Nexomon may be a 2D game, but it ends up feeling remarkably expressive and full of life.
Those who were let down by Sword and Shield’s visual presentation might find more to appreciate here. It’s yet another example of a perfectly good twist on the existing formula which is let down by messy execution. It’s a cool idea to revisit random Tamers you’ve already defeated and see how their team has grown over the course of the game, but the rate at which this triggers can make overworld traversal a tiring chore. One thing we weren't expecting, however, was for a Tamer we defeated a mere 30 minutes ago to be ready for an unavoidable rematch. You will still occasionally find roadblocks to stop you from going too far, but you’re mostly free to venture off the beaten path, which is great for the variety in team building. Routes end up being considerably larger than any Pokémon game, so much so that we actually got lost a few times and ended up travelling to towns we weren't supposed to come across until later in the story. There's also some great personality in the writing, such as NPCs freaking out if you enter their house while you’re still an unknown Tamer. A couple are a little over-designed, but the creatures that really succeed in this regard wouldn’t feel out of place in Game Freak’s own lineup, and you can't get higher praise than that. With such a large roster of Nexomon, there are bound to be a few misses in the design department, but there are still some strikingly brilliant creatures on display here. We would occasionally encounter a design we really liked but had no means to catch it, which is as frustrating as it sounds. These are likewise in rather short supply, which is strange for a game that revolves around collecting over 380 of these monsters. We would often end up spending most of our money on Nexomon Traps (a less cosy name for Poké Balls).
There are some great ideas in here, but they just don’t feel balanced around the surrounding pillars of this design template. The economy of the game is also far less generous than Pokémon, making it difficult to load up on healing items. Those who have been asking for a more challenging Pokémon outing may welcome this, but it doesn’t feel particularly respectful of your time – we often had to head back to the aforementioned “not Pokémon centre” after only a battle or two. "Super Effective" moves would be lucky to take off a third of an opponent’s health and most Tamer battles end with at least a few of your Nexomon falling in combat. Nexomon certainly does a lot to speed up areas of Pokémon’s formula, but battles end up feeling slower than ever. It was extremely rare for us to get through a battle without wearing our team down and utilising every single one of them… but on the other hand, that can get quite exhausting after one single battle.Ĭaptured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked) On paper, this is a really good twist on Pokémon’s formula and legitimately goes a long way to giving Nexomon its own identity. It doesn’t take long for it to run low, meaning you have to either sacrifice turns to rest or (more ideally) switch out for another Nexomon. Instead of being able to use each move a select number of times, creatures now have an overall stamina gauge with the more powerful moves depleting the gauge faster. In Pokémon, there’s very little to stop you from favouring one monster and relying on the same powerful move to get you through the game, and that’s the first thing Nexomon tries to remedy. However, there are some nuances to the otherwise identical systems, most importantly how battles work. You can only carry 6 Nexomon at a time, battles revolve around elemental properties, and you encounter wild Nexomon by walking into tall grass. On the surface, it all looks very similar. The transition between overworld and battle is near-instantaneous, battle animations are short and to the point, and even healing your Nexomon at a “not Pokémon centre, honest” is simplified to a quick flash of the screen rather than seeing each Poké Ball slowly entered one by one. This refreshing change of pace is one of the key areas in which the game stands out over its inspiration not only is the story brisk, but because it’s a 2D game, you don’t really have to wait around for anything to load.