Picked this up as I needed some monster catching goodness and I'm surprised by how much fun it is and how it succeeds in areas where Pokemon fails.
For those that don't know its an indie title on the E-shop and takes most of its influence from the DS Pokemon titles.
The battles are fast and never over stay theyre welcome. You could probably finish 3 battles by the time you beat 1 in Pokemon due to all the unnecessary animations and text. It makes grinding way more manageable, especially with the Core system, which are sort of boosters you can craft and equip to your Nexomon and range from getting more gold in battle to more experience, power, immunity from status effects, etc.
The game is also haaaaaard. It eases up as resources become cheaper and cores are introduced but some early fights had me sweating that I haven't felt from Pokemon in a long time. Recent Pokemon games can be mostly completed by mindlessly pressing A through the main campaign with the exception of gym leaders and E4 but you can get wrecked in a simple wild encounter in Nexo. Resource management is key. But with the fights being so snappy I've never felt frustrated.
The artstyle is beautiful. Some areas feel a bit "cheap" where you can see its mobile phone roots from the first game, but this is mostly in houses. The overworld and towns look amazing with great colour palettes (Drake Islands) and most songs so far is very memorable, giving me thos D/P/Pt and B/W sound vibes.
Wild encounters aren't random, you see grass patches shaking to notify you where a Nexomon is so going through a long route (and these routes are loooooong) never feels like a chore.
The writing is also great. It pokes fun at the genre and breaks the 4th wall with some really clever jokes and comedic timing. I've laughed out loud a few times. The more intense side of the story is pretty standard JRPG fare but it gets the job done and gives you motivation.
The monster designs themselves are hit and miss, the standard for these types of games. Oddly enough, they canned all the monsters from the first game on phones, but have said they might add them in a patch later down the line. These ones seem better designed to me too, it might just be my preference. Not to say they arent great designs in Extinction though.
Also there's 9 starters. 9! And you cam find the rest out in the wild.
Its also open world to a degree. These minor road blocks but you have a lot freedom choosing where to go even early on.
I dunno, for what some would call a clone from a small indie company its certainly got a lot of heart and has shown the worlds number 1 franchise a thing or two imo. I'm having a lot more fun with this than in Galar.
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