Pokémon Meets Zelda In Adorable Free RPG Coming To PS5 This Year

Pawprint Studio has confirmed that upcoming free-to-play RPG Aniimo will officially launch on PlayStation 5 later this year, alongside the previously confirmed Xbox Series X/S and PC platforms.

Aniimo is a cosy game that blends the creature-collecting formula of the Pokémon franchise with the open-world exploration of something like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Players will step into the shoes of a rookie researcher who’s sent to the magical island of Idyll where they’ll need to unravel an ancient mystery, all with the help of the island’s aniimo.

While you’ll be able to tame and ‘catch’ aniimo, you’ll also face off against plenty in the wild in a unique combat system that either allows you to direct your aniimo or ‘twine’ with them and actually fight as them.

Twining doesn’t merely exist in combat as you’ll also need to use the ability in the open-world.

While you can catch a large number of aniimo, players will only be able to equip four at once that they can readily shift between embodying using the D-Pad.

This is very handy as you’ll need to use aniimo abilities to solve open-world puzzles and aid traversal; some aniimo can fly, for example, whilst others can set things alight.

Pawprint Studio

The game is full of dungeons and chests where you can obtain Lumen Ambers to level up, plus there’s an engaging story that’ll pull you through Aniimo if you don’t like to explore at your own pace.

Perhaps most surprisingly, there’s a cosy game mode hidden within Aniimo that will undoubtedly prove hard to put down.

READ MORE: Here are some more cosy game recommendations while the countdown to Aniimo is on.

Players will unlock their own RV granting access to the Homeland mode where you can decorate your humble abode as well as farm in a patch of land that’s all yours, accessed via a portal.

GAMINGbible Has Been Hands-On With Aniimo

We had the opportunity to play around four-hours of Aniimo during a prior beta test and it really is shaping up to be quite a delightful surprise.

“Aniimo wasn’t at all on my radar, but it certainly is now,” we began.

“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 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 remains without a release date but is due to launch sometime this year.

As a reminder, it’s a free-to-play title but that does mean it’ll feature microtransactions that weren’t present during the beta testing period.