Forget catching them all—I want to become them. Going into Aniimo, I had no idea I was about to live out one of my oldest fantasies. Ever heard of Ben 10? Aniimo’s Twining system lets you seamlessly transform into a huge variety of creatures you can befriend, turning my childhood dream of having an Omnitrix of my own into a surprisingly fun reality. Throw in a gorgeous open world, stunning creature designs, and an absurdly good character creator that I could spend hours in, and it’s easy to see why Aniimo has kept me hooked.
Ambitious, gorgeous, and charming, Aniimo has an awful lot going on. Sometimes, that means it can feel overwhelming, but when there’s this much to explore, discover, and play with, I’m more than happy to get a little lost.
Crafting a catcher as unique as the creatures they’ll meet
Your journey through Idyll begins in the character creator, and it’s a strong showing right from the start. I’m a sucker for a good character creator, and Aniimo’s is the kind I could happily spend hours tinkering with. It’s impressively in-depth, giving you an almost ridiculous amount of control over how your catcher looks.
Pretty much every detail of your avatar can be customized, from the corners of their eyes to the position of their ears. At first glance, the color options seem surprisingly limited, but click around a little, and you’ll discover that nearly every feature can be retoned using a color wheel, making the possibilities feel truly endless.
I particularly enjoyed the face paint feature, which lets you color, stack, and layer as many different designs as you want to truly make your character your own. Whether you want to go with something more subtle or create a face covered in colorful designs, there’s plenty of room to experiment and design a catcher that feels right for you.
Best of all, the character creator doesn’t become irrelevant once you leave the initial creation process. These customization options remain available throughout your adventure, although some changes will require you to spend a bit of in-game currency.
The one major downside is that a fair amount of the game’s cosmetics are locked behind monetization. As a free-to-play game, this isn’t exactly surprising, and the base character creator still offers an impressive amount of customization, but it’s hard not to feel a little disappointed when some of the more appealing options come with an additional cost.
Wandering through a gorgeous world that begs to be explored
There are two areas you can explore in Aniimo: the bustling, vibrant city of Astra and the vast, lush, open-world region of Idyll. Most of your time will be spent in Idyll, where you’ll venture into the wilderness, uncover new areas, and spend plenty of time getting acquainted with the world around you as you build your Aniimo collection.
Idyll is a picture-perfect, intricately designed land filled with unique biomes to unlock and explore as you progress. It’s the kind of world you’re meant to get lost in, and one that really rewards careful exploration and a keen eye for detail. Weather and a dynamic day-and-night cycle also affect the region, giving the landscape a different feel depending on when and where you explore.
I often found myself stopping simply to take in the sights, and I put the phenomenal camera mode to good use, snapping pictures of my avatar, their active Aniimo, and the scenery around them. Visually, Aniimo absolutely rocks, and just about every corner of Idyll is worth stopping to admire.
Then there’s Astra, a lively metropolitan area that serves as a welcome change of pace from Idyll’s sprawling wilderness. Here, you can visit the institute you join, browse shops selling all kinds of items, and even attend cozy tea parties. Much of Astra is still under construction, with markers indicating that more content will be added in the future, so it’s difficult to judge the city in its entirety just yet.
Still, based on what’s currently available, I enjoyed having somewhere more social and bustling to visit between my adventures in Idyll. After spending so much time roaming the great outdoors, Astra provides a nice change of scenery.
A cast of creatures that are as useful as they are adorable
Unsurprisingly, the creatures you can catch and collect are the real stars of the show. Every Aniimo you meet feels unique, and their designs are truly stunning, with plenty of personality packed into each one.
What makes these creatures truly special, though, is that they’re more than just collectibles. Each Aniimo adds something new to your toolkit, opening up different ways to traverse, battle, and interact with the world. One lets you soar through the skies with ease, another helps you scale walls, and others bring their special abilities into combat to help you secure victory on the battlefield. Catching a new Aniimo isn’t just checking off another creature in your collection, as it can sometimes feel with these types of games. It’s also discovering what new gameplay possibilities they bring with them.
I also really love that Aniimo gives you plenty of freedom in how you use these companions. You can explore and battle as your avatar, commanding your loyal Aniimo as they fight alongside you, or you can Twine with them and merge into a single entity, taking direct control of their abilities. Both approaches feel useful, but Twining is easily one of the coolest parts of the game, so I found myself embracing it whenever I could.
Twining also feels incredibly natural in practice, as it seamlessly folds into exploration without ever feeling like a cumbersome mechanic you have to work around. Instead, it works for you. Jump off a cliff, and I can instantly Twine with my designated flying Aniimo and take to the skies. Run toward a seemingly insurmountable wall, and my climbing companion can spring into action without breaking my momentum. It’s fast, fluid, and, most importantly, incredibly fun.
This smooth transition makes every new Aniimo feel like more than another creature to collect. They’re new ways to experience the world, and discovering what each one can do quickly became one of my favorite parts of the adventure.
A cozy adventure with an almost overwhelming amount to do
There’s always something to do in Aniimo, and no shortage of options to choose from. At first, that sheer abundance can feel overwhelming, as if the game is trying to do a little too much at once. Once you settle into its rhythm, though, it becomes one of its greatest strengths. If you get tired of one activity, there’s always something else waiting for you, whether that’s tackling a new quest, taking on a trial, participating in an event, or simply wandering off to see what you can find.
Quests drive the central storyline, and although they’re important, they can occasionally drag on a little longer than I’d like, particularly when there’s a lot of dialogue between objectives. Thankfully, Aniimo is pretty considerate about this: if you’d rather skip the conversation and get back to exploring or battling, you can do exactly that and still receive a summary of the important points. It’s a small feature, but one I really appreciated, especially when I was more interested in getting back out into the world than sitting through another lengthy conversation.
There’s also no shortage of events to jump into, most of which reward you with an array of freebies, like Aniipods, Eggs, and various currencies, for completing simple exploration tasks. They’re a helpful way to get some direction if you’re ever unsure what to do next, while also giving you a little something extra for activities you’d probably be doing anyway. The Training page works similarly, offering objectives to complete and prizes to collect as you progress.
And you can’t forget your cozy home on wheels, an RV that gives you a little space to call your own while you’re out adventuring. You can customize and decorate this vehicle to your liking, and once you’re inside, you can grow crops and assign Aniimo to take care of things so you can earn resources and currency while away.
This adds yet another layer to a game that already has plenty of them, although I’m admittedly not quite as sold on this feature as some of the others. It’s nice to have as a relaxing break from everything else, but most of the time, I’d rather be doing just about anything else Aniimo has to offer. I won’t complain about having more options, though, and perhaps it’ll grow on me with time—or with some future updates.
At its core, Aniimo is a cozy game, so don’t expect an especially challenging adventure. There are certainly some tough fights and elements, but overall, it feels more catered to casual gamers looking for a lighter experience than those seeking punishing battles or intense boss fights. Personally, I love this approach. Nothing feels too difficult as long as you’re willing to spend a little time strategizing before heading into battle, but players looking for a serious challenge may ultimately find Aniimo a little too chill for their tastes.
For me, though, that laid-back approach is part of the appeal, and Aniimo’s abundance of things to see, collect, and do makes it an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a cozy adventure with plenty of room to play.
