Many of the monster catching and collecting games that appeared after Pokemon borrowed elements from Game Freak’s formula, and Beehive Studios’ LumenTale: Memories of Trey is no different. We see a hero set up as an individual who tames and trains these beasts, then fights alongside them for the good of a community. It’s always things like story, combat, and accompanying gameplay elements that set others in the genre apart. With LumenTale, I feel like the mystery behind Trey’s amnesia, technological elements, and approach to Animon monsters help set it apart and draw a player into the adventure. LumenTale begins with a brief history lesson about a land divided after the death of an emperor, split between his sons into northern and southern areas. Once that’s established, an obscured conversation suggests people unaware of whether or not “another side” exists, with an individual named Trey being dubbed a “last hope.” It’s then that things cut to a child named Ales discovering an unconscious individual in the Scarlet Woods outside Iris Hamlet where he lives with his uncle, Professor Kapan. After witnessing the rebooting of something called DimOS, which also sends us as players through a personality test, we awaken in the basement lab in Kapan’s home. Though our avatar is suffering from amnesia, refers to the character as Trey due to some of the parts possessing the serial number TD-Model: Trek Mk I. After some encounters with the Pokemon like Animon creatures of the world and the Holoken device Lumen (trainers) use to interact with them and carry out missions, our character essentially decides to pursue that path to assist people and find out who they are. The best way I can explain LumenTale: Memories of Trey is that it feels more concerned with traditional JRPG and turn-based combat elements sometimes than a Pokemon sort of experience. There is monster catching, with Trey able to use the Holoken to enter traditional battles to catch or use the device on its own for a quick-time event session. (I don’t know if it was a Switch issue, but it seemed like the timing was off when I tried to use the latter, as the “window” always seemed immediately in progress or about to end if I attempted that approach.) You have main quests, as well as shorter side-quests that can involve fighting certain Animon or specific actions. The story is very invested in the mystery behind Trey, as well as conflicts in the area. There’s a crafting system tied to food and resources. (I would have appreciated a little more of a tutorial for that part, especially with regard to experimentation.) This isn’t to say that the monster taming and training elements aren’t a focal point for LumenTale, as they feel as much of a priority here as they do in Pokemon. There are Animon in different areas, and they might appear at certain times and spots. There’s a “shiny” system for cosmetic differences. We’ll catch and be using them in combat, with typical fights in the field tending to consist of a party of four in action at once and some situations calling for one-on-one matches. There is a trading system (I didn’t get to test this ahead of launch). A typing system is at play too, with certain elements more or less effective against others and clear indicators in fights letting you know that since this isn’t as ingrained into our brains as the ones in Game Freak’s series. Go Ad-Free With Siliconera+View the site with no ads, be able to provide direct feedback about what we cover, and be automatically entered into our monthly PC game giveaway.Join Siliconera+ I do think the combat system is one of my favorite things about LumenTale. I mean, there are quite a few things Beehive Studios does here that I like a bunch, but this is one of them. The four-character fights are great. There’s no PP, as in Pokemon, as instead all characters share a pool of SP and each one in their movesets cost a set amount. (A team of four could have eight minimum, though some characters’ innate passives could boost that up.) Your strategy involves which ones you can afford to use and picking to take advantage of weaknesses and strengths. That party-based structure also means one unit taking a turn for a supportive ability feels more helpful. Careful playing can also earn you a TP Action for an extra move. The strategic plays that can come from SP management, having a party around, and trying to earn TP Actions while breaking weaknesses feels really well thought out in action. Images via Beehive I did mention that’s one of the things I like, and another is the Animon themselves. These LumenTale creatures don’t feel like bad “fakemon” from Pokemon clones. The designs are really well thought out, and the movesets make them feel like they suit certain roles in combat. One of the early standouts I think is the Smellwing and evolved Toxigall form, as they’re basically trash-birds that seem inspired by seagulls. The former looks like it’s outright wearing rotten banana peels as a hat and coat, and the Toxigall feels like it takes that up a notch with a tin can around its neck as armor, the banana peel on the head, and more peels as boots. All the starters look and feel pretty strong, and I appreciate the evolution options. Also, we can see character personalities when they’re in the wild, as some will be friendly, others shy, and a few incredibly aggressive. And there being 140 means there’s a good selection. Instead of worrying about EVs and IVs so much, as in Pokemon, we get Stat Points when characters level up. This is also great! We can then head into Stat Management in the menu to assign these to agility, attack, defense, health, special attack, and special defense. We can also then respec and remove added points at any time, in case we see an approach isn’t working after moveset adjustments. I also appreciate that the emotional “trait” nature of them hints at the role they’ll play in battle, which helps us start to work out potential growth even before knowing what they can do. Finally, I like that Beehive Studios included the Secret Base sort of element from certain Pokemon games in LumenTale. This is referred to Anispace and can be accessed basically at any time. You can set up furniture, backgrounds, and Animon here. It also allows you to set up and access your boxes with collected characters or put creatures in training. I do wish there wasn’t a “dial” for the Anispace Menu, which involves holding the ZL trigger on the Switch, as it’s a little finicky. Every time I’d hold it down, that radial menu would flicker for a second before displaying. And if I highlighted a section, sometimes it wouldn’t register. (This seemed to happen most with the “change box” option.) Images via Beehive It’s one of a few quirks I saw. I did notice some issues that I think might be unique to the Switch version of LumenTale. That is, loading seems to be quite an issue. There’s a substantial wait when starting up the game each time, loading save files, heading into battle, and entering areas. It’s a little frustrating, considering how often it comes up. The UI choices are a little frustrating too, in particular when it comes to the font size and color on typings for attribute and element. It’s white, tiny text on backgrounds that sometimes are extremely light in color, making it difficult to read. Felicis and Sereum are absolutely impossible to read on its in-game banner, and you just have to know that the green attribute is the former and the grey is the latter. LumenTale: Memories of Trey may have a few quirks on the Switch, but I like Beehive Studios’ take on the Pokemon concept. The combat system is solid and encourages you to think about every character’s moveset. The character design is great. I love that it offers its own take on Secret Bases. The mystery behind what’s going on with Trey and the world can be pretty interesting too. A few minor issues aside, it’s an interesting addition to the monster taming and training genre. LumenTale: Memories of Trey will come to the Switch and PC on May 26, 2026. 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