Beastieball Review: Creature Collecting Meets Volleyball

Is Beastieball Worth Playing?

In this post, I'll be reviewing Beastieball, a recent Early Accesss title in the Creature Collecting genre. If you’ve come across my posts before, you know I’m a *little bit. * obsessed with creature-collecting games.

Beastieball is a volleyball themed game, where you recruit beasties and the combat is a 2v2 turn-based volleyball. After having played 8 hours of the available content, I feel ready to review the game: is Beastieball worth playing?

First Impressions

Beastieball had me intrigued right out of the gate. The first 3-hours were an immediate time-sink, recruiting new beasties and learning new plays.

On the surface, it’s got the typical charm you’d expect from a creature game—quirky designs, bright visuals, and a focus on building your team. But once I started battling coaches and tougher battles in the 2 vs 2 volleyball matches, that's where the game really really shined.

In tougher battles, you need to score 2 or 3 points, and that can be done by either shooting the ball into empty lanes (with trickful plays), or by spiking powerful balls onto the enemies until they get knocked out.

It’s this blend of strategy and action that sets the game apart. It’s not just about “level up, hit harder" method, which you can still do if that's your style. The volleyball team is woven strategically that allows players to win underhanded battles with the right application of statuses, traps, and lane targeting.

The Combat: A Fresh Take on the Genre

Unlike other creature games where battles can feel repetitive, this game makes even random encounters thrilling. Sure, you can have some fights where you're overlevelled and can knock them out with one attack, but that's not my general experience.

The games can get quite intense, especially when multiple points are required, such as in the coach fights. In such battles, not only do you need to focus on scoring points, but also maintain your team healthy and tagging out at the right time. This will ensure that after the next serve, your team will continue to win. A low-health team can lose three consecutive points easily.

One feature I really liked was how Beasties learn new moves (or “plays,” as the game calls them). Apart from learning plays upon levelling up, your Beasties learn plays by fighting alongside others. Beasties can become friends, partners, or rivals, unlocking new combos, as well as inspire teaching learnt plays.

It’s such a fun mechanic! I loved seeing my Beasties’ relationships evolve and directly influence my strategy, especially with cool combos that applied Rhytmn, healing allies whilst playing a cool soundtrack for the rest of the battle.

A really good use for partnerships is when Beasties have the play Shield. My defensive beastie was able to learn it from its ally, and with its ability to draw in attacks, it was able to protect my team heavily from incoming attacks.

The Challenges

Of course, no game is perfect, and Beastieball has its share of challenges.

Now, I love a bit of difficulty in my games, but some of the random encounters were brutal. The worst instance was when this wild team used the support play Nettle twice on my Demolipede. Nettle reduces 20hp right away from the target, and my Demolipede went from 39 health to 0, getting knocked out from the enemy's volley. Having relied on Demolipede's shield to constantly take around 14 to 11 damage, a knockout definitely titled me a little.

Healing is another issue. I found myself backtracking often to heal my team, which got a little tedious. I mean, maybe it's my fault for challenging the same opponent four time in a row, losing each time, without training my team in between.

After a few too many trips, I decided to enable the auto-mode feature — it was a game-changer. Auto-mode allows the AI to handle the combat choices for you. I started using this on most random battles (where I did not want to recruit a wild beastie) so I could tilt less and keep my mental energy for the fights that mattered.

Exploration and Puzzles

If you’ve played creature-collecting games before, you’re probably familiar with the general linearity of the map. Beastieball uses a similar progression, with the inclusion of a little too many puzzles to navigate around.

Many areas have blocked paths that you unlock by throwing balls at levers. While some of these puzzles are straightforward, others are downright frustrating.

One, in particular, had me rage-quitting and running to Discord for help. Turns out I had to throw the ball on a ramp and the ramp would shoot the ball at the lever (when I was trying to make myself jump there).

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I appreciate the devs trying to spice up the gameplay, but personally, I don't think it's right challenge for this type of game. The core focus should be on recruiting and battling Beasties. Any skills that do not fit the genre risk alienating and frustrating players.

And of course, there's the typical Stadium (Gym) trope. Each time you arrive, you’re met with yet another side quest to locate the coach or complete some task before battling them. I get that it’s a nod to the classic Pokémon formula, but it’s 2024. Surely we can find more creative ways to integrate lore and progression into these games without postponing every stadium battle.

What Sets Beastieball Apart

Despite the frustrations I experienced, I admit that Beastieball has something that most creature-collecting games lack: innovation.

The volleyball-style combat is unlike anything I’ve seen in the genre. It’s fast-paced, strategic, and incredibly satisfying when you pull off a well-timed spike or combo. The relationship mechanic adds a layer of depth, making each playthrough feel unique.

One most also highlight how fresh and cool the graphics look, including the beasties design. It’s clear that the developers put a lot of love into crafting this world, and I could see this being one of the Top 3 Creature Collecting games (especially after I brush up my skills).

Pricing and Final Thoughts

The games's priced at Eur24, which is a tiny bit more expensive than I expected, but still a reasonable price. The game offers a polished experience with unique mechanics that set it apart from its competitors, and with features like Auto-Mode, the game breaks down a lot of barriers.

Gamers who enjoy this genre, including games like Cassette Beasts, should definitely add Beastieball to their wishlist and put on the radar for the full release.

The game also offers PvP which I look forward to experience, although from my understand there isn't any matchmaking for the time being. If that's included at some point, BOOM! This game will be it!

What’s Next for Me in the Beastieball World

I’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to recruiting rare and shiny Beasties, and I’m curious to see what the endgame has in store.

I'll be going back into the game with Auto-Mode and practice a bit before heading to my next Stadium. It's a bit of a shame that I got frustrated at some parts, but looking forward to making through into the end-game.

Links

Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1864950/Beastieball/