There are monster-taming games and farming games and never the twain shall… said no one, ever. After all, have you never fantasised that Pokemon could be put to much nicer and more ethical use other than just fighting each other? Or that when you're toiling away on your Stardew Valley ranch, that a helping hand from cutesy subservient critters could be just what you need?
Enter Top Hat Studios' Ova Magica, an endearingly vibrant and friendly critter-catching JRPG that sees you manage a farmstead on the outskirts of a quaint little place called Clover Town. The town is full of colourful characters, brought to life through manga-style art when you chat to them, and plenty of ways to engage them through conversations, gifts, and, of course, blob battles. You never know what strange combination of activities and quests will prove to be the key to a given character's heart!
As you settle into your new life in Clover Town, you'll be accompanied by 'Blobs' - rotund creatures that hatch from eggs and can be trained for tactical turn-based battles. You can also utilise their specialist abilities to help you out around the farm; bomb blobs can use explosions to clear up rock piles, for example, while water elemental blobs can (you guessed it) water plants! You find these magical creatures out in the wild, and they range in appearance from cats, bunnies, cows, bees, and tortoises, to decidedly less animalian variations like bombs. One way in which they don't vary is that they're all round and bounce around after you like adorable space hoppers.
To find rarer blob eggs, you'll need to venture on expeditions into the lost temples and dungeons of the world - which will always be different thanks to the miracle of procedural generation, in the spirit of the classic PS1 RPG Azure Dreams. The Blobs you find will be connected to the environments too, so you'll find fire-themed Blobs in desert dungeons, while those deep in the jungle will be populated by appropriately jungly Blobs.
Unlike those inflexible Pokemon, blobs can be made stronger by crossbreeding them with other blob species. Once the eggs hatch, shack a couple of blobs up together in one of the dedicated *ahem* love pods, give them some space (seriously, no peeking), and let their blobby love blossom into the beautifully crossbred new blob species. You can do this any number of times, making for all kinds of creative combinations!
Meanwhile, back in the picturesque countryside surrounding Clover Town, there'll be plenty for you and your blob squad to crack on with. Chop trees, smash rocks, grow and harvest crops, then sell them at the town market, use them to build up your humble abode, or even help expand the town itself! Yes, producing the materials to help build up the town will unlock more activities and quest lines, and attract new NPCs to come live there. But Ova Magica is as much about adventuring as it is about building, and as you work on your farm you'll also find special ingredients that unlock portals to the world's dungeons and temples.
The world around Clover Town holds many activities and secrets - from fishing ponds where you can kick back on a day off, to blueprints for advanced machinery like juicers and furnaces. Of course, there's a whole lot of action out there in those wildlands and dungeons, where rival blob trainers and even bosses await, ready to test your mettle in a gripping Active Time Battle system. It's a world made for those who like to break up their chilled farming and social time with battles, blob breeding, and adventure!
Ova Magica will be coming out at some point in late 2023 on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, and Xbox One/Series. Head over to the Steam page to find out more about the game, wishlist it if you're into it, and keep up with all the latest happenings at Top Hat Studios at their official site.
