The monster-catching genre of RPGs has long been dominated by the industry juggernaut Pokemon. There was almost a monopoly for years, with very few games trying to do what Game Freak does so well. However, in recent years there seems to be a wave of new competitors in the genre.
With players like Temtem, Coromon and Nexomon, there seems to be some healthy competition to the granddaddy of monster catching games. All these games, of course, try to do something interesting to differentiate themselves in some way. With the sequel to Nexomon, Nexomon: Extinction, the genre was once again given a respectable title.
10 Capture Mechanics
Almost all monster collecting games are similar in their conquest mechanics. First you weaken the opponent’s wild monster, then give it status and then throw a ball/capsule/trap or whatever it is. Nexomon: Extinction does a little more to differentiate itself from its competitors. While current health and statuses will still affect your chance of being caught, there are more variables.
For starters, you can feed a wild Nexomon ala Pokemon’s Safari Zone. Every Nexomon has a food preference; some will increase your odds more than others. In addition, there are passive items called whistles that slightly increase the chances of catching certain types of Nexomon. Finally, once you decide to throw your Nexomon Trap, you’ll need to quickly press some buttons in some sort of quick time event or your shot will fail right away. This is without a doubt an interesting extension of Pokemon’s formula.
9 Story structure
Pokemon games, especially in the beginning, were very strictly structured and formal. You would go through the Gym Leaders one by one, interact with the story and the villains, and that would be it. However, since Nexomon: Extinction is not tied to such a long tradition of formula games, it has more freedom.
In Nexomon: Extinction you are immediately pushed into an exciting story and you are hardly put on a certain path. You join the guild and are asked to help people around the world complete their quests. But that’s about it. The map is like an open world; you don’t have a set trip from the start. Focusing on the locations and characters feels really refreshing rather than waiting for the next gym to show up.
8 Resistance
Many monster fighting games try to differentiate their combat mechanics in some way. Nexomon: Extinction does this by using a stamina system instead of Pokemon’s PP for moves. Temtem, another monster collecting game, also did this to decent effect.
In Nexomon: Extinction, every creature has Stamina, and each move costs a certain amount to use. There are items to refresh Stamina, and obviously stronger moves cost more Stamina to use. This opens the door to a different way of thinking about the longevity of your Nexomon.
7 Types
There are a total of nine types in Nexomon: Extinction instead of Pokemon’s sixteen. The types in Nexomon: Extinction are Normal, Water, Fire, Plant, Mineral, Wind, Electric, Ghost, and Psychic. Like Pokemon, these types all have weaknesses and strengths against each other.
Nexomon also only has one type and double types are not a thing in this game. This makes the rock-paper-scissors game a bit easier, especially since many Nexomon generally only learn two types of moves. The effectiveness of the type is also weaker, with the modifiers 1.25 and 0.65.
6 To write
Pokemon games are rarely praised for their stories or memorable writing. They serve to move the story forward and not much more, and it says something about the games that the most iconic character never even speaks. However, in Nexomon: Extinction, the writing is lively and quite funny.
The writers imbue the game with an ironic kind of humor, and it serves the game very well. With the occasional meta jab the game throws at you or the acknowledgment of weird situations, the dialogue and story are pretty well written for a game of this size. The main story is also quite interesting and introduces enough mysteries and motivations to encourage the player to explore.
5 Difficulty and level scaling
Many Pokemon fans have longed for a difficulty in the games or a slightly higher default difficulty. The games have gotten easier over the years, the occasional Ultra Necrozma fight, and many fans are eager for a real challenge. Well, Nexomon: Extinction has you covered.
For starters, Nexomon: Extinction has level scaling. That means as you get stronger, so will the wild Nexomon and NPCs. This immediately prevents you from steamrolling the game with some strong Nexomon. The Fast Journey and Healing in Nexomon: Extinction is also rare, which encourages you to prepare before attempting to clear an entire area.
4 The monsters themselves
In Pokemon, monsters are differentiated by types, stats, skills, movement sets, and items held. Nexomon also has unique stats, move sets, and types, but it’s much simpler. For starters, Nexomon: Extinction has no features, which is a huge difference. They are also all single-typed, which takes a lot of weakness/strength combinations out of the equation.
At its core, Nexomon is much less original than Pokemon. They all learn similar moves, are just one of nine species, and rarely have wildly varying stats. Imagine how different Klefki and Zacian are from Pokemon, despite being both Steel/Fairy types. That kind of variation just isn’t in Nexomon: Extinction. Sure, you can outfit your Nexomon with cores to buffer them a bit, but it rarely makes them stand out.
3 Game releases
The way Nexomon has released their games so far and Game Freak is doing so is night and day. For starters, Nexomon found its beginnings in the mobile market, with a steam port to match. The sequel Nexomon: Extinction was released as a multi-platform game, available on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Pokemon always had a weird way of releasing games. For decades there have been two versions in every generation with very subtle differences in story and content. They would then get a *definitive* third version that would build on both games. The series has also been almost exclusively on Nintendo handheld devices, and only recently, on the mobile market and other consoles.
2 Economy and Articles
In Pokemon, especially in recent games, buying consumables and items feels pointless. Money is no problem, you get regular easy access to healing and the only useful items are Pokeballs and their variants. This of course excludes competing items, but they are generally bought differently.
However, in Nexomon: Extinction you have to watch out for money and items. Healing items and status healers are essential for clearing areas. You should also use different versions of Nexotraps as they all improve your catch chance for different species. By adding food to the mix, Nexomon: Extinction gives players a robust catalog to consider throughout the game.
1 Images
Looking at the Pokemon visuals in their history is like looking at the game history. Starting in a very primitive place with Pokemon Red & Blue, the franchise has come a long way. Once using pixel art and simple 2D animations, today Pokemon is a 3D game. The best example is Pokemon Legends: Arceus so far.
Nexomon: Extinction is fully committed to a 2D, cartoonish aesthetic and makes the most of it. With beautiful locations, shots and smooth animations, it probably looks better than any 2D Pokemon game out there. The creatures are beautifully animated, attacks and circumstances have a power, and the occasional art that fills your entire screen will leave you wondering how Pokemon got away with so little visual flair all these years.
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