GENMONO2

Fully known as Genjyuu Monogatari 2, this game is legitimately my favourite mobile game and probably the only one I'll ever play (at least willingly)! Why, you ask? Well.... 1, because it doesn't shove stupid fucking gacha elements in your face, and 2, I LOVE THE MYTHICAL BEAST DESIGNS AHHHHH

It's been around for 9 whole years without much in the way of gacha. Yeah, they have monthly treasure boxes with a featured monster obtainable through it, but the best part about this game is you do not have to participate in it. Genmono2 has a USER RUN MARKETPLACE that only allows the in-game currency, GM, to be used.
Which means, as long as you have GM, you can buy literally any item in the game (Minus a few ones that really, you get just by playing anyway.)

GAMEPLAY

In terms of gameplay, genmono2 is pretty simple. You can either send your mythical beast out to gather things in dungeons, which is basically just the idle element of the game.
You come back later and they bring back what they found! I like that during foraging theres little bubbles of text showing what your beast is doing... even if it's in Japanese.

Every 10 minutes, you obtain one subjugation point that you can then spend to play PVE, PVP, or raids. There's only a total of 5 that you can have at once, so spend them wisely! Battling (Known as subjugation in-game) nets you experience points that you can use to level and power up your mythical beast, so they're pretty important!
Dungeon exploring also nets you EXP, but much less of it.

If this seems a little shallow, it kind of is. But honestly I think it works in the game's favour. Its simplicity has a lot of charm, and even if it is, it certainly isn't boring!
The game's creators push out new events at just around 2 a month- often with a repeatable minievent in between- so it never gets stale or dull! New beasts also get added pretty frequently and usually have banger designs.

Which naturally brings us toooo...

THE MYTHICAL BEASTS

Easily the part of the game that shines the most to me!
There are so many gorgeous designs you can get your hands on in this game, and all without paying a dime.

They're very clearly drawn non-pixel first and then filtered through an image pixelator, but it works really well for them anyway! I love seeing them, and often lower ranked monster evolutions look just as good as the SS rank designs.

The game has a monster raising mechanic, where you get your beast to a certain level and then you can evolve them into several different things depending on the items you have. Called transformation items, they're kind of like Pokemon's evolution stones. But unlike Pokemon, and more like Digimon, each beast has branches it can go down and the monsters at each step tend to look nothing similar to one another. You could go from a cute cat doll to a massive dragon, or a pretty lady!

The cutie on the right here is one that I myself have obtained in the game :>

Once you reach any level above 100, you can use a certain item to 'reincarnate' your mythical beast! Every time you do this they revert to a rainbow slime thing and are a little more powerful than before! It's an important feature if you want to make the most out of the game.

There's also a pokedex-like catalogue that you can fill up and get rewarded with the premium currency (GPT) for! Which you also get for simply logging in every week.

Coolest thing? You can own up to like. 10 mythical beasts on one account. Adding a new beast costs 6k GPT, which you can obtain in about 3 months of playing. I have two, currently!

I friggin love genmono2. GOTY every year

If you're ever intrigued by what you're reading here, I'll provide some links to resources and where to DL it!
(Just be aware it's region locked on the app stores, so you'll either have to search it up on Qooapp or figure out how to VPN that shit)

Genmono2 Official Blog ・ Genmono2 Twitter ・ Fan-made game guide

Apple Store DL ・ Google play dl

BTW, if you do decide to play and want me on your friends list, my code is B1A69A4E582F

And now... get ready for.... images of all my faves!