Nexomon Extinction Switch Review

Nexomon Extinction is a monster catching/taming RPG. Available on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Released August 28th, 2020.

Although it is a sequel, it's not necessary to play the previous entry in order to appreciate this game. Relevant context is built into the narrative and environmental story. It also helps that there is a 1000 year time gap between the two games.

The gameplay functions similarly to Pokemon in many regards but it's not all quite the same. You can have up to 6 different mons in a team, up to 4 different moves at a time on a mon and type weaknesses and resistances that somewhat echo Pokemon's with Fire beating grass, grass beating water, and water beating fire etc. Overworld movement is grid based but you won't really notice it too much with how natural the paths, and roads feel and look.

Your battle move usage is not managed by a case by case basis like Pokemon with it's PP system, instead; Nexomon utilizes a stamina bar. Comparing both PP and Stamina, I much prefer the stamina system. You have plenty ways of managing stamina; recovery items are plentiful enough and can be bought for reasonable prices. Your mon can also rest for a turn instead of attacking to recover a small amount of stamina, and you can obtain key items that recover a small bit after you successfully finish a battle encounter.

While the game doesn't feature a character creator of any sort, you do have over 20 character sprites to choose from and your choice can be swapped out at any point in the game freely.

After you receive your starter mon, of which you have a whopping 9 to choose from. (One of each type of mon exists that exists in the game.) You can basically explore the world at your own pace, though I'd recommend you wait till you get the fast travel unlocked first.

The difficulty is a bit dynamic in that the Nexomon in the wild and trainer battles will level with you to an extent. It's both a blessing and a curse. On one hand the game is always going to have wild Nexomon for you to fight and capture that are of relevant level. On the other hand, you lose some sense of self growth.

One of the best things about this game is the monster capturing. You have so many ways to influence the chances of a capture with food items, key charms, different traps, and a button command mini-game that all increase your chances of a successful capture. Best of all, the game flat out tells you the % chance of capturing AND the game has multiple (about 15) of it's equivalent to the Pokemon masterball. Of course you'll have to do some treasure hunting or side quests to see anywhere near that much. 100% worth it, 100% of the time.

Visually this game is a delight, everything is bursting with colour and all of the areas have plenty of visual flare and background clutter that help liven up the world. There is various methods of health and stamina sustain outside of healing centres, so you'll have plenty of opportunity to enjoy it explore safely.

Nexomon designs for the most part are fantastic too, and their evolutions make coherent sense visually.

It's an RPG right, so how's the writing and story you ask? Unfortunately one of the worst parts of the game involves the writing for the main plot, and guess what? That's mostly due to one particular character called Cocoa. This meta-breaking cat doesn't know when to shut up. Sure some of it's jokes are funny for the first time and maybe even the second as well but it's basically doing these 4th wall breaking jokes every scene the character is in that really pulls you out of the world in a bad way. They are the main character's companion as well by the way, so these moments happen a lot more than they are ever welcome.

In fact the best part of the game is when Cocoa leaves and you team up with a less talkative but much-more-plot-relevant-and-overall-more-interesting-character. It's sad to admit, especially since much of the point of an RPG is the story and writing.

While the first half of the story is mostly forgettable it is forgiven with a much stronger and interesting second half if you can pull through.

I finished the main story at about the 25 hour mark and I did a lot of side quests. (not all) After you beat the main story, there is an endgame set of quests so their is definitely a few more hours in the main game. If you want more than that then you will be delighted to hear that once you beat the main story you unlock "custom mode", which lets control a multitude of aspects, and rules of the game. For example you can randomize item locations, randomize starter mon selection, change starting level, and even add classic nuzlocke rules amongst a lot of other options as well. It's all there, it adds so much variety for those that are interested. The only downside is that it can only be unlocked and accessed after you beat the main story first.

If you like Pokemon, I recommend you give this a shot. The game is worth it's base price of €20 and if you manage to see it on sale then grab it.

In summary:

Nexomon is a colourful monster capture/taming RPG with strong gameplay and plenty of user control over endgame content. Half of the plot isn't very interesting, just ignore the cat and enjoy the rest. About 20 hour's for main story + a lot more for side quests and custom mode. €20 is worth the price.