'Cassette Beasts' is a nostalgic blast to the past with plenty of quality of life improvements that stand out from the competition.

Growing up in the 90s, two things are synonymous with one another in my life. The first would be my obsession with creature-catching games, such as Pokemon and Digimon. Secondly, cassette tapes were the future, and there was nothing that could beat the feeling of rewinding one of those bad boys with a pencil after the tape came out. Cassette Beasts wrapped me in a warm blanket of nostalgia while improving on a familiar formula in several ways.

I'm a firm believer that Pokemon lost a lot of its charm when it moved into the third dimension. Sure, games like Pokemon Stadium existed, but the pixel art of the original games rings true in my heart and soul. My dream game would be something that combined that love of pixel art with a creature catcher that rivaled or exceeded the quality of those original games.

Now, would you believe me if I told you there was a game that combined my love of high-quality pixel art and creature catching? And would you believe me still if I told you this game goes incredibly hard? If you're interested, may I point you in the direction of Cassette Beasts? As if we needed another reason to believe that indie games were the way of the future, something like this exists.

Initially, I was drawn into Cassette Beasts by the art. Then, I got to witness an incredible story unfold before my very eyes. And everything in between was just sublime. Fully directional movement, paired with a fantastic battle system? I could fuse any two monsters together to make a terrifying amalgamation of a creature that shouldn't exist on this astral plane. Wait... I'm fighting GOD?

Cassette Beasts surprised me when it was released, and I still find myself coming back to it often. It doesn't help that the developers continue to pour their hearts and souls into it. They're still adding plenty of new content at no additional cost. If you've grown tired of your favorite Pokemon games, do yourself a favor and give Cassette Beasts a run for its money. You'll be glad that you finally did.