Taru

Imagine an RPG where your party is made, not of friendly sorcerers and knights, but rather of monstrous boss creatures that you have defeated in battle.  Taru is a 2.5D sprite-based role playing game based on Finnish pagan myths, with a young female protagonist who wields not a sword but a magical staff that has the ability to bind and summon spirit creatures called haltijas.  These creatures are grouped into elemental tribes, väki, (fire, water, wind, etc.) each ruled over by a dragon-like boss, which, when defeated, assumes the form of a humanoid girl and either willingly or grudgingly joins your party.  Battles are turn-based, with combat occurring in the same environment as standard navigation rather than on a separate battle screen.  There are no random encounters, as almost all the enemies are visible wandering around and can be either sought or avoided, based on the players whims.  Defeating a creature for the first time allows the leader dragon of its tribe to summon it in battle. Coded in C# using unity engine for easy port to both the PC and the XBLA, here is a game that combines the creature collecting of Pokemon, the hybrid action/ turn-based combat of Chrono Trigger, and a strong, yet non-violent heroine appropriate for a young female audience.