ShinyGreninjaX

TLDR: There’s a really fun game here. I just hope some of the menus, controller support, tutorials, timers, and story get some additional polish as development continues. Aniimo is a genuinely enjoyable open-world creature-collection game that clearly takes inspiration from Pokémon and Palworld while adding plenty of its own ideas. There’s a lot to do: exploring, collecting resources and Aniimo, completing activities, building up your own resource farm and oasis, and steadily improving your gear. Progression feels relatively fast, and there’s plenty of free gear and resources to keep you moving without constantly feeling like you need to grind. My biggest issue is that the main story feels pretty bland. The world itself has a lot going on, but the story hasn’t given me much reason to feel invested in what’s happening. There are also several areas that could use some polish: Menus: There are far too many menu categories, making it surprisingly difficult to find what you’re looking for, especially when you’re still learning the game. Even when there’s an indicator that you have something new to check, it can be difficult to figure out where that item actually is. Controller support: This is probably my biggest gameplay-related frustration. For a game released on both Xbox and Steam, controller implementation feels underdeveloped. There are times when buttons aren’t clearly indicated or don’t work as expected, forcing me to grab the mouse just to interact with something. Building timers: Waiting 45 minutes for a higher-level trailer upgrade to finish feels unnecessary. When I’m actively playing and having fun building things, being forced to stop the process for an artificial timer is frustrating. Activities aren’t always explained well: Some activities, such as the tea party used to unlock cosmetic currency, aren’t particularly intuitive. I ended up having to watch a YouTube tutorial to figure out what I was supposed to do. An optional tutorial or explanation when entering these activities would go a long way. Voice acting: The actors bring a lot of energy, which I appreciate, but some characters sound too similar. In particular, the two best friends can be difficult to distinguish when they’re having a conversation. Performance: This game has earned the distinction of making my PC run hotter than anything else I’ve played. Nothing dangerous, but definitely noticeable. One other thing that may be subjective: the title theme really isn’t for me. From my perspective as a male player, the bubbly, poppy, very feminine style of the song feels completely out of sync with what I personally expect from the game and honestly makes me feel a little embarrassed when it starts playing. Obviously, that’s a personal preference rather than a flaw with the game itself. Despite all of that, I’m still enjoying Aniimo and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes. The open world, collecting, exploration, building, and overall progression loop are fun enough that I keep coming back. I’m especially interested in the mobile version. Being able to quickly log in, replenish my farms, collect resources, and handle some AFK activities without having to sit down at my PC—or leave my PC running—sounds like a great fit for this type of game.