My Top 10 Games Of 2020 #10 – Nexomon Extinction

Nexomon went from a phone game to a full-fledged console and PC quality monster-catching game that’s different enough to stand on its own feet.

My criteria for my top 10 games of 2020 is below. 

In order for a game to make my top 10 games of 2020 it has to be released in 2020 and not a remaster. Remakes count before they’re rebuilt from the ground up and is basically a whole new game. I must have completed the game or sunk an incredible amount of time into them. Early access games do not count and will no make my top 10 games list no matter how much I like them. When they release they’ll count towards my top 10 list of that year. 

2020 wasn’t a great year for video games for me. Nexomon Extinction gave me that Pokemon fix that I was craving after I completed Sword & Shield and it’s more than a simple clone too. Every monster-catching game will be compared to Pokemon. You can’t escape from that even if your game is really different than Pokemon. 

The only thing Nexomon has in common with Pokemon is the fact that you can catch monsters. Everything else is different. You don’t run around different towns winning badges. Instead, you’re trying to save the world. This game is called Extinction for a reason and I’ll leave it at that. This game is well written, funny, and puts everything Gamefreak put out with Pokemon (outside of Sun, Moon, Black, and White) to shame. 

The characters are funny and this game isn’t afraid to break the fourth wall. Nexomon doesn’t take itself seriously and that just added to the charm for me. The battling is where things get interesting. You have a stamina bar right under your health. If you run out of stamina you’ll damage yourself. There are items you can use to take your stamina back up or you can switch to another member of your party. 

Nexomon Extinction does starters the way it should’ve been done. You can catch every starting Nexomon in the game and even though it says they’re mega rare they’re really not. They show up frequently enough for you to fill your whole party with them if you want to. There are 9 starters to choose from and you can only have 6 Nexomon in your party at a single time so if your goal is to raise all of the starters you’ll have to choose your 6 favorite ones. 

My favorite part of the game is the freedom I had from the very beginning. I can go anywhere and do anything I want. I was so used to Pokemon gatekeeping me from progressing to where I wanted. There was always some NPC blocking my path because I didn’t beat that gym behind me. Do you know how Nexomon handled this? The entire world levels with you. This means you can visit the desert region and catch some nice desert Nexomon that are around your level. I loved this. I had a very diverse team of Nexomon because I went all over the map catching everything. 

Nexomon Extinction is an incredibly underrated game. Its witty dialogue made me chuckle on multiple occasions and the gameplay was just good enough to keep me going until I completed the game on my Switch. Will this game elevate the monster-catching genre or give Pokemon a run for its money? No, but it’s a really good, and cheap, game that can easily give you over 40 hours of entertainment and it’s a game that I highly recommend if you’re looking for something that’s not Pokemon or super grindy like Temtem.

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