izigame.me

I just finished this game last night as of writing, absolute cinema.
TLDR, if you're looking for an RPG that lets you create absolutely diabolical builds or a monster catcher that isn't pokemon, I definitely recommend trying this game.
While the story is pretty simple, it has a lot of fun with it and used its setting to its advantage really well. I was surprised a few times with how far they ran with it, which is always a good thing I feel. The music is, ironically, probably not the absolute banger you're expecting, but it's still good, and far more importantly, didn't get annoying. (I will still be adding the songs to my playlists.)
Gameplaywise, it's a lot of fun building tapes and I would love Cassette Beasts Showdown to become a thing. I need online pvp in some form lol. The system of status effects is more fun than I expected, though it does lend to some types being significantly worse than others. I'm gonna put more details about this below the summarization. My only other mention here will be that menus can be somewhat of a chore at times, especially with stickers, and checking party members' levels and tapes is a little annoying because you have to keep swapping them individually if you care about leveling them evenly (which I do).
Overall, really fun experience. I did have a few lag issues that may or may not be my own device, I'll have to toy around with the settings a bit I think, but the game is an absolute delight. The fact that you can adjust enemy power and intelligence separately is really clever. If there is a sequel I will be first in line.
TECHNICAL
While I enjoy the types system, I do think that it could use a bit of tweaking. Maybe it's because I like competetive pokemon, and that's not exactly fair, but I'm still going to give my opinions because this is a review. All in good fun. I think I've glazed the game enough already.
Beast - While I understand the appeal of having a true neutral type, it is a little boring. I think there's room for some kind of interaction, glass aside. Having it effective on other beast types or grass could be interesting, an herbivore/carnivore situation
Air - Air is fine, and a pretty decent type. It's kinda meant to be an offensive support, taking down plant which tends to be a stall type, and fire which tends to be an offensive type. It does have three weaknesses so you definitely need to be careful, especially against lightning which is one of the best types in the game.
Astral - Simultaneously the strongest and weakest type in the game at the same time I think, or at least one of them. You get buffs from five different elements (the avatar elements and astra itself), but you also get absolutely crippling debuffs from three relatively common types (poison, plastic and metal). Astral moves tend to be more support based, so getting hit with a status that doesn't let you use support moves can be devastating. Ironically, I think it's relatively balanced, with a tip towards being good.
Earth - Might be one of the best types in the game, genuinely. In spite of having a lot of weaknesses, most earth types tend to be very bulky and have access to moves that mitigate attempts to lower their defenses, so you almost don't have to care about that. It also cripples lightning and fire types, which are generally really good. There is a double edged sword though: if you're hit by lightning, you become glass type, which is absolutely something to be avoided.
Fire - Generally a good type. If you know what fire is, you probably already know what it does. Most of its effective interactions involve burning. It's also the only element to get to change TWO types (besides glitter), one of which is to your detriment. It also has a surprising amount of defensive uses as well, so it's very flexible. However, it is weak to four types as well, one of which being relatively common air moves. I still think it's pretty balanced.
Ice - I don't think this type is very good. It kinda has two effective types, but one is effectively single use, and then you need to wait for three turns before you can do it again. It is also weak to to a very common type and two of the best types, so the entire time you'll feel like you're on thin... ice...
Lighting - I think this may be the best type in the entire game offensively. It hits two common types to do extra chip damage (four types in total!), and defensively it receives one of the best buffs in the entire game from these four as well. As a drawback, it does receive a crippling buff from four types as well, but one of these types (kind of) doesn't exist, and two are rather rare and infrequently useful. Ground types, its greatest enemy, can be converted to glass types, which can be exploited by a specific move (but even I am not brave enough to spoil that-- find out for yourself!). Lightning type master race.
Metal - A pretty solid type, no pun intended. It can debuff earth and astral types, which is pretty important, and receives buffs from poison, which is common. It is weak to fire and lightning, which can make it difficult to use, but having a metal move on your team is never a bad option.
Plant - Plant is a strange type, in that it feels like it should be better than it is. I think it's because it's an offensive support, but there aren't many offensive plant types. Plant gives debuffs to three types, the most important being earth and lightning, and really good debuffs at that. However, it's also weak to air, fire and poison, two of which are very common. Fire and poison specifically are pretty crippling, as they chip away at the defensive walls that plant types tend to be.
Plastic - one of my favorite types, though to say it's good would be misleading I feel. Plastic does offer support in stopping lightning and astral types and receives a buff from lightning, but suffers from earth types and can be changed into poison by fire. Considering this is the type of the first enemy you see in the game though, I don't necessarily think this is a net negative. It's just very niche, and that's not a bad thing imo.
Poison - This has to be the most common type in the game, I ended up building my teams around the knowledge that I would be hit with poison moves at some point. It is not an option, you WILL be prepared to fight poison types. Ironically, it's not particularly amazing, it's just everywhere. However, it does cripple astral types, preventing them from using any supportive moves, so it definitely has its uses. Maybe if poison had another defensive use, it might be a bit better, as the actual amount of poison types in the game isn't all that high. the NPCs just love their poison moves I think lol.
Water - A surprisingly rare type, probably because it's one of the most flexible. I think the game would require drastically different strategies if water types were more common. It's only defensive buff is from fire, which allows it to heal, and crucially it's weak to lightning, but it's effective when used against earth, fire and metal, which makes it good offensively. I think water is pretty good as is.
Glass - I don't know why, but I really like this type and it's my favorite in the game. I say I don't know why, because it is objectively the worst type in the entire game. I won't spoil where or how many or whatever else, but the number of innate glass types is low, so you're unlikely to see glass types unless you go out of your way to turn your opponents (or yourself) into glass types. Glass has exactly one positive interaction-- you can use it against lightning types, which automatically puts it in B tier at least. However, it has no other offensive benefit and has three weaknesses, one of which leads you to be instantly killed after three hits of that element. Please devs, I'm on my hands and knees begging and pleading. Please give glass at least one other positive interaction. Maybe it can be good against astral types?
Glitter - Glitter :)