Like many of you, Pokémon holds a special place in my heart. Though if I’m being honest, my RPG tastes have… evolved since the days of Game Boys and car rides. Disc Creatures WORLD, developed by the two brothers making up Picorinne Soft, shares that same reverence for Nintendo’s iconic monster-catching series but isn’t afraid to bring the combat up to modern JRPG standards of complexity.
While waiting to try a handheld PC build of Disc Creatures WORLD, I had a lengthy talk with the elder of the two brothers, Satto (Satoshi Nakajima), who developed the original 2019 Disc Creatures, a game that had a Game Boy Color aesthetic matching Pokémon Gold & Silver. Satto was very emphatic about taking player feedback and sees Disc Creatures WORLD as more of a Game Boy Advance-style reboot of his game than a sequel.
Now, the two Nakajima brothers balance duties. The younger, Ryo, who cut his teeth on a number of 2D horizontal and vertical shmups in the vein of Gradius and Raiden, has designed most of the now 300+ creature designs ranging from animals (my “starter” was an icy penguin with sword flippers, aptly named “Bladeguin” in English) to everyday objects like a creature mimicking a tall beer mug. The GBA-style sprites show a surprising amount of movement, and more creatures are promised to be coming. Satto handles the soundtrack and much of the writing and design.
Speaking of writing, the demo I played did have an English localization that, though incomplete, showed a lot of potential, matching the humour and self-referential tone of EarthBound. The demo started with Cham, a fiery, fourth-wall-breaking bird who guides players through the finer points of the game before ultimately becoming the final boss of the demo, himself. Players follow Cham through their hometown and a neighboring forest, beginning their adventure as a “Disc Ranger” out to befriend a variety of creatures. Satto promises that, though the story is not the priority, his world will explore the give-and-take relationship between humans and these disc creatures.
Combat was the real standout. When players step into tall grass, a wild creature will emerge to give chase in real time, initiating a turn-based battle. Disc Creatures WORLD’s battles play in rounds, with attacks eating up an energy resource that, when drained, leads to surefire critical attacks. Giving and receiving damage creates elemental mana crystals that can be used, in Octopath Traveler or Bravely Default fashion, to empower attacks.
Whittling down an enemy’s health lets players befriend them, with a timed input raising the chance of a successful catch. Another detail I loved was that upon befriending a creature, you can spend Pico (gold) to instantly raise the creature’s levels, meaning no more walking around with useless Pidgeys in my pocket.
Most notably, battles in Disc Creatures WORLD take on a 3v3 turn-based approach, with three more “sub” creatures available on standby. There’s nothing we haven’t seen in a Final Fantasy or a Dragon Quest, say, but those no-brainer innovations placed in a GBA-style Poké-like were a long time coming. Then, there’s the evolution stand-in, wherein a sort of blender is used to “Shake” creatures into a variety of nonlinear evolutions—imagine if every creature were an Eevee. [Editor’s Note: I severely do not want to put my cute monster friends into a “blender,” so I hope this ultimately is localized more similarly to a “Shaker,” thank you.]
Visually, I felt that there was a lot of Mega Man DNA in Disc Creatures WORLD, and the brothers were admitted fans when I asked. Menus and the battle HUD are colourful and techy, and there was a fair share of battle and dramatic victory animations that reminded me of defeating Dr. Wily’s dreaded Robot Masters.
I came away from my time with Disc Creatures WORLD feeling excited for a style of game that was long dormant in my heart. I felt Picorinne Soft’s love for the source material and their meticulous passion, and I was reminded of my days trading starters and legendaries with my own brother. I’m hopeful that, should Disc Creatures WORLD meet its slated 2026 Steam release, it’ll give other players that same feeling.
More Disc Creatures WORLD Screenshots
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.