The creature collector genre has been having something of a moment. Palworld made an enormous splash by giving the familiar monster-catching formula a decidedly unusual makeover, while Temtem, Aniimo, and other challengers have taken their own swings at the throne. Then there’s Roco Kingdom, a new entry in a Chinese franchise that dates back to a hugely popular 2010 browser game. After spending time with its ongoing closed beta test, I’ve arrived at an interesting conclusion: this might be the most Pokémon-like creature collector I’ve ever played. I’m talking overwhelmingly Pokémon, with a generous helping of Genshin Impact and the occasional whiff of Hogwarts Legacy.
That combination sounds like an unhinged pitch meeting, but somehow, developer Morefun Studios made it work. Roco Kingdom has been an absolute pleasure to play, and its willingness to embrace the creature-collecting formula is a big part of its appeal. I expected to recognize a few familiar mechanics. I didn’t expect to become so attached to its world or find myself so invested in the little creatures running around it.
Let’s get the familiar stuff out of the way. Carosia is home to magical creatures called Jinies, and your job is to find them and build a team capable of taking on anything the world throws at you, legendary Jinies, and evil organizations, and other trainers included. You catch Jinies using Pods, essentially this world’s answer to Poké Balls. If you’ve ever wandered through tall grass hoping something interesting would pop out, you know the drill. You’ll eventually assemble an interchangeable team of six and encounter plenty of troublemaking villains along the way. Apparently, no matter which universe you visit, somebody has to make a mess of the local ecosystem.
Your character is a mage who receives an invitation to attend the Magic Academy, an institution dedicated to training some of the world’s most powerful Jini trainers. Naturally, things don’t go quite as planned, and you end up putting those talents to use out in the world instead of a classroom. I haven’t spent nearly as much time following the narrative as catching Jinies and battling other trainers, but I love the idea of putting a Pokémon-style adventure inside a magical academy. It’s a fun change of scenery, even if I suspect my character’s attendance record isn’t looking particularly good.
The whiff of Hogwarts Legacy becomes rather difficult to miss when you encounter Alpha Jinies. These boss and mini-boss creatures aren’t going to politely wait for you to finish selecting a move from your menu. You’ll need to intervene with your wand, stunning them before you can properly handle the encounter. It’s minor but a neat chance of pace from standing around while your magical pets settle their differences.
Anyone familiar with modern Pokémon will find their footing in battle quickly. Jinies belong to one or two of 18 different types, and type effectiveness can make all the difference when a fight starts going sideways. They also have personality traits that influence their core stats, bringing back the familiar business of hunting for the right nature. Each Jini can equip four skills, with additional moves learned through leveling and items. Experience is shared across your team, too. No more dragging a helpless little creature into battle just to watch it receive a participation trophy’s worth of experience. We’ve all been there.
Where Roco Kingdom gets interesting is its decision to throw out the traditional PP system. Every Jini has an Energy pool capped at 10, and individual moves consume anywhere from zero to nine points to use, in my experience. Energy doesn’t regenerate automatically, though. You’ll need to spend a turn using the free, always equipped, Rest ability to recover some of it. The game isn’t particularly interested in rewarding you for throwing attacks at a problem and hoping one eventually works, because everything costs Energy to use.
I actually really loved this addition because it really enhances the strategic play involved with turn-based combat, which is especially relevant considering the game has PvP. A powerful move might look like the obvious choice, but spending precious Energy could leave you scrambling a few turns later. Sometimes you’ll have to Rest at an inconvenient moment or accept that your best attack isn’t worth the cost. I’ve found myself thinking much harder about resource management than I normally would in a Pokémon-style battle, and that’s before getting into the game’s other major combat twist.
Roco Kingdom divides skills into three categories: Attack, Status, and Defense. Attack skills interrupt Status skills, Status skills bypass and negate Defense skills, and Defense skills can block and counter Attack skills. Think of it as rock-paper-scissors happening alongside the usual type advantages. Predict an opponent’s move correctly and you can turn their aggression against them. A successful defensive skill dramatically reduces incoming damage while sometimes even triggering a counterattack, or other powerful benefits. Suddenly, playing defensively sounds considerably more appealing than smashing the biggest attack button available, and that really changes up how you think about building your Jinie’s move set.
You can still build a Jini around raw offensive power. There are an assortment of Nasty Plot-like buff moves that can turn a special attacker into a particularly unpleasant surprise for whoever happens to be standing opposite it. But your opponent has ways to answer that threat. A well-timed defensive skill can blunt your damage while still costing you Energy, meaning even a successful setup doesn’t guarantee an easy sweep. Too many creature battles eventually devolve into finding the biggest number and watching it solve every problem. Roco Kingdom gives opponents ways to disrupt that plan, and I love how much more engaging it makes the back-and-forth.
Carosia is a sprawling world, and exploring it is a big part of the appeal. Jinies roam the environment, giving you plenty of excuses to abandon your current objective whenever something catches your eye. The progression system, however, borrows from the familiar playbook of gacha games like Genshin Impact. Roco Kingdom has a Stamina resource that gradually regenerates over time and is spent on activities such as farming materials. It’s a system many players will recognize, particularly anyone who has spent time managing their daily progression in Teyvat or any other gacha game really.
I’m not really enthusiastic about seeing it here, but it’s not an unfamiliar addition to the creature-collecting formula, especially these days. Thankfully, I didn’t encounter anything resembling an artifact system during the CBT, and I sincerely hope it stays that way. The thought of spending hours farming equipment for perfect substats just to make a cartoon monster marginally better sounds like a wonderful way to ruin my afternoon.
Jini progression borrows a few more ideas from Genshin Impact, too. Creatures gain experience through battle, but you can use items to speed up their growth, along with their stats. Their maximum level is tied to your account level, which increases as you play and complete objectives. You can capture Jinies beyond your level, but you’ll be met with the Charizard effect; with those beyond your scope sometimes just straight up ignoring your commands. I even had a Jinie disappear from a battle entirely, leaving me unable to select it again even when I tried switching back to it!
The most encouraging discovery has been the absence of a Jini gacha system. During the CBT, I couldn’t pull for creatures through randomized banners. Instead, catching Jinies means going out into the world and actually catching them. Imagine that. I don’t want to make promises on behalf of the full release, but it’s refreshing to see the game’s central appeal built around exploration rather than asking me to roll the dice for the privilege of owning another creature.
During the CBT, I encountered two distinct cosmetic shops, each with its own currency. The first offers a rotating daily selection of outfits, using currency that appears to be earned through gameplay. Catching Jinies was the primary way I built up that resource. It’s a pretty straightforward arrangement, and I like having another reason to keep filling out my collection beyond the satisfaction of finding something new.
The second shop looks more like a traditional catalogue or gacha banner, offering a larger collection of outfits through a separate currency. My impression was that this might be the premium option, potentially requiring real-money purchases to obtain that currency. Nothing could actually be purchased during the CBT, so I can’t confirm how the system will work at launch. What I can say is that the catalogue didn’t appear to use randomized pulls. Purchasing from it seemed to grant the outfits outright. No staring at probability percentages while convincing yourself the next attempt will surely be the one. If that’s how the premium cosmetic shop works in the final release, I have very little to complain about.
My enthusiasm hits a small speed bump when we get to the Pods, though. Different varieties have different capture rates and effects against different Jinies, which makes sense. Its the premium Pods I encountered during the CBT that’s more concerning, because if those are heavily restricted, well, that would not be preferable in a creature collector game. Most Pods appeared to be obtainable through gameplay, primarily by crafting. However, the game indicated that some Pods, including the King’s Pod, would also be available through the Premium Store at launch. That is slightly concerning when the King’s Pod states that it dramatically improve capture rates while boosting a Jini’s Talent and overall stats.
I’m not going to accuse the game of being pay-to-win over a system I haven’t properly evaluated. Still, there’s a difference between selling someone a fashionable outfit and potentially selling them a better chance at catching a stronger creature. One is a harmless indulgence. The other could affect progression and competitive balance. Roco Kingdom has given me plenty of reasons to enjoy hunting for Jinies. I’d hate to see the best tools for that hunt become something players feel pressured to purchase.
I’ve played plenty of games that borrow from Pokémon, and there’s always something interesting about seeing another developer take a swing at the formula. Roco Kingdom’s cutesy magical academy premise gives that familiar adventure a different flavor, while the combat system has enough personality to keep battles interesting long after the novelty of catching something new wears off.
Even with my concerns, the game has accomplished something I genuinely wasn’t expecting. It’s made me excited to play a Pokémon-like by being even more Pokémon-like than most of its competition, and I mean that as the highest compliment. I’ve had a fantastic time with the CBT, and if the developers can preserve this sense of discovery while keeping monetization in check, creature collector fans may have a new obsession on their hands.
Roco Kingdom is still in its closed beta testing phase, with no official release date announced just yet. Still, you can keep up with the latest gaming news, previews, and reviews here on ComicBook.com.
