Nexomon: Part 1
There are plenty of other monsters to review besides Game Freak’s anthology!
As much as I love Pokémon, it’s disheartening to think about the stranglehold it has on the monster collecting genre. Competing against the franchise in the AAA sphere is like deploying a fighter jet against a kaiju. Most bigtime studios don’t want to take that insurmountable risk.
Thankfully, the Indie scene has exploded from the years since Super Meat Boy was the only talk of the town. It’s possible to find smaller developers experimenting with the formula.
Today’s spotlight will shine on Nexomon, created by VEWO. For the longest time, I knew this series by name alone. I skipped the original game’s Google Play listing, as I was turned off by warnings of its microtransaction-riddled structure. Fortunately, the developers went on to create a sequel project for a flat asking price of $20. It was late 2020 that I found Nexomon: Extinction and finally invested in the series.
Extinction isn’t perfect from a gameplay perspective, but I still enjoyed my time. I’m not interested in playing the prequel, but I look forward to VEWO’s next big project. Extinction’s monsters themselves are what kept me going. There’s genuine talent to be found behind many Nexomon designs, which was the inspiration behind this series of articles.
In contrast to my Pokémon articles, these Nexomon features will rapid-fire my thoughts across multiple evolutionary families. I also won’t be reviewing every Nexomon that exists. It’d be pointless to clutter my text with designs that don’t elicit a response out of me.
To mix things up, I’ll rotate between one Nexomon family I like, one with potential that missed the mark, and one I can’t stand altogether. For the first few articles, I’ll be covering Nexomon found in Extinction.
Special thanks to Pqube’s official site and the Nexomon fan wiki for the featured images.
Kolphur
Sulphlo
Moltano
Here’s a strong example of a character that starts off unimpressive, but turns around with a slam dunk of a design. I love the bubbling lava markings on Kolphur and Sulplo. The awesome one-eyed mushroom volcano monster that is Moltano was a member of my winning team.
Spikus
Thornox
A stumpy quadrupedal barrel cactus has surprisingly mascot-tier appeal. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing by the time it evolves. What makes things worse is that I don’t know why I find Spikarm and Thornox so mediocre. Is it the spikes? The face? The pose? There’s something inexplicably mediocre about them.
Bloopish
Glimoory
Glamoory
Bloopish doesn’t do much for me, but it’s an inoffensive design. Glamoory, on the other hand embodies an annoying design mindset that “more shapes equals more detail, ergo a better character by default!”
My belief is that fish are difficult to stylize due to their streamlined bodies. They’re often beautiful, but it’s too easy to make a cartooned version look like an uninspired one-to-one rip of the source material. Excessive piling of fins and tassels are a response to “fancy up” an otherwise simplistic design. For Glamoory, it’s a whole lot of nothing.
Glimoory at least balances those details into less of an eyesore. The hairlike frill is a nice touch, but the butterfly tail feels tacked on and drags the design down.
Heliwurm
Helipa
Heliventus
Heliwurm is standard fanfare for a caterpillar, just with a pinwheel on its face. The real creativity shows up once it evolves into a helicoptor chrysalis! I’ve never seen a character utilize this brilliant concept before. Heliwurm isn’t bound to a leaf or branch, instead airlifting the delicate larva within.
I appreciate how Heliventus integrates that x-shaped pinwheel into its wings.
Flizard
It took me a moment to notice the ruby red patches are actually Flizard’s shed skin! The scrunched up “mane” around Flizard’s neck has the best implementation of this concept.
But that skirt is just pathetic. I also don’t care for the scalloped pattern that exists exclusively around its feet. The perfect-circle kebab at the end of its tail feels like a last-minute thought.
The idea of a reptile forming clothes out of its skin isn’t something I scoff at - Scraggy and Scrafty are two of my favorite Pokémon. But Flizard lacks the same visual punch that they have.
Pebglem
Gemock
Gemaxar
This Nexomon family poses an interesting idea: what if mineral-based creatures had a gravitational pull, as if they were a miniature planet? That certainly has potential. It’s a shame that Nexomon’s end result is a tossed salad of random shapes, none of which feel like they belong together.
Zumble
Zasp
Zappnic
I often neglect to put insects on my team, but I won’t deny how awesome they can look. I like the battery motif with Zappnic with its split red/blue (positive/negative) body markings. Surprisingly, the colors work well with the stark yellow and black.
There are a lot of condensed lines and colors on Zappnic, yet my eyes aren’t overwhelmed like I’d expect. It’s a Goldilocks effect - it doesn’t look too plain, yet isn’t too busy.
(Side note: did VEWO cleverly sneak in a Badnik reference with that name?)
Stinger
Moonsting
Sunknight
Similar to Thornox, I can’t explain exactly why I’m a fence sitter here. Moonsting’s tail looks great, and Stinger utilizes some interesting freeform shapes. Sunknight’s claws look especially cool morphed into a sword and shield (and its sword claw has a little fire symbol in reference to its elemental typing).
These Nexomon are solidly designed, yet I never had the urge to add them to my team. Why must I feel so indifferent towards something that I just complimented?
Shardrine
Shardrillion
At least to me, these Nexomon feel half baked. Their silhouettes are strong, but their body patterns and shapes are seemingly chosen at random. The only clear concepts are their drill legs. As mineral-type Nexomon that dig for gems to eat, this makes sense.
I think improved designs would better communicate their steel (or rock-based) bodies. I’d also like to know why Shardrine and Shardrillion need flamboyant red-and-black rumps.
Branipus
Cerebrius
Octollect
Do I need to say more than psychic brain octopi? Branipus is that perfect mix of cute and gross with its pastel pink and protruding brains.
Cerbebrius is just “okay” for me. It’s one of those predictable “Pokémon Nexomon 2.0” designs, and I’m not a fan of the perfectly circular “glasses” around its eyes.
Octollect, however, improves upon everything from its predecessor. The glasses fit so much better as half-shades. The way it carries its body makes an interesting silhouette (are its back tentacles mimicking the collar of an oversized lab coat?). And the name - a combination of octopus and intellect - sounds fantastic to mutter aloud.
There’s actually a single critique I have for Octollect. Its brain shouldn’t have the same thin swirly lines that appear on its mantle. My eyes get lost parsing out all the clutter. I don’t think detail on its brain was necessary to begin with, as its mantle fills in that blank space.
Shromporo
Shrombrela
Shromboff
In a slight twist, here are some Nexomon I actually like, but feel also miss the mark. I love how there’s always a grumpy and wide-eyed mushroom on each evolution. The larger Shromboff seems to be growing legs, as if becoming a little tree spirit.
The tree stumps attached to Shromporo are where improvements could be made. It’s good that they don’t distract from the key monsters, but it’s underwhelming to have them “merely” be stumps (or a mini tree later on). I think it’d be interesting to make the tree a moving extension of Shromboff’s body. Or maybe it could be carved into a throne as Shromporo evolves!
Sounse
Mound
“Loud sound-based mice” is a great twist on rodents known for their quiet lifestyles. But just like Shardrine and Shardrillion, they aren’t fully commited to their ideas. I love the speaker ears (especially on Mound). The artists cleverly snuck in music notes as whiskers/eyebrows, and both Nexomon have bass clefs on their tails.
Sadly, these highlights feel glued onto the bodies of standard mouse characters. They’re not seamlessly woven features like those seen on the dragon-bat Pokémon, Noivern. If the combination of nature and man-made inventions were intended to look like Frankenstein's monster, it ironically needs refinement to feel natural from a design standpoint.
Taipluff
Fistuff
Ninstuff
The flavor text for this Nexmon family is clunkily translated, talking about “soft styles of fighting” mixed with “old-school pummeling.” I think it’s implying that they combine graceful martial arts with brutal boxing or wrestling techniques. This is an effective concept, made better with the fluffy “clouds” on each Nexomon to tie together their “softer” combat styles.
Ninstuff took a while to grow on me. Initially, I was thrown off that the somewhat draconian Fistuff becomes the bunny-like Ninstuff. After some consideration, I actually like the unexpected twist. The best aspect of Ninstuff is how it only resembles a rabbit or other long-legged mammal. It takes artistic liberties to appear as its own monster species. It harkens back to my discussion on Pokémon’s Nidoran families.
Ninstuff also helped me realize that each evolution has a martial arts belt formed out of their tail! When I call out a design element as “tacked on,” this is a perfect counter-argument to what is “naturally” integrated.
Chibbit
Xotor
Odiborg
There are a few brilliant concepts in the animated versions of these sprites. Chibbit waves its radio antenna like a tail. Xotor smoothly shuffles its legs like a waterstrider on a lake. In general, a computer chip spider is a fantastic idea.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to have all of these concepts rolled into one. Odiborg is already a busy design, so those previously mentioned unique parts are dropped to make room. Odiborg is fine, but it doesn’t have a cute tail, a cool brain dome, or the same fun personality as Xotor.
Seedko
Seedkorsky
These two are going for a helicopter theme similar to Heliwurm’s family. As sentient seed pods, that makes perfect sense. But the end products are incredibly bland, giving me the impression that they’re filler for the character roster.
However, I won’t deny that the hollowed eyes and mouths are great touches. Seedkorsky also has a good silhouette, as if it’s a mystical forest pinecone pixie… thing. These Nexomon aren’t completely scraping the bottom of the barrel, but their designs leave something to be desired.
Griff
Griffgar
Lioness
I get “generic feline” vibes off of Griff, but its evolutions are clean and pleasant designs. I can beat the dead horse that is “Pokémon 2.0” with Griffgar, but for some reason I’m not as bothered by it here. I guess I’m a hypocrite like that.
Bonus points to these early-game Nexomon for having a manticore motif. I expect an extravagant mythological beast like that to be saved for much later.
Ghouze
Mazecter
I can’t get enough of the “totally” scary face on Ghouze. It’s an abstract, vaguely doglike creature of its own. The mace on the tail is a little weird, but I love the rest of the design too much to let it bother me.
But upon evolving into Mazecter, I find myself asking, “That’s it?” It’s not significant enough a change to be called a Nexomon 2.0; Ghouze is just standing up and has extra pointy bits. The oversized mace is especially garish now.
Some flavor text gives context that Mazecter induces nightmares by laying its tail on humans. That’s a clever way to illustrate how one can experience “heavy” feelings under a bad dream. But it’s undermined by how slapped together the mace-tail looks.
Poyal
Puggard
Brauncer
Poyal at least has “mascot appeal,” so I can’t get too mad at it. But its evolutions irritate me. Stylistically, Puggard and Brauncer feel out of place with the other Nexomon reviewed thus far. This bias may boil down to the fact they wear clothes. I’ve never cared for Pokémon that do the same thing.
(Don’t worry, I’ll contradict myself in another article.)
Skerdi
Aferaid
Dreddiful
It’s almost painful how much Dreddiful takes cues from the Pokémon Dusclops - right down to its wispy head tuft, single eye, and dismembered hands. And you know what? It’s a brilliant rip-off.
Dreddiful’s eye peers through the mouth to a sheet ghost, and it looks simply amazing. I love the flowing spear-shaped fabric draping from its body, and how the back two are longer than the others for aesthetic variety. The eyes-on-hands are a tried and true concept that integrate well with the rest of Dreddiful’s design.
Skerdi and Aferaid are characters I’d say “simply exist” like Kolphur, but once again turn into a monster worth the investment.
Medlass
Madamusa
I have to showcase these two Nexomon just for the adorable ears/crests on their snake heads.
I may be on the fence with their designs because they feel too “samey.” I see Madamusa more as an “awakened” form to Medlass, rather than a whole evolutionary leap.
Rust
Rustu
Rustung
I feel a bit mean-spirited for what I’m about to say (prepare for air quotes to soften the blow). To me, Rustu is “obviously” a “bad” rip-off of Lairon, one of my favorite Steel (+ Rock)-type Pokémon. With that in mind, Rustung is also “ripping off” Aggron.
At face value, those statements are patently false. Each character has their own set of flairs that would prevent any viewer from confusing them. I think my (petty) problem is that Rustu and Rustung invoke the essence of those Pokémon, so I’m annoyed by the constant reminders of designs that I think are better.
Like I warned, my distaste for this Nexomon family is rooted in an unfair bias.
Keromb
Kerosion
Kerosine will-o-the-wisps is an outstanding phrase I’m surprised I haven’t heard before. Kerbomb’s detached flame arms give it a great silhouette, while Kerosion’s are designed perfectly with the rest of its “billowing fire” motif. I feel that Kerosion’s line work gets busy around the point it turns to smoke, but it’s not so obnoxious that it annoys me.
Fanling
Fandiose
Fainglori
I have more to talk about once this average bird family becomes Fainglori. I feel that Fainglori is one of the closest to “looking like a Pokémon'' in Nexomon’s roster. Its wings perfectly capture how feathers are often drawn on Pokémon. Its crest seamlessly transitions into a royal “crown” atop its head (rather than being a literal headpiece).
All that said, Fainglori’s weakest link is its overdone tail. Its palette contains five colors in that small area alone. And with all those intersecting lines and ribbons on top of more ribbons, it looks like a messily wrapped birthday gift.
I get that Peacocks have densely packed tails, but I can’t stand how they were translated to Fainglori. At most, Fandiose’s tail is the utmost amount of detail needed.
Chirrent
Ostrolt
In a frankly baffling creative direction, a fairly generic electric bird monster erupts a storm cloud from its rear end. At least, I hope that’s what it is.
Ostrolt isn’t the worst design, but that constipated posture utterly destroys anything positive I could write. Out of curiosity, I evolved a Chirrent in my game to see behind its evolved form-
-Oh. Oh no, this poor cloud-poop bird was doomed to ridicule from the start.
