Adore puts an action twist on the monster-catching formulate to try to make Pokemon for people who get bored playing Pokemon.

Editor's Note: One of my favorite humans goes by NuggetHumanPerson and volunteered to help us out with this guest review!

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• Title: Adore
• Release Date: August 3, 2023
• Price: $19.99
• Suggested Audience Age:
• Availability: Switch (Reviewed), Xbox, PlayStation, Steam
• Recommended for fans of: Pokemon-likes, Action RPGs, and Fast Action Loops

Geek to Geek Media was provided with a review copy of this title.

As a lifelong gamer with ADHD, I have learned that certain game types just aren’t for me, no matter how cool or fun they look or how much other people seem to enjoy them.  For example, I love the idea of collecting cute and dangerous creatures and using them to fight other cute and dangerous creatures, but turn-based gameplay quickly loses my interest. This is where Cadabra Games’ Adore comes in.

What You Are In For?

Adore is a single-player game where you take on the role of Lukha.  As Lukha it is up to you to find, capture, and train creatures to battle for you as you embark on a grand mission to bring back an aptly titled “God of Creatures”, also known as Draknar. Each creature has abilities and special abilities that they can use in battle.  Types of creatures synergize together making them more powerful.  You can also use artifacts, runes, and foods to assist you and your creatures on this journey.

So you’re probably like, “Yeah, okay, this sounds like every other creature-taming game out there…”.  Let me stop you there.  Here is the difference.  It’s not turn-based. 

Each creature you choose to go out with is assigned a face button on your controller, and as you roam around each stage or boss level, you send them out in short bursts to do battle. They fight in real-time with the creatures you come across.  If they look like they are getting ready to be attacked you can bring them back in.  If you see a creature you like, you can attempt to capture it to add it to your stable (you may need to wear down stronger creatures for them to be less risky to capture).  As far as gameplay goes, it flows very nicely, especially once you learn combinations and synergies. After you complete each stage you go home and heal your creatures and buy upgrades and/or cook meals and all that crunchy RPG stuff.

I hate to keep comparing Adore to other games, but if you took the creature training rpg elements of a ‘mon style game and the fighting mechanics of Ender Lilies and put them in ¾ top-down dungeon-based levels you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you are in for.

What it Does Well (exceeds at)

• Combos are fun to learn and use
• Cool creatures
• Real-time gameplay
• Easy to pick up and play in short sessions
• Capture risk/reward “minigame” is fun and satisfying

What it Could Do Better (what it isn't)

• Graphics are a little muddy on Switch
• Load times aren’t great
• Small font

Value

Adore is $20 in the US Nintendo eShop and according to price history on Dekudeals.com, it had an early bird sale price of $15.  That $15 would probably be the better sweet spot for the average gamer who thinks this whole thing sounds interesting, but for genre fans $20 dollars is a fair price, especially if you are able to overlook the often-seen Switch shortcomings with graphics and load times.

Final Thoughts

Though not quite a cozy game, as some battles get intense, Adore is a great game to wind down with at the end of the day.  It's perfect for playing handheld in bed.  The hands-off style of battles is a little strange to get used to, but once you figure out some combos between the creatures and get more intentional with your release/withdrawal strategies it feels a lot more natural.

Geek to Geek Score: 3.5 out of 5

Nugget Humanperson is a veteran of the first console war, who now lives a life of peace between the consoles. She is also a weirdo and is probably doing something weird right now as you read this.