Is nobody aware of Cassette Beasts? This isn't the first Pokémon clone that has been made. As long as you don't use Nintendo's IP, they can't go after you.
The idea of a Pokémon clone isn't protectable, but existing Pokémon are.
You can make a Pokémon clone with entirely novel monsters, but if a judge thinks they look too much like an existing Pokémon they're gonna have a problem.
That's really the issue. The creatures in the game, as I've seen pointed out in various places, are much closer in design to actual pokemon designs than in other poke-clone games, with some looking so close they might as well just be a regional form. I don't even know any of the pals' names but I can somewhat clearly recall seeing one that's basically "Luxray at home". I know the maker of the game has said he doesn't really value originality, but there's a difference between being unoriginal and straight-up plagiarism.
They're similar because they're based on the same real-world animals. And they're no more similar to Pokemon than the examples of Pokemon ripping off designs from Dragon Quest
It's very much not just "same animals" but parts of Pals looking like they were traced or at least copied visually from existing Pokemon, as well many Pals directly copying color schemes from similar Pokemon.
To be fair, I don't think there's anything wrong with using Pokemon as inspiration, and even when not the fact that Pokemon is so ubiquitous means that comparisons will be drawn regardless. But there's definitely more than a few Pals that seem to cross from inspiration to a suspicious amount of copying, and it's more about wanting to support artistic integrity than it is about Pokemon specifically.
Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX is also on Steam, Switch, and iOS!
It is a remastered per say. Not so much a new graphics engine or anything, but with bug fixes, item changes that function better, and GUI & other QoL improvements :)
for the remaster, the CD reading system is replaced with a built in searchable Song List. This is how you can play it on Mobile, Switch, Steam etc. The Song List doesn't exactly equate to original CDs (the function is mechanically different) but there are a handful of entries that equate to their originals (this accounts for about 0.01% of entries within the 664,909 that create their original monsters.
The good news is, Everyone now has access to the entire game and can raise any monster they want to (once they're unlocked, of course), and the Song List is 100% solved and published. You can Random Button if you like the surprise, but if you want something specific, you can just view the published Song List, Pick your Monster Main/Sub, then pick the Title/Artist suggestion for the variant you want. :)
Cassette Beasts is such a good little gem. Concept, Art, everything is excellent, too bad it is so... small. Sure, it is priced accordingly, but I want more of it!
I loved that game and thought about this a lot. I would argue Pokémon itself is just a Final Fantasy clone with the selectable party coming from the bestiary
This is not about the concept of pokemon but using actual assets from pokemon games. Edit: not sure why I am getting downvoted for saying the top comment had nothing to do with the statement.
Comparing both games I think a few creatures like Cremis are on shaky ground, but even that might turn out to be fine.
What definitely won't go anywhere is people making mad collages to explain how a pal combines features of such plus such pokémon. They don't seem to realize that Pokémon doesn't own every possible combination of features from those creatures,
I dunno, man. Have you seen the videos? They've got the wireframes of pals overlaid with pokemon, and the size is exactly the same. Sure, the basic shape is slightly different and some accessories have been changed, but it's very close. The one that looks like Luxray has the same exact diameter of tail in the same exact spot - the only difference is that it's a bit shorter with a different tuft at the end. Really seems that for some of these pals they just modified existing assets.