Adore

I have to commend Adore for trying something different and largely succeeding with it. Adding action to the monster-catching formula is always a fun twist, and depriving the player of a method of direct attack in an action RPG certainly freshens things up. There’s something really special at the core of this one, but it feels like it just couldn’t carry that spark all the way to the goal. If you’re intrigued by the premise, I can give it a mild recommendation.

At the end of the day, though, that’s not the vision the developers had for Adore and that’s fine, as what they have produced is a damn fine spin on the monster taming genre all the same. Look past the repetition, and you’ll find that early simplicity was a complete red herring, as the complexities of team synergy, hidden passives, and the real-time combat suck you in. The core of what’s here is excellent, and while the narrow scope of the moment-to-moment gameplay loops may feel a little limiting, they allow the excellent core combat and surprising depth to shine through. If, like me, you were a little tired of the genre rehashing the same formula for what feels like forever, then Adore, while not without its flaws, will likely feel like a total breath of fresh air.

It may be a little uneven, but Adore nonetheless stands out from the pack as an innovative new entry in the monster-catching RPG subgenre. The fast-paced combat, detailed team customization, and high level of replayability all make this one easy to recommend, though we say this with the qualifier that performance could be better and the gameplay loop can get pretty grindy. All the same, we’d give this one a recommendation to anyone looking for an interesting new monster catcher — it’s a welcome addition to the genre and we hope to see its ideas further explored in future games.