Aniimo's Pokémon Meets Zelda Approach Is Surprisingly Good, Free RPG Arrives This Year

I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t sold on Aniimo when it was first revealed during last year’s Xbox Games Showcase.

The “free-to-play, next-gen creature-catching open-world RPG” struck me as a blatant rip of the Pokémon formula, or even Palworld. I couldn’t quite see what it was bringing to the table. However, they say you should never judge a book by its cover, and I refuse to do that, so when I was offered the opportunity to participate in Aniimo’s latest beta test, I said yes.

It’s here that I’ll say, forgive me Aniimo. I wasn’t familiar with your game.

Developed by Pawprint Studio, Aniimo is a true delight and, in fact, is surprisingly original. It’s easy to draw comparisons between it and Pokémon due to the creature-catching nature of the gameplay, but this is an entirely different kettle of fish. While players will catch and evolve aniimo, it’s for a very different purpose. Players step into the shoes of a rookie researcher on the mystical island of Idyll where it's your job to unravel an ancient mystery.

It’s not as if you’re bumping into ‘trainers’ armed with aniimo. It’s more so rogue aniimo that you’ll be facing off against in the open-world, at least in the segments that I sampled during the beta test. Players will be able to catch a wide array of aniimo, but you can only equip four at a time. The others will remain in your inventory. Of those four equipped aniimo, one will act as your travelling companion, walking alongside you. You can switch between the four options using the D-pad.

Players Can Control Aniimo, Or Twine With Them To Step Into Their ‘Shoes’

Who you have equipped is important as Aniimo’s unique selling point is that you can instantly ‘twine’ with your aniimo. That essentially means you become them. In the open-world, this is crucial to exploration. Certain aniimo can fly whilst others can swim, set fire to wooden obstacles … you get the idea. In the real-time combat encounters, that means you have the option of both directing your aniimo, or simply twining to carry out the job yourself. It adds a ton of variety to the gameplay formula that’s incredibly moreish.

Catching aniimo is done via throwing an aniipod with there being several aniipods on offer. Certain types you’ll need to purchase from vendors whilst others are littered around the open-world. Before you throw an aniipod, you’ll see the chances of success.

This will depend on the variety of the aniipod your using and the status of the aniimo. It’s much easier, for example, to catch a low level aniimo with their back turned. Should you fail, you can engage in combat to weaken the aniimo before a second attempt.

Aniimo, Credit / Pawprint Studio

Catching, fighting, and discovering aniimo will allow you to report your findings. As I said, you’re a researcher. The more research you carry out, the more you’ll be rewarded with various in-game items and currencies. It’s here that I’ll say that as a free-to-play game, Aniimo will contain microtransactions, but I’m unable to comment on these as they weren’t present during the beta test where I was very well loaded up with supplies. It’s something to keep in mind.

Use Aniimo Abilities To Explore The Open World, Unearthing Ruins and Dungeons

Aniimo, as I mentioned, is an open-world title, and that open-world is pretty enormous. I only experienced a small area of the map and I was surprised by just how boundless it felt. I kept climbing walls and hills and gliding from mountaintops expecting to get an ‘out of bounds’ message, but one never came. Aniimo allowed me to go wherever I wanted to go. In that open-world, you’ll find chests where you can pick up extra items. You’ll likely have to figure out which aniimo’s abilities you’ll need to free chests.

There are Lumen Ambers to be found too, another type of in-game item. The examples I came across had me fight off several aniimo to claim the Lumen Ambers, or complete a timed race. There are also dungeons dotted across the map of which I sampled a few. In a dungeon, you get given a specific aniimo. You then have to use that aniimo’s power to navigate skill-based obstacles in order to reach the end of the dungeon.

Aniimo, Credit / Pawprint Studio

For navigation, there are ‘blooms’ dotted around the open-world which you can activate as fast travel points which is exceptionally handy. Already, Aniimo feels so full of variety to me, and that’s after only sampling the abilities of a handful of aniimo. I can see major potential. I’d also add that, for me at least, the open-world has a touch of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild about it.

There’s an Engaging Story And a Cosy Game Mode

Aniimo isn’t a game where you’ll wander around without aim. There is a story, and I enjoyed following said story missions whilst taking occasional breaks to go off, wander around, and level up. As I said, the story revolves around an ancient mystery although I can’t exactly say more than that because I’ve only experienced the game’s opening few hours. I did reach one of Idyll’s settlements though as the continent has human life as well as being full of aniimo.

One thing that may distract you is the game’s RV function and Homeland mode. After a couple of hours, players will unlock an RV with there being several RV Parks dotted around the map for you to pick from for it to reside in (you can change this at any time). You can extend and customise your RV, but step inside and you’ll unlock the Homeland mode. Inside your RV is a portal, taking you to your Homeland which is essentially a cosy little abode. Yes, there’s a cosy game hidden inside Aniimo. Here, you can tend to a plot as you participate in all of the usual cosy fare. Players will grow and sell crops, plus there’s space to breed and hatch extra aniimo. I can see players whiling away hours here.

I’ve heaped praise upon Aniimo, but there is a hesitation I have alongside my earlier mention of microtransactions. The title has been hit by accusations of AI usage, although no concrete evidence nor a statement has yet come to light. I’m very much against generative AI, so I do hope nothing too extreme is revealed in this department.

Aniimo wasn’t at all on my radar, but it certainly is now. It’s a game that I continue to have reservations about. I hope microtransactions don’t rid the title of its fun, plus I worry about those accusations of AI. I did also experience some stuttering in areas, but this was a beta test. I can say though that I’m impressed by Aniimo’s gameplay formula. It somehow blends the worlds of Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and Breath of the Wild into something that feels refreshing, enjoyable, and unique. If Pawprint Studio can put my mind at ease on those concerns above, it’s most definitely a game I’d love to play again.

Aniimo is due to launch in 2026 on PC (version tested) and Xbox Series X/S.