Those jumping into Temtem for the first time now that it's available in PlayStation 5 Early Access will no doubt be surprised by how deep the game world feels from the beginning, with gorgeous, colorful graphics greeting new players immediately. Anyone familiar with Pokémon - and, to be honest, it would be surprising if that weren't true of every Temtem player - will also notice just how deep the game draws on Nintendo and Game Freak's franchise as inspiration, right down to the kindly professor introducing them to developer Crema's world of monster battles.
Temtem was a surprise hit on Steam thanks to its blend of the traditional Pokémon gameplay mixed with a more MMORPG approach to battling and world design as a whole. It scratched the same kind of itch that games like Pokémon GO do, blending the repetition of creature capture, training, and battling with the ability to share that process with other equally invested players at the same time. Temtem has now made the leap to PS5 Early Access and is immediately a draw for the current-gen console's ittedly light games library at the moment. Temtem on PS5 succeeds in the same way it did on PC, with an added bonus of looking great in 4K resolution. That helps its creatures jump to life, and those intrigued by the game would do well to check it out on Sony's console if given the chance, though it's hard to suggest this is the definitive way to experience the game given the minute changes overall.
Temtem can actually be something of a daunting proposition, with a slew of creatures to capture - though still far less than a modern Pokémon game - and dozens of hours of storyline to progress through on top of that. Temtem's first distinction apart from Pokémon is a slightly more mature storyline approach. While still cute and colorful, the game has more than its fair share of sass from both the player character and their rivals, and in general, it has an old school Neopets feel of college-kid critter collecting scattered throughout. Cross-play is also available, and players are helpfully designated by platform beside their names. It's common to see Steam Tamers - often ones with quite impressive Temtem in tow - hanging out at popular locations.
Temtem's gameplay features a pretty similar structure to Pokémon as well, though the focus is much more on 2 versus 2 monster battles, and with that comes a little more nuance. Pairing Temtem together and meshing their movesets properly will grant bonuses to certain moves, and the game's typing system makes the rock-paper-scissors of monster lineup creation just as compelling as it usually is. The major takeaway from the battles themselves remains the fact that Temtem feels like a significantly more strategic version of Pokémon, with the best moves being locked behind stamina management and careful planning rather than number of uses as a limiter.
That's also borne out in the game's Tamer battles, which are a cut above what Pokémon fans might be used to. Essentially, a bad typing matchup and some mismanagement is more than enough to have a player get soundly defeated by any random er-by, and each battle feels like a more engaging element as a result. Dojo leaders are a step up in difficulty again, and can be frustrating-yet-satisfying challenges that cap a storyline moment or a player's progression through the world of Temtem.
Progression isn't just tied into collecting the strongest Temtem, though. There's also a huge range of character customization that definitely goes a step further than Pokémon and, given the game's MMORPG foundation, makes a lot of sense. While the array of clothing isn't so varied that it's impossible to find doppelgangers lurking around the world, it's not so restricted that players can't express themselves the way they want to. Temtem's social leanings, like its built-in chat channels and robust secondary market, also help set it apart and make it feel like a more involved setting.
All of this is pretty much exactly what fans could get from Temtem on PC, though, and the few changes that come with Temtem on PS5 are mostly tied to graphics. Unfortunately, Temtem makes little use of the DualSense, failing to capitalize on one of the biggest draws to the PS5 as a console. It's unclear exactly what could be done for the game - it's pretty simple and haptic can be tricky to implement logically in games like these - but it does feel like a missed opportunity. Some sort of controller functionality tied to the process of capturing a Temtem might've gone a long way, as would some more pronounced when doing something like surfing. It's the kind of thing that might feel tacked-on to some, but with the DualSense technology readily available on the platform, it would also be a nice bonus feature.
Temtem is $39.99 USD on the PlayStation Store at time of writing, which feels like a fair price given all that's on offer during the game's Early Access period. Despite its improved visuals on PS5, though, it's unclear whether or not this version feels like the definitive one for Crema's intriguing monster battler. Temtem has already been announced for Nintendo Switch (and Xbox Series X/S, too), and given the success of Pokémon titles on mobile platforms in the past, that feels like the version of the game to watch, especially whenever it leaves Early Access.
Ultimately, Temtem is a great, enjoyable experience on PS5 - essentially the same one that PC gamers have already gotten acquainted with - and it's hard to go wrong with the title on either platform. However, Temtem is definitely more for those who either want more Pokémon-style gameplay in their life in general or want more of a challenge than Game Freak's series usually presents. Those who aren't really into number-crunching, type-matching, and monster collecting won't find enough in Temtem to change that, and anyone who has slowly drifted away from Pokémon over the years isn't going to find their love of the genre rekindled by what the game has to offer, however pretty it may be.
Temtem is in PS5 Early Access now, and is also available on Steam, where it is also in Early Access. Screen Rant was provided with a digital PS5 code for the purpose of this preview.
