The original Temtem is one of the best Pokemon-style games on the market and was the first one to truly feature a large, connected online world to play in. Today, Humble Games released a pleasant surprise to players in the form ofTemtem Showdown- a free to play, microtransaction-free battle-centric version of Temtem that is an all-killer, no-filler approach to the creature-collecting sub-genre and something that hasn’t been done in many years since the end of the Pokemon Stadium games. Showdown allows you to pick a team of Temtem without having to play through the game to find them - so if you find the combat of the game to be a blast, but the world exploration and RPG elements to be a bit of a grind, then this is perfect.
As someone who falls into that camp and enjoyed the combat more than any other element of Temtem, this is a must-play experience. Showdown is a wonderful starting point for those who have been curious about buying Temtem as there has never been a demo, and this goes into far more depth with the combat than a demo ever would because the whole battle system is available to use from minute one. Showdown also has something the main Temtem game, and a lot of RPGs would benefit from - a full tutorial for combat.
The goal of Temtem is to build your creatures up and win in elemental-themed combat and the rock-paper-scissor nature of all of the elements can be confusing. Having everything explained clearly helps not only for new players, but for folks like me coming back to the game after a long absence. The fetch quest nature of the main Temtem game is something that I really just don’t have time for anymore and it did take away from the greatness of battles since it felt like clutter and wasn’t all that streamlined. The Temtem Showdown experience is all-action and you learn very quickly in real-time what to and what not to do.
Failure in battle is never “fun” - but it can be a valuable learning experience that serves a greater purpose later on. I would love a revamp of Temtem that took out some of the clutter, while keeping in some of the world-building because there are some great character interactions to be had - they’re just obscured by clutter that gets in the way of fun. Temtem Showdown’s distilled experience is outstanding and takes away any barrier of entry to getting into the franchise. It also plays great on the Steam Deck and is perfectly-suited for a few lunchtime battles.
