Rob reviews Adore on Xbox Series X…
When it comes to games that have monsters battling monsters, Pokémon is the one game that everyone turns their attention to. Whenever Nintendo and the Pokémon Company announce a new game, fans of battling monsters head into a few or pitch of rumours and speculation. It also comes as no surprise that over the years other video game developers have attempted their own spin on the Pokémon concept. While many of these titles remain faithful to the classic turn-based format, there sometimes comes a title that aims to mix it up a little.
With Adore, this monster-catching RPG is the later. Combining the catching/training element of Pokémon , and mixing it with Bastion, with a hint of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Adore aims to bring fast-arcade action to the genre. However, does it succeed?
The world of Adore is you typical fantasy world. With a world filled with deadly creatures, some of its inhabitants train as ‘Adoras’. These Adoras then head out into the wilds to tame the various creatures to then utilise their skills and talents. In Adore, we step into the boots of Lukha, an Adora who happens to find themselves stuck in a conflict between the God of Creation, and the God of The End - two massive deities in an never ending battle. In needing to save the world the God of Creation tasks Lukha to tame a few beasts, travel the world, battle the forces of evil, and hopefully live long enough to see the credits roll. While the story isn’t exactly thrilling, it does enough to keep the pace while you’re busy trying to capture every creature you can.
Cause that’s really what we’re here for right?
When it comes to taming these creatures, it’s not as simple as your first lead to believe. Shortly after a brief tutorial that shows us how the capture mechanics work (you have to remain in a semi circle while a meter fills, to then avoid various attacks as the creature resists), you’ll soon capture your first pet. From here, you’ll then use your team to battle the various enemies that litter the landscape. There is a downside however as you can’t just take every creature you come across. To keep things balanced, Lukha has to collect various levels of Everett to be able to effectively tame a creature. The bigger the creature - the more enengy crystals you’ll need. While this is initially frustrating, you are given ample opportunities to amass capture energy providing you explore.
Once you’ve gathered an army of critters, it’s time to send them into battle. During quests (which are dubbed as expeditions) you’ll be able to select up to four of these critters to accompany you. Each is then abled to be summoned via pressing the face button on the controller that’s assigned to them. This in turn will then see the monster leap out of thin air to attack whatever foe is nearest to it. As expected each of these monsters are different, and each species attacks with different parameters. There’s plenty of variation within attacks that allow for a great choice, however it all boils down to creating a team that synergies well with each other. I found a great mix of having 1/2 heavy hitters, while backing them up with a fast attack monster, and one that hit at range. While my tactics weren’t sound, they did help for most encounters.
To keep things tactical, you can’t just summon your pets whenever you chose. Lukha has a somewhat magic stamina bar that keeps you from steamrolling everything in your path. This means that you’ll have to pick and choose carefully what monsters you battle with as you’ll only be able to summon (at most) two of them at any given time. On top of this you’ll also have to manage each creatures health as once nocked out, any damage endured will come off of your own health pool. Take too much damage and you’ll fail the expedition and head back to the central hub to try again. In the opening stages to the adventure this happens more often than not. Due to not being able to heal your critters mid expedition, and that are critically injured need to stay at your home to rest. Without having a pool of others to take their place, I often found myself taking on expeditions with one fit creature - which didn’t last long.
When combat does go well, your party will gain experience which in turn allows them to grow stronger. Along side this and you’ll be able to buy various trinkets that buff attributes or add passive abilities. Again, a lot of what Adore offers is trial and error. While there isn’t certainly a right way to set up your party, having a great understanding to its strengths and weaknesses is a real must if you plan on surviving.
Away from its combat, and the bulk of Adore’s gameplay will see you venturing out into the untamed wilderness. If you’re not tackling the games various story missions, you’ll be tackling side quests in the hope of gaining materials to then make Lukha and his companions stronger. It’s a loop that’s as rewarding and repetitive as it sounds with each area mirroring what you’ll do in story arenas. Whether it’s standing on platforms or activate switches, battling tough bosses, or simply killing everything, Adore doesn’t have much in the way of mission structure. Throw in the same continuous soundtrack loop, and sadly what charm Adore has soon gets lost.
While Adore does suffer from being repetitive in both its score and gameplay, visually it’s quite “Adore-able”. It’s graphic style is pretty simple and gives off a hand-drawn ascetic. The atmosphere drags you into its fantasy realm with buried monolithic structures, vast forests, and snow capped peaks. There’s also a great degree of variation to the monsters that we tame, with each species offering unique appearances that fit their element. Lukha is also designed pretty well, and his presentation fits in well with someone who’s mission is well above his personal skills. Even with its repetitiveness, combat is pretty fluid, and upon gathering the right party, you’ll be swapping and changing attacks with relative ease.
Overall, Adore is a game that strives to be something different, yet ever so slightly misses its mark. There’s a lot here that I really did enjoy, and the premise of a fast-paced monster battling title really did appeal to my inner pocket monster geek. That being said, it’s gameplay isn’t something that I could sit and watch the hours fly away. It’s extremely repetitive gameplay loop doesn’t “sell” it’s side quest to you, and the slow nature of how you catch monsters can be a little off putting.
However, it’s not all bad…Adore is available on Gamepass, so you have no issues with trying it yourself!
Rating: 5/10
A code was kindly provided for this review
Adore is available now and can be purchased via the Microsoft store, or played with an active Gamepass Ultimate subscription.
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