Nexomon: Extinction (Switch Review)

Game: Nexomon: Extinction
Genre: Adventure, Role-Playing
System: Nintendo Switch
Developers/Publishers: VEWO Interactive/|PQube
Price: UK £16.99| EU €17,99|USD $19.99
Age Rating: EU 7+, US E 10+
Release Date:  August 28^th 2020

Review Code kindly provided by PQube

Not Your Average Pokemon-esque Game

Some of the first images you see from Nexomon: Extinction is its stunningly vivid world full of vibrant colors and 3D pixel-like characters. There’s the rustling grass, the young folk who hang out in random patches of wilderness, and the varied towns lovingly crafted from the top down perspective. Of course, and most importantly, you see Nexomon—the little monsters that can be caught and “tamed” as you explore the world. It’s a blast of nostalgia for any Pokémon fan. However, though Nexomon: Extinction draws from Pokémon for the foundation of the gameplay, this game goes far beyond the famous franchise and really etches its own story and style. You could even say Nexomon is the evolved version of Pokemon that fans have been so desperately begging for.

Forget Pokeballs, It’s All About Nexotraps

Nexomon doesn’t try to re-work the monster catching formula that Pokémon perfected. That means you can expect to see a lot of familiar mechanics in Nexomon, like having a total of six monsters at a time, said monsters having type advantages and disadvantages, and catching them with various triangular devices called Nexotraps. I can only assume that these core mechanics are retained because that is what players have become so familiar with. They’ve also kept features like varieties in monster typing, something that players have also come to expect in other monster catching games like Digimon.

In total, there are nine varying types of Nexomon, of which you get the classic water beats fire beats grass typing. Not all the typing is the same as Pokémon, but Nexomon makes it easy for players to learn the best matchups. In battle, the game will let you know whether a move is effective or not. Speaking of types and matchups, there are nine different starters you can choose from at the start of the game. Yes, nine starters.

Essentially there is one starter per type. All of these starters are listed as “ultra-rare.” This is another feature unique to Nexomon; the “database” (think pokedex) lists whether or not a Nexomon you’ve seen is common or mega rare and everything in between. At first, I thought having an ultra-rare Nexmon was pretty special. However, as I played I found myself encountering the starters I didn’t choose in early areas of the game. The developers of Nexomon decided that starters were special, but not special enough to make them almost completely inaccessible. Thus, players don’t have to worry about picking one starter over another. You’ll most likely have them all pretty early in the game.

The accessibility of starters isn’t the only feature that makes this game so flexible. Right from the start of the game you get to choose what your character will look like. Unlike the Pokémon games of old, you aren’t stuck to one boy and one girl model. There are thirteen sets of boy/girl avatars, which gives you a total of twenty-six different avatars to choose from! Best of all, you aren’t stuck to the avatar you chose in the beginning of the game, or even to your character’s name for that matter. It’s a game modeled after old Gameboy and DS games, so no there isn’t much “customizing” in terms of outfits or gear. Personally, however, I really don’t think it needs to. The avatars are all beautifully designed and smoothly animated, making your character really feel unique to you. Best of all, your character isn’t the only unique one in the game.

As Many Characters As There Are Nexomon

One thing that astounded me very early on was the amount of detail that was put into the design of the NPC sprites. In a lot of games, and I mean a lot, NPC models are often re-used. The only truly unique characters of a game who get special attention to design and interesting outfits are main characters. Not in Nexomon: Extinction. There’s something special about your avatar, sure—would it even be an RPG if the main character wasn’t special in some way? Yet, as you explore further and further through the various towns and environments, you begin to realize that no two characters are the same. There are members of the Tamer Guild that look the same, but for the most part, nearly every character feels unique in some way. And these aren’t just slight differences; the clothing, hair styles, and accessories that surround these characters feel unique to them- no matter how inconsequential their role in the story may seem.

Take the other Nexomon tamers for example. Like Pokémon trainers, you’ll encounter a lot of Nexomon tamers around the world just waiting for you to cross their line of sight. They’ll challenge you to a battle, but they’ll do something more than just that. Each trainer has his or her own profile and unique dialogue. Also, they learn your name and challenge you to a rematch for whatever reason. Some want to protect their special training grounds, while others just want to make sure your skill as a tamer doesn’t slip. After you have a rematch with a tamer at least once, they will repeat the same rematch dialogue. I don’t see this as a flaw. The developers are a small team and even the biggest development companies can’t produce games that have constantly fresh dialogue. The individuality given to each of the characters really makes one care for the world you’re trying to protect. And boy is it one that needs protecting.

A World Blighted by Nexomon

The game begins by teasing your expectations. The last couple of Pokemon entries begin with a professor talking about the harmony between humans and the creatures of the world. Pokemon are never the bringers of death and destruction. Even the Pokémon that seem evil, like Darkrai, are simply misunderstood. Unlike humans, they are near faultless.

Nexomon, however, takes a different approach. The world you enter is not a peaceful one, but one wracked by war. Long ago there was an all-powerful Nexomon named Omnicron. He fell, and since then many Nexomon have been fighting amongst themselves to take his place. Humans and their civilizations are simply the casualties of this war. That is the world you, a young orphan who is enlisted as a guild tamer, faces when they begin their journey.

Not all is how it seems, however. Nexomon is a game not without its dark secrets. Yet, it is also a game that is full of humor. I am specifically referring to the dialogue. You are the classic mute protagonist, but with you follows Coco, a talking cat, who was also enlisted by the guild to leave the orphanage and work for them. Coco’s dialogue is, for the most part, very humorous. Specifically, he is our glimpse of the developers poking fun at the tropes of this style of game. The dialogue is playful, and though the story of Nexomon feels pretty sinister, Coco’s dialogue reminds us that the game isn’t trying to take itself too seriously. It’s having fun, and so should we.

Though Not Without its Challenges

A complaint that has held for years against Pokémon is its difficulty level. The game is crazy easy to beat. Most players are those who grew up with the game, yet the franchise doesn’t concern itself with the desires of faithful fans, and instead continuously markets its work to younger players; thus, the game is capped at a difficulty that any child could beat. While the Pokémon company remains deaf to the pleas of fans, which often resort in fans imposing their own disabilities (think Nuzlocke), the creators of Nexomon have listened.

Nexomon is no Dark Souls, but dang it’s not all that easy either. You’re not the main character for nothing in this game, you really have to work for it. I found myself actually needing to grind just so I can safely pass through an area and not have my whole team wiped out by a single wild Nexomon. I was even gritting my teeth during a battle with a Nexomon tamer because they had my team of six seriously backed up against a wall. Again, this game isn’t the hardest game out there, but it does throw you some serious curveballs that make the journey and time spent raising Nexomon actually feel worthwhile.

Conclusion

This game is far from just another Pokémon rip-off. Nexomon: Extinction improves on all the places that fans have been asking for. It’s a beautiful game with a dark yet humorous story. It also isn’t afraid to challenge players and seriously twist their conceptions of these types of games. If you’re craving a monster catching game or even just an RPG with a good story, then you cannot pass up the chance to play Nexomon: Extinction.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot