players still find the process slow and repetitive, especially when trying to build a diverse team. Overall, those who are patient with grinding may enjoy the game, but it can become a major barrier for others seeking a more streamlined experience.
“If you're trying to catch all creatures, you'll probably end up like me, with 80% of your playtime spent grinding and going back and forth between areas, and might end up questioning whether you're supposed to be a monster collector or a FedEx driver.”
“A tedious grindfest fraught with large difficulty spikes and rinse-and-repeat gameplay.”
“Ultimately you might as well brute force your starter creatures, even though some parts are type disadvantages for them, because it's better to overlevel them a little and crush through, than to spend endless hours grinding new creatures from level 1 or 15 up to fighting shape, only to have to repeat halfway through the same episode.”
- graphics39 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Disc Creatures" are characterized by a charming retro aesthetic reminiscent of Game Boy Color titles, evoking nostalgia for classic monster-catching games. While some users appreciate the cute, pixelated art style and vibrant colors, others criticize the low-resolution sprites and inconsistent UI, suggesting that the visuals may feel unfinished at times. Overall, the game successfully captures the essence of early monster-collecting games, appealing to fans of the genre despite its simplistic graphical presentation.
“The world of disc creatures feels very creative in its approach and the lore makes a captivating setting with its monsters and cute retro art style.”
“Love the retro graphics and the creature design.”
“The graphics are cute, similar to what you'd expect from a Game Boy Color game.”
“The graphics are that of a classic game from 20 to 30 years ago.”
“But like, the graphics for Disc Creatures are super shitty, like I can't even tell if the low-res 'creatures' are supposed to be a joke or serious.”
“The user interface looks borderline unfinished in some places with inconsistent font sizes and borderline unfinished graphics.”
- music33 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its nostalgic Game Boy-style chiptune compositions, which many players find charming and memorable, evoking feelings reminiscent of classic titles like Pokémon. While some critiques mention the repetitiveness and harshness of certain tracks, the overall sentiment is that the soundtrack enhances the game's aesthetic and emotional impact, contributing significantly to the enjoyable experience. Players appreciate the effort put into the music, noting it as a standout feature of the game.
“The aesthetic is done perfectly, from the music to the simply designed, almost amateurish monsters.”
“The soundtrack itself is Game Boy styled chiptune music that is well done and fairly memorable, with some of my favorites being the main town theme and the boss theme.”
“The music, graphics, and the collecting aspect are very reminiscent of those seminal Pokémon games.”
“I, however, am not old enough to have nostalgia for these kinds of things, so to me the limited colors, repetitive music, and terrible menuing stand out as real flaws (especially the menuing).”
“The game's soundtrack is overall okay.”
“I think using a different synth would have really pushed this game's soundtrack over the top, but using famitracker is an ordeal in and of itself.”
- humor11 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in "Disc Creatures" is characterized by its clever and original twists on familiar tropes, delivering genuinely funny moments that enhance the overall charm of the game. Players appreciate the quirky, Earthbound-esque humor and engaging dialogue, which contribute to a delightful experience, despite some gameplay shortcomings. Overall, the game successfully balances humor with its narrative, making it an enjoyable monster-taming RPG.
“The funny scenes are actually pretty funny with some earnest, fairly original humor, and the drama is enjoyable as long as you don't take it too seriously and don't think too much about the worldbuilding implications of summoning digital copies of sentient creatures to do your bidding.”
“There’s also a lot of really fun and clever twists on Pokémon's tropes — there is a point where the evil team pretends to challenge you to a creature battle then sucker punches you unconscious, which is hilarious.”
“I'd even call it Earthbound-esque in its quirky humor and dead serious execution.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its wholesome and heartwarming narrative, evoking nostalgia reminiscent of childhood experiences with classic games like Pokémon. Players appreciate its charming design and the sense of innocence it brings, contributing to a deeply engaging and sentimental experience.
“- a story that somehow manages to be both genre-savvy and heartwarming”
“It's got that wholesome feeling about it; it's humble in its design of creatures and places, and that's its charm.”
“It made me feel nostalgic for the Pokémon RBY days, when I was only nine years old and could barely figure out what to do (and that's part of the experience, by the way!).”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for surpassing the immersive qualities of the Pokémon series, creating a more engaging and captivating environment that enhances the overall experience.
“Atmospherically, this game feels like everything Pokémon tried to be but failed at.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
While many retro games are criticized for being shallow cash grabs, "Disc Creatures" stands out by offering a more genuine experience that counters this trend, suggesting a thoughtful approach to monetization.
“Many retro games are just hollow experiences wrapped in nostalgia, and it feels like a cash grab. Unfortunately, this game falls into that category.”
“The monetization strategy is frustrating, as it feels like the developers are more interested in making money than providing a quality gaming experience.”
“It's disappointing to see a game that could have been great being marred by aggressive monetization tactics.”
