Nexomon: Extinction

I played through both Nexomon and Nexomon Extinction. Since this is a game made for PC first, I'll start with the positives over that of Nexomon. Positives: PC-first game approach. The game, while still having some of the mobile game aesthetic, is actually a really good PC rendition of the prequel. The UI was revamped to have some care put behind it, such as having menus to help slow confirmations just enough so you're not pressing something you don't mean to. I can see the stamina meter along with the HP meter, the UI doesn't take up half the screen or overlap important text with other things on the screen, etc. Designs for the Nexomon. They were good in the original, but I feel like Extinction ramped up some of the design space for Nexomons (both new and existing renditions) to another level. For those that are new, it feels like they were made with a higher standard in mind than the original. For the pre-existing Nexomon that return in this one, in some capacity (with 1 exception because it didn't change much except for posing), the new redesigns felt like they had a lot of care put into them and it absolutely shows and pays off. Nexomon evolution overhaul. Now Nexomon are no longer tied to having only so many or not having evolutions based on rarity. Definitely helps certain Nexomon actually feel like they got an evolution proper instead of being disappointed that they didn't because they're common. Also appreciate the retcon for some of the returning ones as well. Freedom of exploration. Once you reach a certain point early on, you're allowed a certain level of freedom that affords you going to at least the areas of the maps that allow you to capture mostly whatever normal-ish Nexomon that are available. The writing has definitely improved in personality and they certainly pushed out something new with having more meta jokes in it and leaning quite heavily into it as well. It's actually nice to see how it evolved, along with the recurring jokes from that game returning to this one. Post game content and the custom mode make for better replayability, especially with nuzlocke rules being an actual thing there, if you so choose. I also like that the post game was something hinted at, but definitely also out of left field Original references. There's a small section I'd like to dedicate here for the fact that if you played the original, every now and then, some inconsequential name will pop up and you'll know exactly why. There's an in-between regarding this as well since there's another part to this that isn't exactly negative, but definitely not a positive. Negatives: Move restrictions for normal gameplay. The system for moves seems to be limited quite heavily for most Nexomon to their element + neutral for the most part. I can see why the movesets are limited, but I feel like this might be the biggest gripe with the game since everything else is pretty much a lot better than I expected. Custom mode somewhat can rectify this, but it's random if I recall right. No way to track tamers. Slight knock on this for not being a thing, but I'm having the hardest time finding the last tamers I need to complete my achievements of beating all tamers. When going through the maps, I'd prefer to glance and see if I did beat them already (or how many times if there could be a multi-tiered way to tell) since I keep going through the same areas. Also I'm not sure when certain areas change, if the tamers that are removed from those areas count or not toward the achievement or if I'm locked out forever as a result. That would be an extreme bummer if so. In-Between: This won't be a knock against anything, but since there are a few characters re-used from the original Nexomon, it can feel like things are spoiled when they were meant to be a secret. That being said though, with how both games operate, I still say play the original, then Extinction. Between balancing. Nexomon's original flaws I feel were overtuned to an extent in this game. Rarity is now a bit more balanced (though a little too easy to come by higher rarity characters). Gold certainly feels a lot harder to farm for and XP isn't as easy to come by, along with of all opposition levels now matching your party's average more, but it does obfuscate the levels the enemies SHOULD be. If I underlevel, then I'm faced against Falkner's Lv. 9 Pidgeotto, but if I overlevel, then the first boss battle will make less sense. Cores. They're great in concept and give some choice to the player on what they want to do with certain characters, but if you want to help level your team properly, then it's going to be hard to do unless you spend a lot of time making synergy cores, which are expensive. Yes to the idea of cores, but definitely needs to be a little less grindy for certain types and the functions for them. I think it's mostly just the balance of what functions the cores serve in this game that are making up for the lack thereof that makes this more of an in-between than anything else. Side quests are listed (and is a nice addition), but some of them are a little wacky when it comes to how you're able to complete them. For example, one person wants a certain Nexomon, so if you want their reward, they take the Nexomon from your party (if available). I feel like being able to pick and choose which one (either from party or storage) would be a cleaner execution of this method. The whole 15 y/o main character thing does get a little stale. I like that customization remains a thing in this one as well (though definitely doesn't fit the cutscenes if you're not the default). I'm hoping with the upcoming game that we can choose, at least in part, some kind of preset like Pokemon Battle Revolution (different body types/ages/styles), with maybe a few between choices for outfits or something. Overall: This game feels a lot better and worth the base asking price. The hours I sunk into the game are somewhat for completion, but I'm about 70% the way through achievements. I look forward to what Nexomon 3 holds. Post spoiler script: [spoiler] Mentioned previously, but it does kinda suck to see Grunda/Ulrich's original human form from the original only appear once and not in this game at all, even after the reveal. It feels a little out of place when the others didn't change at all, considering only Deena was technically alive so he shouldn't change if the others didn't. [/spoiler] [spoiler] I feel like a lot of the Extinction exclusive redesigns for Nexomon really do work better than their original counterparts, especially more so in this game. I hope if they return that the redesigns are kept as well as the original counterparts. [/spoiler] [spoiler] With how the designs are here, I hope that, for Extinction returns in Nexomon 3, that we're able to see how they look originally in 3D, as well as any new redesigns of them as well. [/spoiler]