Arguably one of the most successful monster-taming games in the wake of Pokemon's incredible worldwide success, Temtem tells a mature story that's accompanied by a rather deep gameplay experience encompassing PvE and PvP elements. Temtem's developers at Crema worked hard to provide players with a different experience from the classic Pokemon formula, and while there are some overlaps, there's an equal number of points of departure, if not more. During an interview with Game ZXC, Crema Game Director Guillermo Andrades, Producer Mariana Irazu, and Art Director Cristina Jimenez revealed that the game's biggest patch yet, 1.5, will include not only Temtem's third Mythical, but also Umbra Tems.
Temtem has a Pokemon-like approach to shinies, with these monsters being called Lumas. These critters have special color palettes and effects compared to the original, and they come with their own set of rules in terms of stats, breeding, and more. Luma Tems are already quite difficult to find, sitting at 1 in 7,500 encounters without boosted odds, but the newly revealed Umbras take things to the next level in multiple ways. On top of that, Temtem's new Lair and accompanying third Mythical are poised to shake up the current meta and introduce a tough challenge for players of all kinds.
Temtem Adds Third Mythical and Lair, Reveals Umbras in Patch 1.5
Often regarded as one of the hardest online multiplayer games, Temtem stays true to this title by featuring tough battles in its campaign and a rather complex competitive scene for those who enjoy PvP. In addition, players can tackle difficult PvE content even at the end of the main campaign in the form of Lairs, which entail RNG management and battles against AI-governed tamers that typically have teams of critters generated to counter those used by the player. Lairs are engaging and potentially quite rewarding, and with patch 1.5 comes a new one, this time featuring the third and final Mythical of the game.
Known as Galios, this entity is described by Jimenez as made of pure space matter, with it ruling over life and death and having a lot to do with the Doom status effect, which essentially KOs any Temtem affected by it at the end of its counter. Temtem players will be able to unlock the new Mythical Lair and have a chance to encounter Galios after going through the new Fiery Inferno area found in the Airborne Archipelago. Featured as one of July 2023's Humble Choice games, picking up Temtem ahead of the new Season 5 - Endless Night - is a great time to jump into the game.
In terms of lore, Galios is responsible for keeping the archipelago floating in the air and is in charge of the rotation of the Pansun plates, so we thought that a space or galactic theme fit perfectly with it and its types. The Lair, of course, matches that same idea. It's really cool how in the last phase of the boss fight, it looks like you're about to get lost in a space vortex.
In addition to the third Mythical, the biggest surprise for the 1.5 patch is that Umbra Temtem are very much real, and they're here to stay. Unlike Lumas, Umbra Tems have rather unforgiving odds at 1 in 75,000, and they are designed to be the ultimate reward for dedicated Temtem players, especially seeing how they will have their own hunting methods that differ from those of regular Lumas. Sharing the same dark theme of the new Endless Night season, Umbras all have similar color palettes and effects to make them more distinct as a kind of Temtem.
More importantly, Umbras will be Soulbound - meaning they will be only available to their original tamer, the player who finds them, and they won't be tradable with other players. This may seem harsh, but Umbras are not like Lumas in more regards, as they have all perfect stats and all possible Egg Techniques for their given species, which means they are essentially battle-ready. When asked about how Umbra eggs would work, Andrades replied that it's not as straightforward as with Lumas, but there are workarounds.
Apart from being stat perfected and soulbound, Umbras are also infertile! So there is no breeding between Umbra tems. However, that doesn’t mean that a couple of Luma tems couldn’t have an Umbra child…
With the addition of Umbras and several new features, patch 1.5 is a great starting point for new players as much as it can be enticing for veterans. Additionally, given all the changes that the game is going through, there are multiple lessons Pokemon Gen 10 games could learn from Temtem.
Temtem is available now for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
