Gotta Become ’Em All

Whenever a studio makes a creature-collecting RPG, I’m always curious to learn why. Pokémon is the undisputed champion of the genre, but that doesn’t mean others shouldn’t take a crack at the formula. But doing so is a tall task because you will inevitably be compared to Game Freak’s long-running, near-annual (meaning your game is likely close to a competing release) monster collector series. Naturally, I address the Donphan in the room with my first question in an interview with Pawprint Studio executive producer Jovi Zhang.

“The team at Pawprint Studio is all big fans of the creature collecting genre, as well as exploring vast and beautiful open worlds,” Zhang tells me. “We’d never come across a game that satisfied us on all fronts, though, which is where the concept of Aniimo stemmed from. Essentially, we’re creating the game of our dreams.”