Nexomon is monster collection game similar to Pokemon. The game is a prequel to Nexomon: Extinction which showcased that not only Pokemon can do the monster capturing genre. Let’s see if it’s worth your money.
Nexomon is a story about a young boy who gets his hands on a stolen Nexomon. Nexomons are monsters that can be captured and tamed to fight for you. The young boy then embarks on a journey to try and save the world with his stolen Nexomon.
There are seven starters to choose from: Vulazy, Blizo, Fethra, Bevy, Sprunk, Velokitti, and Petril. Each of them having their own unique type and skills. I thought choosing between three starters was hard, choosing among seven is definitely a lot harder. Don’t worry though, you can capture the remaining six that you don’t choose in the wild.
I actually like the names they picked for each of these nexomons. Whoever thought up of this must have been very creative. It’s really impressive when they can come up with all 300+ names and still make them a unique name.
Combat for the game is turn based as you and the other monster take turns battling each other. You have an HP meter and ST points. The HP meter shows how much health you have while the ST points is the amount of points you can use towards taking an action. You have four action slots that you can place skills.
Skills can be unlocked by leveling up and the skills stay unlocked forever for you to use. You don’t have to “forget” them or anything like that. Just activate four of your choosing and you’re ready for battle. The SP points can be used for any of the skills which if it runs out you won’t be able to take action anymore.
You can refill your SP points in one of two ways. One would be to use an ether which replenishes your SP point with a certain amount. Another one is through “resting” which is automatically triggered when you try to use a skill but you don’t have the SP for it. You essentially lose a turn in doing so as your one action is good for anything you might be doing. This includes swapping monsters or using items.
I like how it makes the game more simplified and you don’t really end up running out of skills to use. On the other hand, having just a pool of SP to use for any action can place you into this repetitive action of just using the same skill. But the game’s monsters types makes it so you just don’t stick to one skill from the beginning to the end of the game.
The nexomon can be captured by going to tall grass that is moving. So you know you’re not just randomly wandering around tall grass to capture them. It makes finding the monsters easier but at the same time still random since you don’t know which monster you will be facing. This helps you in deciding whether you want to fight the monster or not. It’s a different scene inside the caves though because you will definitely get random encounters there everywhere you go.
From time to time, you will also be facing against other nexomon trainers. Winning these battles will net you coins that you can use to purchase items and nexotraps in towns. The towns will also have a healing center that will heal your monsters to full health.
Speaking of nexotraps, nexotraps are items that you can use to capture the nexomons. There are only two types of nexotraps, the regular one and the golden one. The golden one makes the success rate of capturing nexomons 100%. I like how you don’t have to juggle different types of traps and just focus on capturing the nexomons. The sure fire way of capturing them is still to lower their health.
Nexomon’s story is not your typical “I wanna be the very best”. Instead, the story takes us to a save the world scenario from a bad guy. Visiting towns will not all about trying to conquer gyms. In fact, there aren’t even any gyms in the towns. There is one gym but it’s an actual gym with weights.
The artwork is very beautiful and the colors just pop onto your screens. It has that bright bubbly vibe to it letting you know this game is all about letting you have some fun. No stress, no dramas, just a vibrant and colorful world.
The sound is very nostalgic, like 8-bit nostalgic but with high fidelity. You might want to lower the volumes when you first play this game though as the volumes can be ear shattering if you’re not prepared.
Although there are noticeable differences between this game and Pokemon. I can’t help but notice the similarities as well. Pokemon has been a longstanding household name that you really just can’t find a replacement game for it. Although Nexomon can’t truly replace what Pokemon has established, the game in its right has undoubtedly made an impression.
If you’re tired of Pokemon hunting and want something different and refreshing, then Nexomon would be something that you would enjoy. It’s a game with heart and passion. It’s a game that despite it going against one of the biggest game franchise, it can stand on its own.