Games with a creature bent?

nattynatalia

I know this post is a big long, so I've headed it for the lazy XD (it should be fairly easy to skim)



QUICK SUMMARY:

I'm looking for mainly f2p (including limited f2p) or pay-once games, be it MMORPGS, PBBGs, console games, etc. which have a developed creature system, whether the main characters be animals, or the characters interact with beasties through such things as a pet system, skills such as summons, or professions such as hunting. It doesn't have to be a primary thing that the game revolves around, as long as its THERE to some degree (for some examples, skip down to 'Previous hits')



How it came to this:

Last night, through the haze of sleep deprivation, I made yet another desperate attempt to find a good creature game, and it was not for the first time that I realised that, frankly, I was an atrocious searcher. After skimming through great monsters of lists of mediocre game after the next, I finally succumbed to the demands of sleep: but not before realising it would probably be easier to just ask around, rather than trawl the internet with Lvl. 1 Google. There are a number of different elements that I'm looking for (it's amazing how rare even some of the simpler ones, like hunting, is) so if you know a game that has it reasonably well, please share! It doesn't have to be all of the elements given (that is the kind of dream game that doesn't exist) but I will absolutely adore you if it's combination.









WHAT I AM APPEALING FOR:

Pet games:

This doesn't have to go all Neopets on me. (Browser pet games like Neopets are SO easy to find, they're everywhere, unfortunately not many good ones actually around... if you've found an unusual one, post anyway! Psypets is a good example.) But I absolutely adore creature raising things: I think my biggest quest is to find a kind of Ultimate Tamagotchi, one that's actually modernised. Alas, most such things have not cottoned on to the advancement of the rest of the games world.



Games with pets:

The difference between pet games and games with pets is that one is the primary focus, where as the other is typically an additional thing, a kind of swifty feature. So while games like gopets and psypets is all about your little beastie, games like RO or even KoL have pets that are more like... well, pets, rather than the focus of your life's hard labour. They follow you around, you feed them, they might help you fight or what not, and they're very cute or spunky or pwnsome, but aside from raising them you can do other things too.



Summons systems:

Summons are typically a lot like pets. Usually with a higher focus on fighting for you. I am a sucker for non-humanoid summonings. For example, I am a Tofu spammer on Dofus (hahahah, yes, I know I didn't go down a terribly competitive skill tree, but they're just. So. Cute. (And clever) Since I'm playing f2p there it's not like I'm going to be facing really tough critters anyway, so. *shrugs*) Just another excuse to surround myself with more creatures!



Animal orientated Professions (eg. hunting):

Actually, professions in general are a HUGE plus for me. If you can't tell, I'm more into the mindless trivialities of a game, rather than the hack and slash nature. So while I adore a good fight (involving lots of non-humanoid monsters). I'm quite fond of the idea of having professions that can be developed through playing the game. Hunting is a huge interest there. Dofus, again, serves a fine example, with my Tofu spammer Osa being a hunter.



Animal orientated Class:

Much the same as goes with animal orientated professions (they overlap). This is just a kind of inherant working-with-animals factor to your character. For example, summoners almost always work with creatures, turtle tamers in KoL, and my hunter in RO with her little falcon-birdy.



Main charas that are anthros:

While I'm sure many a Tauren would object to being called an anthro, it must nevertheless be said that as a Tauren is neither a person nor a bull, they are an anthro. Having a main character that IS an animal, or animal like in nature, is always good fun. However, I find that it's difficult to find games with anthros with a good fashion sense. I'm really not fussed about having a main human chara, since these MMORPGs just love to dress them up all pretty like. But animalistic races are generally a perk.



and lastly...



Good monsters:

Most games have monsters to some degree, so this is a bit of an iffy game-type request. But spending all your time beating up monsters is much the same as spending all your time raising monsters. (I'm sure that logic works out) If there's a game with a lot of non-humanoid monsters, I may have some interest, but obviously it should be a good game in other respects to really pull me to it XD









OTHER COOL THINGS TO HAVE:

Evolutionary systems

You can have the critters which look the same, and the critters which change over time, or get typically more buff (wouldn't it be fun to start off with this tough grr beasties that gradually get cuter? It'd be a strange kind of game though...) when you do something to them (Like Pokémon). This kind of evolutionary thing is a huge win factor for me.



Interesting Development

This is probably worth mentioning aside from evolutionary systems. Development is just such a huge attraction, as soon as you can't change something anymore, or rather, make it 'better' in some sense, it quickly loses its appeal. Once we have a character at the highest level (not that I ever get there) and it can't learn any new abilities, isn't customizable, or can't be any more loyal, etc. etc. then we have a character that is soon shuttled off into a safety deposit box of some kind somewhere. Whilst most games do offer the standard developmental paths (fight level up) it's a real perk to have a unique, or even just interesting, developmental system. Professions are such an example that are also standard, but interesting. Something that gives a bit of variety to the gameplay, but still /leads somewhere/... that doesn't just go for the creature aspect, but everything else as well.



Games that don't move on without you (and don't cost continuously):

Some do this more than others, but arg. I'm a sporadic, unpredictable gamer, I don't like coming back to see that every Dick Jane and Harry in the neighbourhood has mugged me and left me a poor nothing, or that my pets have sobbed themselves to sleep in isolation and eventually run away on me. Accounts that delete themselves after periods of inactivity also annoy me. I'm more interested in things for the long term, not the short (that's why I'm pretty anti p2p-subscription, it's not the paying, it's the paying again and again and again and again... every month. I'm just not a hardcore gamer enough to give that style of game any merit)



Uniqueness:

It's a bit sad how much of an ask this is. I guess, it doesn't matter if you're running mainstream... just so long as you run mainstream WELL. If you have a new twist on the gameplay, just the sheer novelty of this often overcomes other flaws.



Quests

This is running off on a tangent, but everyone loves quests. Mindless hack and slash can get you only so far.



Customization:

Three pretty things is better than one pretty thing.









PREVIOUS HITS:

These are just the tried-and-true games that I've enjoyed, my descriptions of them are pretty ranty (I'm still so very tired) but if you know how the game handles, you'll get an idea of my tastes. Looking at this section, you can see that I tend to play a lot of 2D imitating type games, or that they often wonder in the realm of cutsey. I think this isn't so much that I have something against the more fantastical 3D games (I'm looking forward to trying out Granada Espalda in May) just that I haven't found many 3D games that really pull me. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but if you work on a 'if you liked that you'll like...' it'll give something to work with.



Kingdom of loathing:

This gets so many points for its uniqueness, it's wit, and its humour. I'd love this game even without pets. (Actually, I don't have an incredible interest in the pets specifically, just the whole world and mechanisms of the game is so in-your-face wow. Just SO many little mindless things you can work towards, it's just heaven for an interest-in-the-trivial gamer like myself *heart*)



Spore:

This game has WON me. It is absolutely killing me waiting for it to come out. This is the sort of game that is the game that I always wanted to play when I was younger, and still now. Evolution games are just INCREDIBLE. I'm SO looking forward to playing this one. Go youtube the half hour walkthrough preview video, that is just amazing on so many levels. I hope it meets expectations (I am so pumped I won't let it not >/) but I just find it SO exciting. Really, really can't wait for it to come out.



Gopets:

Hmm, it's kinda mediocre, a kind of background thing that I just come back to every now and then to check up on how my pets are going and wealth is being acquired. It's a nice kind of community, and the customization is good fun.



RO:

My first love, this game has broken my heart so many times I don't know if I want to try again with it. I used to play on Pillows, but that packed up, goodbye everything! I moved onto RO Empire, decided to push on despite a wipe or two, but a second wipe after actually getting a decent character going (and a pet collection, oh my you should have seen them! I love how you can tame them yourselves =D I acquired most of them by myself, by hunting the critters dropping the taming item, then taming the beasty myself, but I also bought a few) and it was wiped AGAIN. Unless someone can show me an RO server with good rates and a predictability of Never Ever Being Wiped Ever or Ever Going Down Taking Your Charas Kicking And Screaming I just can't get into it anymore. |:



Harvest Moon (GBA):

Mindless. Cute. Win. I love my chickens *heart*



Animal Crossing (Gamecube):

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS GAME. The entire game is just so TRIVIAL, it's FANTASTIC. I am going to get a DS (Shocker! No DS yet! I was actually pretty 'meurh' about getting ones until I realised there's an Animal Crossing DS) JUST TO PLAY THIS GAME. I'm taking it like it's a portable version of the gamecube game, huuuge pluses because I don't have access to Gamecube over the time, and I just like handhelds better. (Y'can snuggle up in bed or somewhere else comfortable with them, and not have parents nark on about rotting your brains and whatnot)



Dofus:

My main MMORPG atm (used to be RO). A lot of people find it limited, especially f2p, but due to my unpredictable playing, an appetising layout/graphics type, the professions, summoning, and random quests, I think it's good fun



Psypets:

I just really love this site for how different it is to everything else. It's a /very/ smart little setup. It's also different to nintendogs because even though they get hungry, run away, etc. if you go away for ages you can have a retroactive vacation. Bwam! No problem. You can continue on as if you hadn't been away a day.



Nintendogs:

I borrowed my brother's gf's console, and played her Nintendogs full on for about a week (poor neglected puppies). It was absolutely addicting and everything I expected/wanted in such a game, but in the end its limited nature drew my interest in it to a bit of a close. There's only so many times you can throw a frisbee or run a circuit before you get bored. I liked the little touches like walk time lengthening with practice, and having to tug puppies towards gifts and away from rubbish when walking. Unlocking things is always fun, but yeah, I can take a lack of variety when real-time isn't important; I'm good at moving between games and coming back to them, but because there's a kind of need to keep playing with some regularity (otherwise they won't like you, etc. etc.) is pretty off putting.



WOW:

I have a character on a friend's account that I've played for a whole twenty minutes or so. So this doesn't really count, but it was quite a fun game. Good established pet system, awesome monsters (Ark-birds for the win. I realise I am hopelessly n00bie on this game) hunting/druid system, and Tauren's for the win. (I once laughed so hard I milked all over the place... *bad remembrance of joke*)



Tales of Symphonia:

This is just going here because it's so durn cool. Whoever doesn't love that game should be shot.