temtem islands review

Well, temtem was fully released so I gotta talk about it.

The Airborne Archipelago

Arguably more interesting than the mons themselves are the locations in temtem. Taking place in a sky world, there are six islands, each revolving around two temtem types and based on real-life cultures. In essence, its like getting as many Pokemon regions as possible in a single game.

Though they are in some ways themepark versions of real places, (most of) the islands feel like real lived in places, with a surprising amount of complexity. Three of them are based on non-Eurasian cultural regions, putting them in a comfortable balance with the Western and Japan analogues. They also have a degree of realistic socio-cultural cohesion as multiple cultures constantly interacting with one another have, so they don’t feel as vaccums.

A good game often depends on good locations, and for the most part I’m positively impressed.

Deniz

The place where the MC starts and overall where a good chunk of the game takes place, as you go back to it in quests and updates. Based on the Mediterranean Sea, it is clearly a stand-in for Spain (Crema, the studio behind this game, is based off Madrid) but there are also strong elements from Turkey and more subtle ones from Greece, Portugal, Italy, southern France and Morocco.

Overall, Deniz fits an odd middle ground between being the “default” and having an unique gimmick of its own. It is branded as the tourist attraction place, with a subtropical weather, historical monuments, appealing coastlines and even a safari, but its scientific, economical, historical and just plain mundane sides also are abundantly explored.

Most of the islands are divided between socio-cultural regions based on the environment and temtem types, and Deniz is technically no exception, with the coastoal towns and upland Arissola and Windfort relics, but it feels a lot less obvious than some other islands. The culture is mostly the same, with maybe some stronger emphasis on fishing and maritime industries on the Turquesa side, but no major ideological conflicts. This is ironic as apparently this was the stage of several historical wars between nation-states.

Overall, a fairly balanced place that could realistically be a nation, neither too cartoonish or too boring. The cynical side of me wants to say this is simply the consequence of creator provincialism, but eh.

7/10.

Omninesia

Or Myrisles, as the locals wish to be known apparently. Of all the places, it has the weirdest take on real-life inspirations (yes, more so than the apocalyptic wasteland of Tucma): it is based on a “soft” Pacific Islander identity, with elements from Hawaii, New Zealand, the Philippines and Indonesia without gravitating towards any in particular.

In fact, it is the island with the least in the way of a gimmick. I guess it has something of a hippie vibe seeing as it has a reputation as welcoming and environmentalist, but it is fairly subdued; with the exception of Mt. Anak, all locations are fairly normal and mundane. It has lodging services, housing, entertainment sites and religious places with little sense of theatrics. Like Deniz, it doesn’t really have a socio-cultural divide, its just that people live where nature temtem prefer to live and don’t where fire temtem do, for obvious reasons.

I very much like that. After Deniz, it the place that seems to live and breathe the most like an actual nation. Some might be put off by the mundanity, but I feel this only makes it more appealing. The fact that its based on Oceania, whose cultures tend to be portrayed in the more dramatic Moai and volcanoes stereotypes, makes it even more special.

9/10.

Tucma

Tucma is probably the most divergent from real life you can get in this setting. It is technically based on mining communities on northern Argentina, but said communities exist in an entirely subterranean way. The surface by contrast is an apocalyptic wetland bombarded by toxic fumes and raving bandits, making it the most abrasive of places in the temtem world. This is also the first place where we see the aforementioned socio-political disputes, between the more community-oriented peoples underground and the individualistic bandits on the surface.

I’m torn on this. I do like the creativity, but it feels very gimmicky and shallow. Not helping is that it falls under the trappings of conflating indigenous American cultures: the setting is base-Inca, but many characters have Nahuatl and Zapotec names, and there’s a cenote in it. Omninesia also blends cultures but it does so in a more organic way, while this is a bit copy-pasty. Most characters are also white, which is yet another pitfall many fictional renditions of Native American cultures fall into. There is an in-universe explanation for this (living underground or covered by suits), but media doesn’t exist in a void. I seriously doubt anyone in Crema was pro-colonialism given that Clan Belsoto is fashioned after Francoists and a core theme in the game is diversity, but this still leaves ash in the mouth.

5/10.

Kisiwa

Beating Pokemon in having a region based on Africa, Kisiwa hits several right spots in a different way from Omninesia. It has a clear focus on East Africa, with influences from Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, with a light pitch of North Africa in the the Tasa desert.

Rather than being a simple jungle world as say Wakanda, it actually pays homages to some of Africa’s diverse biomes, with the Kilimanjaro-inspired Kilima Peaks being the only “Arctic” place in the entire game. Perhaps most beautifully there’s an allusion to the real world phenomenon of rainshadow: “windward” Kisiwa is dominated by savannas, while the opposite side of the mountains is arid. The individual settlements range from the lake island metropolis of Uhuru to the “scenic” savanna village of Vumbi, each with their own identity but without a strong ideological opposition; divisions are again mostly environment-induced. Like Omninesia there are several services including a longue, a customs stations and the deliveries center.

Kisiwa is one of my two favourite islands and in my opinion a good balance between well-thoughtout real life inspirations, unique gimmicks and mundanity. Plus the aesthetics rock. The only potential downside is being the “war” place in the storyline, being first invaded and dealing with the guerilla resistance plot, but after that’s over it is a joy to visit.

10/10.

Cipanku

Basically Japan, with a few Korean names. There’s a divide between the technologically advanced Neoedo and the spiritual Miyako village. It’s also the dumping ground of all anime and video game references. There’s a springs spa there too I guess.

I hate Cipanku.

-20/10.

Arbury

Our last visit is thankfully a return to Kisiwa’s level of nuance. Based on the British Isles, Arbury has a clear division between the more Celtic (Scotland, Wales and Ireland) inspired Lochburg and the more Victorian English Properton, the former more rowdy and hearty while the latter are more intellectual. In between however there are a variety of interesting locations, from the Stonehenge-like Mudshire Cromlech, the fairytale-like Greenglen Forest and the scenic Loch Aduar and Mudshire Marshes.

By far my favourite location is Mac Aed’s Footsteps, an allusion to the real-life Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. But even the less exotic locales have a charm to them, like Properton’s sewers or the castle in which the very last segments of the game’s storyline take place.

This strongly competes with Kisiwa in terms of well-thought blendings of real world inspirations, unique gimmicks and rocking aesthetics. Once again, there is a strong, well designed element of mundanity among all the craziness, particularly notable as it is the only of the strongly-divided islands where the cultural demarcations are well implemented. Lochburg is at once checking all violent Glasgow boxes while being charming and filled with both civic amenities and characters in all walks of life, while the preppy Properton has its own down to earth side (there’s a not-D&D campaign of all things). Plus the dojo being a disco club is pretty unexpected.

10/10, and a good place to end the story.

The lessons to take away from this

temtem overall does a good job with nuance and incorporating mundanity. When there is spectacle, it is often of the non-stereotypical variety which helps swallowing the pills of theme park versions.

Kisiwa and Arbury both play into stereotypes of Africa and Britain respectively but are mindful of lesser known aspects and overall feel like genuine organic places while having fun. Cipanku meanwhile deserves to burn.

I think overall these locations are considerably more impressive than their Pokemon analogues, especially in that they manage to be breatahable, complex corners of the world while by design having less space to work with. Mind you all of these are within a single game and all have to more or less fit the “two types” mold, yet how come they are aesthetically and flavorfully more diverse places than regions that are the focus on entire games?

We all come to these games for the creatures and maybe the characters, but the background is just as important as the foreground.