Pokémon are everywhere right now. Turn away from the marketing blitz for Pokopia for a second and you'll see imitators like Pickmon, a knock-off so shameless it makes Palworld seem restrained, and Aniimo, which combines Pokémon-esque design and gacha mechanics like there was an explosion at the cynicism factory.
Wonderful Neoran Valley does actually seem like it could be a different kind of monster-collect-em-up, given that it has a bit of roguelite juice, listing "Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Inscryption" among its influences, and it disdains the idea of collecting creatures by doing anything as insipid as throwing balls at them. Instead, we'll have to talk to the monsters.
