Palworld is revolutionary for the way it introduced the creature-collecting Pokemon-like formula into an open-world survival-crafting game, going well beyond its initial reception as “Pokemon with Guns,” and now a new Steam game seeks to do something similar for games like ARC Raiders and Escape From Tarkov. Only time will tell if it succeeds, but combining an extraction roguelike gameplay loop with Pokemon is a pretty strong pitch.
The creature-collecting game formula is pretty direct: find creatures, obtain them, and use them in gameplay. Pokemon has established its own formula over the years, experimenting with it over the years and is currently in an open-world era (with Scarlet and Violet/the upcoming Winds and Waves) with some experimental spinoffs too. The other side of the formula is the extraction loop, which revolves around deployments, collecting certain items and/or attempting to keep items between runs, and engaging with whatever task is set up by the game. Nothing about the two genres inherently contradicts, but by and large, Amiko Legends is the first major Steam game to attempt a Pokemon meets ARC Raiders formula.
Check Out Amiko Legends on Steam
Amiko Legends has the most obvious connection to games like Pokemon through its creatures. Players explore the world of Okima looking for wild Amiko to charm and collect, with each creature bringing its own personality, natural gifts, elemental attributes, and star rating. Like Pokemon, building a strong team is a major part of the experience, and finding creatures that complement one another can change how an expedition plays out. The biggest difference is that Amikos are not a permanent addition to a collection or team, as players have to successfully extract with their new Amikos.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
Obvious comparisons to ARC Raiders aside, Amiko Legends applies the same dangerous world, valuable resource, and extraction loop as the popular extraction shooter. The key difference is that success in an expedition is about the Amiiko carried out into and/or found in the field, not fighting to survive with guns and the like. An expedition can produce valuable Amiko and scarce resources, but staying longer creates more opportunities to find something worthwhile and more chances to lose everything. The question is no longer just which Amiko should join the team, but how much longer is it worth staying?
Even the living semi-open world (complete with PvP and PvE gameplay) itself is built around the unique genre-bending combination. Okima’s Amiko populations can shift, ecosystems respond to player actions, and discoveries change as the community collectively influences the world. That gives the Pokemon side of Amiko Legends a more dynamic setting, while the ARC Raiders-like runs make each expedition carry even more weight.
Charm, risk, extract is essentially the entire hook: find creatures, build the right squad, search for valuable resources, and get out with everything worth keeping. Pokemon explains the creatures and collecting, ARC Raiders explains the moment-to-moment tension and loop, and Amiko Legends puts those two ideas together into an unusually fitting creature-collecting roguelike extraction game.