Platforms: PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, Android, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Mac, and iOS
Nexomon: Extinction is a game I’ve been planning on playing for a while now. I’m a big Pokémon fan and I’ve exhausted nearly all the content that the franchise has to offer, so I thought I’d branch out and try some other monster capturing games. The real question is, can any game truly fill the shoes or live up to the heavyweight that is Pokémon? Well, I’m ready to find out.
As Nexomon: Extinction begins, you’ll get to choose from a handful of predetermined looks for your character. So, there’s no customization, but there is a decent variety of default looks. After you decide what character model you’ll be looking at throughout the game, you’ll find yourself waking up in the orphanage you grew up in. Soon you’ll be informed that it’s a big day as you and a group of other kids will soon set out to become tamers. The first step in that journey sees you venturing into the forest to find your first Nexomon. At your side will be a cat-like creature, named Coco, that will do the talking for you because your character is more of a silent protagonist.
As you and Coco travel deeper into the forest, you are suddenly attacked by a dragon. Faced with your own mortality, a stranger appears from nowhere and offers you your first Nexomon. You’ll have a choice between nine (!) different creatures, each with a different elemental typing. Getting this much choice right out of the gate was a nice change from Pokémon, but also made for a really tough decision as a newcomer to this series. I eventually chose the ghost-type, Behilda, as that’s always been one of my favorite types and honestly, because I thought it had the coolest design.
After choosing your starter, you’ll go to battle with the dragon and quickly learn the basics of the game’s turn-based combat. Normally, you’ll be able to pick one of your Nexomon’s skills, which will either deal damage, apply a buff to your Nexomon, or debuff the enemy. Each skill will deplete that creature’s stamina by a set amount depending on the move. If they run out of stamina, they won’t be able to attack and will have to rest for a turn or two. You can also use any items you may have, switch to different Nexomon in your party (when you have more), and, in some cases, choose to flee from battle if you’re not prepared to fight. If you’re familiar with Pokémon’s battle mechanics, you should do just fine making your way through Extinction because they are very similar.
This first encounter isn’t a normal one though, and the powerful dragon will make short work of you and your Nexomon until you’re able to escape away into a nearby cave. From here you’ll begin your quest to the city of Parum, where you’ll join the Tamer’s Guild and learn that powerful Nexomon, called Tyrants, are waging war and have been for a thousand years. This war has taken its toll on both the human and Nexomon populations and you’ll be tasked with finding a way to end it. The story is decent enough, with some twists and turns, but it’s probably not going to blow your socks off or anything.
Once you’re given your task, you’ll venture out and visit a variety of locations. Each area is bright and colorful in its own way and that’s one of Extinction‘s best qualities; its aesthetic is very inviting. I couldn’t help feeling a bit of joy nearly the entire time I was playing.
Each area will also be filled with tons of NPCs, perhaps a few too many at times. There are so many people to talk to and most of them say things that are far too similar. Eventually I got to the point where I was speeding through non-story dialogue just to see if a character was going to give me an item or not.
On the topic of the dialogue, most of the characters come off as unlikable. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that a lot of them are just downright assholes. One of the biggest culprits of this is your little buddy, Coco. He’s sarcastic all the time and seems to be one of the few characters aware that they’re in a video game. This self-referential humor was not particularly funny, but it also didn’t bother me in the beginning. It really started to grate on me quickly though, as he just continued to crack the same jokes throughout the entire game. It got to a point where I wished I could have put his ass in the box with all my unused Nexomon.
There are also some NPCs that will offer you side quests, but, unfortunately, a vast majority of these quests boil down to just trading items to them in exchange for other items. If I already had the items, I’d trade, but in most cases, I didn’t bother seeking them out because most of the rewards just didn’t seem worth the effort. There are some more in-depth quests that are worth doing, but they are few and far between in comparison to these trade quests.
There are also plenty of other Nexomon tamers throughout the land and, of course, when you encounter them, they’ll want to battle. One cool thing about Extinction is that all of these tamers will want to rematch you ad infinitum. It won’t be immediate, but after a bit of exploration you’ll find that tamers are ready to battle again. These tamers’ Nexomon’s levels will also scale up as the game goes on. This is great if you need to grind for money or want to level up your Nexomon.
Obviously, you won’t be able to battle if you don’t have the team to do it, so capturing Nexomon is a huge part of the game. There are nearly 400 different Nexomon that you can catch throughout the game. To catch them, you’ll have to use nexotraps and these can be acquired through purchase or by finding them. There are even type-specific nexotraps that will increase the chances of catching a Nexomon with the same type. So, for example, a water trap will improve your chances of catching a water-type Nexomon. These special traps can be bought (at a premium price) or crafted.
There are a variety of other ways to improve your chances of capturing a creature, including inflicting status effects (paralysis, sleep, etc.) and even feeding a Nexomon their favorite food. The game even displays what your specific percentage chance of catching a Nexomon is, which I thought was a nice touch. There’s also a mini game where you input specific button commands after you throw out the nexotrap, but I honestly couldn’t tell if this helps your chances or is just something to kill time, as it was never really explained.
After you have your team of Nexomon, you can start battling and with each battle your creatures will gain experience points. As they gain XP, they will level up and eventually most of them will evolve into new, more powerful versions. Extinction goes old school though, as only the members of your team that fight will gain XP. There are ways to circumvent this though, with items known as Cores.
Each of your Nexomon can be outfitted with four different Cores. These are items that boost the stats of your creatures. These boosts can range from more attack power and defense to increased HP and stamina. There are also Cores that allow the Nexomon equipped with it to receive a portion of the XP earned, even if they aren’t used in battle. Cores can be found, earned from side quests, or crafted from elemental shards you find by mining rocks. Each Core also comes in one of three tiers with the higher tiers giving a bigger boost to stats.
As far as the Nexomon themselves go, I didn’t find any of the designs to stand out all that much. There are some that look pretty cool, but I can’t imagine I’ll care much about them after the game. There are also more than a few nods to existing Pokémon, ranging from subtle to outright rip-offs. That’s really neither here nor there for me though, as it didn’t affect my experience. It was just something I thought was worth mentioning. I did look forward to seeing what new Nexomon would pop up next. I caught all the new ones I encountered, but I’m not sure I see myself ever wanting to go back and “catch ‘em all.”
I spent roughly 25 hours finishing the main story of Extinction. This number also includes a bit of preemptive grinding I did to make my life a little easier during the endgame. At the end of the game, I had a team of diverse elemental types with an average level of about 75 and throughout the journey I had no problems in battles whatsoever. In the beginning, I had to do a lot of healing between battles, but there was never a time where I was outright defeated. I never even had to use a revive in battle, so, I’d say if you’re prepared, Extinction is on the slightly easy side. Granted, I did grind a bit near the end, but I’m honestly not sure it was even necessary.
After you complete the main story, you’ll be able to jump back in and do more side quests. These are more involved than some of the ones during the main game, as most will see you trying to capture the legendary Nexomon in the game. As mentioned earlier, I can’t say I have much desire to go back and catch every Nexomon, so I’m not sure these quests are something I’ll bother with. It is nice that there is more to do after the credits roll, if I ever get the urge though.
When I first started Nexomon: Extinction, I had a feeling I was going to end up not liking it much. As I progressed, I started to really enjoy my time with it. I got sucked into the hook of exploring, battling, catching Nexomon, and leveling them up, I really started looking forward to seeing what each new area would hold. The story was decent enough and kept my attention. The NPCs and their side quests were all kind of terrible, but that was such a small part of the experience that it didn’t bother me much. If you’re looking for a replacement for Pokémon, you’ll likely be disappointed because Nexomon: Extinction lacks a lot of the charm of Pokémon. But if you’re looking for a solid alternative while you wait for the next big Pokémon entry, I’d say Nexomon: Extinction is well worth a look.
