Aniimo Review (Xbox Series X|S & PC)

Aniimo is the kind of mug-and-blanket combination that tends to work well in a low-stakes environment—in a warm, cozy, and quiet corner of the world where you can sit awhile, truffle through the picturesque quarters of a sickeningly vibrant universe, and dabble in a timeless art. It isn’t a game that strives to be perfect, nor is it the greatest of open-world monster collect-a-thons, for that matter. Though it is, in spite of the occasional monetization-skewered paywall, a delightful free-to-play adventure that illuminates just how important it is to banish the conventional wisdom of a traditional platform and to squeeze the throttle on entry-level coziness. After all, who doesn’t want to merrily skip around an idyllic world and catch a few critters along the way?

Beneath a thin veil of pulpy plot points and good-versus-evil passages, Aniimo stands out as a perfectly comforting open-world monster collecting game. With a jam-packed character creation suite, a generously crafted world, and dozens of golden opportunities for fledgling Pathfinders to simply bathe in the sweet and obnoxiously majestic waters of its creature-fueled colonies, Aniimo clearly knows what it is and precisely what it wants to achieve. It doesn’t wish to challenge you or push you to your limits, but rather, to present you with a calm and oh-so-charming scene in which you can lean into familiar habits and explore at your own free will.

As soon as you shake off the odd paywall and accept Aniimo for what it is—a free-to-play open-world adventure game with vast creature collector elements—you shouldn’t struggle to enjoy it for its simple pleasures, of which there are dozens to choose from, naturally. Of course, it isn’t the first of its kind to introduce critter collecting into an open-world setting. Hell, it even has a lot of the same basic features and avenues of progression—a ball that you can use to catch your pudgy companions, a bonding system (or Twining, in this case), as well as battling, evolving, and, well, you get the general idea. Eat your heart out, Pokémon.

Fortunately, the game does have its own identity. Say, where you would normally find a badge system, a local tournament or an incentive for aspiring collectors to evolve their pocket monsters, Aniimo chooses to tread a different path. Alas, you are no an overly ambitious trainer, but a researcher whose sole purpose is to walk the same path as the titular creatures, and to rebuild a narrative that bends to the “ancients” and a tapestry of bashful and unapologetically colorful inhabitants. You are not saving the world, so to speak, but taking the time to learn, to adapt, and to familiarize yourself with a culture that is, and understandably so, a little out of your comfort zone. Well, sort of.

For the most part, Aniimo plays like a casual open-world adventure with all of the seasonal trimmings of an adorable collect-a-thon, with two distinct biomes to explore—a bustling city and a jolly green swathe of land—a handful of challenges, a variety of pivotal plot points, and a vast collection of creatures to bond with. Twining, as it’s commonly referred to as in the game, grants you the opportunity to control your Aniimo, learn their abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and generally evolve with them as you quest far and wide. And thankfully, with upwards of a hundred of them to catch, develop and chronicle, you do have a good deal to document, too. But that’s a collect-a-thon for you, in a nutshell, and Aniimo leans into the cliche well.

As Aniimo is a free-to-play game, you can sadly expect to bump into your fair share of “shortcuts”—options that, true to the spirit of a tongue-in-cheek paywall, allow you to either speed up the hatching process, purchase more effective pods, as well as refill your material slots. That being said, you don’t technically need to spend a dime to beat a game like Aniimo, as it offers you all of the content on a silver platter. But of course, it does force a habit of dangling a carrot on the end of a stick. With a bit of cash, you can reduce the length of the tether and, well, consume the carrot a lot quicker. Though, that’s to be expected from a free-to-play game, to be honest.

Generally speaking, Aniimo is a pretty easy game to slip into and get lost in for several hours at a time. While there are several plot elements that require you to scour the planes, the dwellings and the seemingly tropical countryside as a Pathfinder—a researcher of Aniimo and their habitat, essentially—a lot of your time is devoted to exploring the environment, turfing up the occasional Sanctum or puzzle, or engaging in a variety of battles to either claim a new monster for your livery, or to use the power of Twining to control and master various evolution techniques. It’s all very Pokémon-esque, and frankly, it doesn’t hide its source of inspiration, either.

Visually, Aniimo is a striking game that clearly shows a lot of heart and vigor in its world design, character models, and challenges. Again, it does often make a case to monetize several of its products, which of course stretches out to character cosmetics and other useful features that can ultimately elevate your overall experience. That said, I wouldn’t necessarily label Aniimo as a pay-to-win game. Granted, it does force you to roll your eyes every so often, though it’s more of a minor inconvenience than a persistent headache.

All in all there’s a perfectly serviceable open-world game here that gets a lot of things right. Regardless of the monetization aspect, Aniimo is a charming collect-a-thon that manages to cram a great deal into a rather familiar narrative. It helps, I suppose, that it doesn’t simply settle for the usual cookie cutter trimmings of a Pokémon clone, but instead tries to establish its own unique flavor via a conduit of different plot strands and challenges, characters and creatures. Even with a fairly short campaign (fourteen hours ought to cut it) and a few monetized curveballs, there’s an enjoyable game here that, should you ever be looking for a neat alternative to the likes of Palworld or Pokémon Z-A, will surely service your needs.

Verdict

Aniimo fits snuggly into the critter collect-a-thon field as a pudgy, vibrant, and energetic free-to-play open-world adventure that, while still an advocate for the occasional paywall or cash-fueled cosmetic, is as equally charming as it is delightful to explore. With a striking world, a sizable variety of challenges, as well as a convincing plot and a whole host of characters to unpack, it makes for a great addition to the genre, truly.

As with most free-to-play games, there is often a thing or two that dampens the spirits. Fortunately, Aniimo avoids the temptation to frontline a purely monetized game and instead focuses on the tender qualities of a traditional RPG. For that reason alone, I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.