Monster catchers will never die!
I love monster catching games and when a new one comes on the market I am one of the first to join. This time it was. I played Nexomon “2” and this is my verdict.
Aaaah Pokémon?
Erm no… Not really. We’re talking about Nexomon here. Nexomon was released on mobile platforms in 2017 and was released earlier this year Steam. But this review has nothing to do with this Nexomon. I started working with Nexomon: Extinction (or Nexomon 2) on console.
At first glance you can indeed see that Nexomon got a lot of their inspiration from Pokémon. Healing centers such as PokéCenters, the UI of the battles, six Nexomon that you can have with you and fight with and the overworld yourself. Nexomon does try to distinguish himself from his inspiration, which makes for a fresh experience as a hardcore Pokémon fan.
It’s almost impossible not to compare Nexomon to the ultimate Monster Tamer game in the world, but now that I’ve mentioned the similarities, I’ll address exactly what makes Nexomon unique.
Story
As a young teenager, it is time to finally become a tamer. You will be sent into the wilderness – together with 3 friends – to get your first Nexomon. Unfortunately, your adventure is soon stopped by a dragon that comes fluttering and comes to stand about 10 cm in front of you.
At that point you can choose your first Nexomon to fight the dragon! But of course you will not win with a level five Nexomon against a dragon …
From that moment on you realize that your adventure as a tamer will not just go smoothly. As a tamer you want to fight the Tyrants who want to take over the world. You travel the world to complete your job as a tamer and take down the Tyrants. In this way, the story conveys a somewhat more mature feeling than its competitor.
Humor is also strongly present. The sarcastic remarks of the companion “Coco” sometimes made me laugh out loud, no matter how stupid they were. Sometimes people laugh about the fact about the “RPG” genre and about games in general.
Gameplay
The gameplay mainly consists of fighting with your Nexomon against other Nexomon, customizing and training your team by defeating and capturing Nexomon. Of course you also fight with tamers all over the world. The game is completely single player, so fighting your friends in an online multiplayer mode does not apply here.
In the image above you can see how a battle unfolds in the Nexomon world. In addition, you have an HP bar that represents your life, but also a Stamina bar. Moves take an amount of stamina. When you run out of stamina, you must waste a turn resting or use items to regain some stamina and use attacks.
In the Nexomon world there are a number of elements. Each Nexomon has only one type of element. Of course they do learn a variety of attacks of different types. Some more than others. Of course, each type also has its weaknesses and strengths.
However, the game can get a little difficult. This is because the levels of the Nexomon you are fighting against are adjusted to the levels of your own Nexomon. So when I go back to the forest where I got my first Nexomon, they will no longer be level five babies but level thirty grown-out monsters. That in itself makes it a bit more difficult and fun. However, the stamina aspect means that you often have to switch between your Nexomon because their stamina is obviously empty. This is a double-edged knife. The challenge can be fun, but the battles take a bit longer than in standard Monster Catchers.
It is also possible to defeat tamers you have already defeated. Of course they also train in the wilderness and thus get stronger Nexomon as you go further in the story.
To keep it somewhat unfair, there are Cores in the game that increase the stats of your Nexomon. Each Nexomon can carry four and you can create your own by acquiring Shards around the world (they are not scarce). This way you can cheat and increase the HP and Stamina of your Nexomon.
Then I’m going to talk briefly about catching Nexomon. To catch a Nexomon you can of course hit some to make them weaker and more susceptible to your NexoTraps. However, you can also feed them. Each Nexomon has its own favorite food. When you feed their favorite food, the chance of catching them increases dramatically. You literally see the percentage of the chance of catching them. You also have NexoTraps according to the different elements, which increases your chance even more.
Extra’s
Something I lack, however, is a map to see where you are exactly. There is a world map, but you can never see where exactly you are between the cities. No minimap or the like. Sometimes it happened that I got lost or did not know whether I had already gone one way or not. That sometimes caused some confusion.
Nexomon can also accompany you on your trip. For example, you can find Companions in chests all over the world. However, it is a bit strange since the Nexomon should not even be in your party. So in theory you actually have seven Nexomon with you.
I found the music a real joy in the game. I had some issues and hiccups that I wanted to address (especially about the game’s performance), but these have already been patched. Just in time, Vewo Interactive!
Conclusion
When I played the game, however, I felt that it originally appeared on mobile platforms. Especially when you walk around the overworld I get the old-fashioned feeling of games. It can give you a retro feel, but for me it was more of a feeling that it could be more in these times.
There are Story line quests and side quests in the game. You are also free to come and go wherever you want. You can even go to an area for which you are not ready for the time being. The game advises against it, but they don’t forbid it! So this game does something that Pokémon fans have been waiting for for years, namely the open-world feeling that there is now a bit with the Wild Areas. But Nexomon does it a little better in my findings.
In addition, the music was good, there are 380 Nexomon that you can get hold of and the game offers a lot of challenge. This one is definitely recommended for fans of the genre. When you look at the price tag, there is no discussion at all.
| Pro | With |
| Can be challenging | Can be challenging |
| Price tag | No minimap |
| 380 Nexomon | “Mobile” feeling |
| Freedom | Lacks some depth |
| Design of the Nexomon | |
| Vang-mechanics |
Review disclosure
| How we got hold of the product | We received a code from the publisher. |
| Involvement | The review was published without the approval of the news agency, developer or publisher. No other party has influenced the content of this piece. |
| Affiliate | This article contains affiliate links. Gamerverse receives a commission when a product is purchased via the link. |
| Compensation from manufacturer | We were not reimbursed for this review. |
Did you play the first Nexomon? Are you also planning to bring in the second one? Let us know in the comments!
In this article
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Nexomon: Extinction
Developer:
VEWO Interactive
Publisher:
PQube
Platforms:
PlayStation 4
/ macOS
/ Windows
/ Xbox One
/ Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 28/09/2020
Buy this game:
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