Nexomon: Extinction review

Reviewed on: PC

By Samuel R. Auras

Do you like Pokémon but don’t have a Nintendo console? Your problems are (sort of) over! Nexomon is the new cock fig… I mean, cute little monster training game! And, unlike other Pokémon clones out there, this one is actually… good!?

Nexomon: Extinction is a game in which you adventure through a world full of little creatures to capture, put together your team and battle around. The game has a considerable number of Nexomon: almost four hundred, from cute little critters found in the bush to mythical dragons and legendary beings. Your goal in the story focuses on the Tyrants, Nexomon who fight to see who should rule the world. You are part of a guild that uses Nexomon to fight the Tyrants and prevent that from happening.

Surprisingly, the story is better than it looks. The characters are cool, the game’s mood is very light, and the world is well built and very creative and vibrant. Of course, the story is secondary, and your main goal is to capture all the Nexomon! There are lots, and the design of the little monsters varies quite a bit in quality, but overall the balance is very positive. Normally this is the main problem with this type of game: the lack of charm of the creatures. The Nexomon, however, are pretty cool. One of my favorites is one of the 9 starters available, a kitten that wears a weird mask. It’s a perfect mix of cute and kind of scary.

You can probably imagine what the gameplay is like. You can have up to 6 Nexomon on your team, and they evolve and have access to 4 attacks each, and in battles you must choose the little monster of the right type to have the advantage against your opponent. There are 9 Nexomon types available: fire, water, mineral, plant, wind, thunder, ghost, psychic and normal, and each one has advantages and disadvantages against the others. In addition, you have access to attacks that raise or lower each creature’s powers, or that make the opponent fall asleep, become paralyzed… Anyway, if you’ve played any game of this type, you know well what to expect. It’s nothing very refined, and the system is much more superficial than Pokémon: Nexomon can’t be more than one type at the same time, there are no IVs and EVs… That can be good or bad, depending on the customer, but it’s definitely a simpler game.

A very positive point is that the game is balanced so that the level of wild Nexomon and trainers follows, in a way, the level of your team. This, combined with a world quite open to exploration, lets you, from the start of the game, follow whichever path you want, and capture a large number of different Nexomon even before actually starting the game’s main story missions. In no region of the game you explore will you feel that you’re too strong or too weak. Of course, some parts tend to be harder than others, but it’s not an artificial difficulty created by a simple level difference.

The visuals and soundtrack are cool. Nothing more and nothing less than that. The game has graphics that look like those of DS Pokémon: a top-down view of a world that is a mix of 2D and 3D, but pretty and well detailed and colorful. The Nexomon are well drawn and animated, but their attacks could be prettier, definitely. The soundtrack has songs that range from excellent to annoying, but the balance, again, ends up positive.

Finally, the most positive point for me is the humor. The game constantly breaks the fourth wall, interacting with you (the player), making little jokes… A fortune teller, for example, to prove she’s a fortune teller, tells the protagonist that the world they live in is actually a simulation inside a video game. If you enjoy this type of humor, Nexomon: Extinction is a feast; it’s a game that definitely doesn’t take itself seriously. On top of all this, the developers are giving the game constant support, releasing several updates that have been improving the game more and more. If you’re looking for a Pokémon-like experience, go for it, because Nexomon: Extinction is a great pick. Go in knowing what awaits you (a simpler game, but fun and with a lot of heart) and you won’t be disappointed.

SCORE: 8.5

PS: Drinking Game! Read this text again taking a shot every time I read the word “Nexomon”. Nexomon Nexomon Nexomon Nexomon. Nexomon.