I don't want to compare 2 completely different beasts here, but despite the amount of polish that Temtem has, I've greatly enjoyed Monster Crown 10x more. It has its problems, with a little bit of bugs, but I can't help but notice that a lot of heart and soul has been added into this game despite the problems this game is facing. The dev is crazy for even attempting to make his own Monster Crown TCG. I will be buying the sequel when it releases. Please give this game a chance. 10/10.

A buggy, yet enjoyable game.
If you enjoy monster tamers, are willing to discover the system in the game yourself (instead of being outright told how everything works and how you should use it) and arent put off by (semi minor, yet common) bugs then this is a hidden gem.

(I played the game on the 1.2.5 version)

The roster of monsters is amazing design wise. ~200 monsters each with 6 (visual) forms
Furthermore you can combine each monster with the colour palette from another monster via breeding, allowing for a ton of customisation.

Combat is a mixed bag. Its good once you understand the system and get to use/combine the unique and fun moves, however it requires you to use the breeding system

Breeding is great. Its incredibly fast and simple, making it a core part of the game. However its very poorly documented and the UI is lacking, making it confusing at the start. It is also balanced in a way where you can use it late into the game, without your newly hatched monsters then being underpowered. Once you understand it its great (notice a theme?) and becomes a core and enjoyable part of the gameplay.

Overworld is meh. Its good in the way the overworld in modern p-mon games are good, yet boring in a very similar fashion. Not too much going on there. The game does have some side quests and lots of semi hidden areas with unique monsters, however its largely unexciting.

Story is underwhelming. Sorta just there during normal gameplay. If youre super interested theres a ton of lore in the game, but its just very bare-bones and feels badly paced when it comes to an average playthrough.

Now the bugs....
Good news is that I havent encountered any gamebreaking bugs
Bad news is that theres a lot of them still. Unresponsive UIs/npcs are the most common issue, accidental story skips (it doesnt break anything, but it will mention a part of the plot you havent done yet) happen and sadly the battle system struggles when swapping monsters in (making either you or your opponent lose a turn)
As said nothing gamebreaking, but I can see how this lack of polish might annoy some people.

Another big issue I mentioned above is the lack of documentation. The game has a ton of fun things going on, but explains them very poorly (or not at all). The wiki does exist, however its not in a good state atm with a lot of information being from before the "dlc" (just part of the steam version!) came out. Joining the discord is a good shout if you need help, since the community on there is still very active.

Overall I really enjoyed the game and hope other people can get past the slow start too, because it gets very good once you start understanding the game and its systems.