POKÉMON really scratches that itch for collecting and catching cute creatures, but all the battling can be a bit stressful.
You always need to level up your Pokémon, collect resources and manage your moves if you want to do well.
However, there’s an upcoming game that’s all about finding, charming and documenting creatures, without the stress of everything else.
Flock is the story of a bird rider who is helping her aunt to document all of the different creatures in her area.
There are also sheep that you can find and collect, who will graze in meadows and uncover the items hidden in the tall grass.
These can be baubles to increase the size of your flock, knitting patterns for clothes, or whistles for charming certain species.
Once you have the whistle and have identified a creature, you can charm them so they will join your flock.
Creatures in your flock not only help you with charming others, but will point out other creatures of the same species hiding in the world.
You don’t need to document or charm all of the different creatures if you want to finish the main story, but it’s a fun challenge if you decide to do so.
Many creatures require you to solve some environmental puzzles, such as gathering creatures in one place, or following a creature back to its home.
This makes the exploration feel more real, and gives more incentive to explore the world, which is Flock’s greatest strength.
The world is beautiful, helped by its gorgeous art style, and fun creature designs.
There are a few bugs which hampered my experience. Some objects have no collision and the hitboxes on creatures can feel off.
Some creatures are also too rare, and I’ve searched for literal hours in places that I have seen a creature in before to charm it.
Despite these issues I still felt compelled to fill my diary with every creature, and enjoyed just gliding around the open world.
Flock is a relaxing game whether you play alone or with friends online, that I just kept coming back to.
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