Nexomon
- Genre : Role-Playing, Adventure
- Publisher : PQube
- Developers : Vevo Interactive
- Players : 1
- Consoles : Nintendo Switch
- Languages : French, German, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, English
- Release date : September 17, 2021
Today, I’d like to take you on a trip to Nexomons’ world, a game inspired by old school Pokemon games on GameBoy Advance. Just like those, your character will be travelling the world surrounded by a team of six monsters he will have chosen, caught, and trained.
Let’s take a further look !
When inspiration comes from the best and is put to good use
Developed by Canadian studio Vevo Interactive, the Nexomon series is heavily inspired by Pokemon games. While the very first Nexomon game was only available as a mobile game, it followed its big bro’s footsteps – Nexomon : Extinction – by coming out on Nintendo Switch a year later.
Obviously, we couldn’t help but compare these two games as both the games’ mechanics and formulas were similar ; however, both entries to the franchise are completely different.
In order to give you a better understanding of the review, I’d like to give a little comparative list of the vocabulary used. As such, we will not be talking about trainers, but rather, tamers, who will catch Nexomons thanks to nexotraps instead of pokeballs. Golden nexotraps are pretty much the same as masterballs, and will give us the opportunity to catch the nexomons right in front of us. Instead of beating Gym Leaders, we will be facing Overseers.
Here are the basics when it comes to the vocabulary. Now, let’s dive right into it !
A curvaceous, colorful adventure
Welcome to a colorful world, with graphics softly drawn. During your adventure within the world of Nexomons, you’ll have to explore various parts of the world, each being unique, but always drawn with care. The sceneries, along with the characters, and even the Nexomons themselves, will all be full of curves and colors, giving the game a warm and childlike setting. These two elements really give you a welcoming feeling, making the game very enjoyable.
Every single sceneries, including the backgrounds during battles, are handled with care and make the player really feel at ease.
Nexomons’ designs are also full of curves, making them all look very cute. Nexomons seem to originate from animals or objects that already exist in real life, where we could have brought a sense of magic, of fantasy. I really appreciated this particular style, and I didn’t consider a single monster as « ugly. » I also started a thorough search of each area so I wouldn’t miss one, and so I could catch them all… And there are 310 of them to collect !
A different way to play
In a similar way to Pokemon games, each new area will make you discover new monsters. I explored each zone the way I played Pokemon Black and White, which basically means I stayed in a particular area until I was sure I had caught all Nexomons hiding there, while leveling my team up.
I stayed in each area for about an hour without needing to go to the Healing Center, simply because Nexomons automatically heal right as they level up. It’s a tip I used a lot since, generally speaking, I only moved from my hunting area when I had no more nexotraps.
It’s something I really loved !
Tamers battles were pretty scarce
While there are a few inhabitants, the world of Nexomons doesn’t have have a whole lot of tamers, and that’s okay ! As such, you’ll be able to give way to your exploration peacefully, without being asked for a fight on every street corner. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on the training of your Nexomons, otherwise your inevitable confrontations with the Overseers might prove to be painful…
As far as battles go, each Nexomon has a particular type, abilities, and stats. I found seven different types during my playtimes : minéral, wind, fire, normal, plant and electric types (Yes, types don’t have any translations). Just like Pokemon, you’ll have to handle the various types to gain the advantage instead of foolishly losing one of your monsters.
Every time a Nexomon levels up, it learns a new ability you’re free to accept or deny. Unlike Pokemon though, you can choose for yourself which abilities you want to give it, because you can have access to them all the time ! The abilities aren’t strictly limited to its number of use ; only the mana bar of the monster will be limited depending on their use.
Evolutions are also a thing in Nexomon. They give much better stats, along with a new appearance for your little monster. Each Nexomon will either have one or two evolutions, except for the ones who have a rarity : « Common, » or « Legendary. » Indeed, each Nexomon has a rarity which determines its frequency rate in the long grass and its capture rate, but also whether or not it’ll be able to evolve. The various types of rarity are as follows : common, unusual, rare, ultra rare, special (starter), and legendary.
A story way more mature than Pokemon
While we’re once again playing as a child, the plot of this particular Nexomon seems more thorough than the Pokemon franchise (excluding Pokemon X and Y, for they had a fantastic story). You don’t want to become the best tamer of the world here, but you’ll still find yourself going on some sort of a police investigation to save the world anyway. From there, you’ll go from town to town in order to find clues and thwart the Big Bad’s plans. That Big Bad, might we add, seems to be the Nexolord himself. The Nexolord is an arrogant character who’s also the best trainer in the world, but you’re going to decide to stand in his way anyway.
The plot gives way to a couple of plotwists that are most welcome, along with all kinds of colorful figures. Whereas Pokemon is more like our world – except for the litte monsters aspect of it all – Nexomon adds a bit more magic and fantasy that are most welcome too.
Side note : I didn’t put it in the test, however, the game suffers from some huge translation problems…
Conclusion
Nexomon is a game I absolutely loved ! I really appreciated the overall graphics and the designs of the little monsters. The story and its plot twists were enjoyable, albeit a little predictable. The gameplay was simple and efficient, and while I loved playing it, I have to admit the game was a bit too easy for my taste. It should keep the player occupied for at least twenty-five hours, and maybe even more, depending on their way of playing.
Nexomon is a great achievement. Vevo Interactive’s developers were able to be inspired from a popular series like Pokemon to create their own game, with a nice world that has nothing to be ashamed of ! I highly recommend it !
