We aren’t even going to waste time, Temtem looks like Pokémon, plays like Pokémon and basically is a literal clone of Pokémon. Despite that, Temtem isn’t the first game to copy Pokémon’s style and we won’t deny, there are some cool themes to this semi-clone title. Is Temtem a game you want to play when a new Pokémon game—Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet—is just around the corner? Let’s discover that for ourselves in our review of Temtem for the PC.

Literally, Temtem can be explained as if we were talking about an old-school Pokémon title. You’re a young man/woman—which can be customized—who is a novice Temtem trainer. Like the Pokémon series, you choose your starter Temtem, creatures that have various forms and elements, and then go out to be a master Temtem trainer. Yes, folks! Temtem even copies the story of Pokémon with various enemies and an evil organization. The story isn’t what will hook you about Temtem, what will hook you is the one element Pokémon hasn’t really done yet and Temtem did it first…online multiplayer.

That’s right, Temtem is an MMORPG which means you might be trying to be the best Temtem trainer but you aren’t alone in that adventure. You will be joined with others online and seeing others trying to be the best too and occasionally wishing to battle you is actually very refreshing for this Pokémon-like title. Equally, it makes the world of Temtem feel more real—despite the monsters and such—which we really wish Pokémon would have done already! Just running into a random person while they are trying to train or have their adventure is so cool.

The one element that Temtem does a bit better than Pokémon is the actual gameplay. Again, like Pokémon, Temtem is a monster turn-based battler where you take control of your Temtem buddies and battle others or try to capture them via cards. The catch is Temtem battles aren’t always easy and aren’t always one on one. Often, even in the wild, you’ll find a random battle and two Temtem will attack you at once. You too can use multiple monsters but if you aren’t prepared you’ll find your team wiped out quickly. Temtem might be rated for E for Everyone but this isn’t an easy game. We lost the initial fights and battles learning what elements worked against others—as Temtem has different elements like crystal monsters—but actually enjoyed this change of difficulty. Every loss made us want to try harder and for the first time since our original Pokémon days, we find ourselves not growing tired of level grinding or finding the best team of Temtem.

Temtem is a pretty game and that much is obvious from the first few minutes. Monsters look very diverse and have a lot of detail to them and environments have tons of color! Our only issue is the fact that Temtem has a weird frame rate that causes strange lag spikes—especially before battles begin—that make the experience a bit down then we’d like. Even running in areas with few people, Temtem doesn’t run the best but luckily is still quite playable.