Pokemon happens to be the biggest inspiration for developer CremaGames' upcoming MMOTemtem. Followers of the project will find no shortage of Pokemon homages in the promotion released for it so far. It only makes sense then that the game would receive a starter lineup.
As of today, Temtem officially announced the trio of starter Temtem that soon-to-be tamers will be able to choose from when starting their journeys. Just like Pokemon, players will be able to pick from three different starters, but unlike Pokemon, these starters will be crystal-, melee-, and mental-type instead of fire, water, and grass.
The names of the starters are Crystle, Smazee, and Houchic. Crystle, as its name suggests, serves as the crystal-type starter. It relies mainly on its defensive capabilities but can also dish out massive damage with its special attack Crystal Spikes. Smazee, the melee starter of the bunch, specializes in speed and physical attacks. In battle, it aims to knock its opponents out as quickly as possible with moves like Uppercut. Last but not least, Houchic acts as the mental starter of the trio. It favors high Special Attack over everything and uses attacks like Beta Burst to lower its opponent's defenses in battle and afflict them with status ailments.
As expected, these starters follow the same rock-paper-scissors formula that Pokemon starters do, which will make their typing stronger or weaker depending on which of their fellow starters they face off against. In this case, Crystal-type beats Mental; Mental-type beats Melee, and Melee beats Crystal. Each of these types also has an advantage outside of this triangle, making the starters more viable for end-game content: Crystal-type beats Electric; Melee-type beats Earth and Mental beats Neutral. Finally, unlike trainers in Pokemon, Temtem tamers will be able to find starters out in the wild. Crystle, for instance, can be found in a crystal mining area with other crystal Temtem.
One of the reasons behind this accessibility probably lies in Temtem's breeding system, which will work similarly to breeding in Pokemon. Bred Temtem tend to have better stats than those caught in the wild, making them more useful for competitive play. Being able to catch the other starters out in the wild will make breeding them easier as a Ditto-like Temtem currently doesn't exist. Being an MMO, Temtem could allow tamers to trade to get the starter they want, but not everyone will want to give away their first partner.
Temtem will launch on Steam for early access starting January 21, 2020.