Nexomon: Part 2

My thoughts on another couple dozen Nexomon families!

(Read part 1 here if you missed it!)

Twirling a lightbulb’s filament into a smiley face is so basic yet genius, that I’m a little jealous of never thinking of it myself. That smile alone adds tons of character to what should be “just” a lightbulb.

What’s more, Bulbrits are seen happily waving their wire arms as they collect energy from the air.

This is too cute for words! I’m amazed at how much character comes out of this seemingly bare bones design. Major kudos to the artist(s) behind this Nexomon!

It’s harder for me to describe why Chromeon is equally appealing. It could simply be the cheesy sci-fi vibes I get when looking at it. I could imagine Cromeon as a friendly robot companion, or as an avatar for a spaceship AI.

I can see the brilliant train of thought behind Scooptor. People dig and build sandcastles at the beach. Sand crabs dig tunnels on the shoreline. Excavators are common building machines. Put them all together, and you get an electric-type excavator crab! It’s perfect!

But Scooptor also comes with some bad news. Its evolutions take my “[Nexomon] 2.0” joke to the next level by existing as remixes of each other. All three of them look like prototype designs for one character that got approved as separate forms. Why couldn’t they expand into other construction machinery?

The worst thing I can say about Magnipub and Sunnos is that they’re somewhat forgettable. Thankfully, their in-game flavor text explains what would otherwise be nonsensical details. They create illusions with the rings atop their heads, utilizing psychic mist as an extension of their powers.

Starckal on the other hand is… quite a mess. It’s a tragic phallic-shaped furry monster holding an unremarkable Sonic ring. I have zero idea why quills randomly stick out of its neck. I don’t understand why the illusion ring atop its head has more detail than the one in its hand.

I wasn’t “wowed” by Cranillow, but secretly hoped that the bird-like head hinted at a more avian evolution. I’d say I got my wish!

Since Swactrum is a ghost, I think the ambiguously defined bird anatomy suits it well. However, this opinion may be skewed by nostalgia for my childhood. Swactrum’s head has a lot of freeform shapes - some arguably random (such as the purple boomerang “crest”). It reminds me of how I built several of my characters growing up.

Much like Scooptor, these are characters who would benefit from stronger visual diversity. Since the abdominal gem is the focal point of each evolution, the fact it stays a perfect circle is a letdown. The extra fuzzy strands on Holoch are interesting, but are secondary to the design. I’d suggest making the crystal increasingly complex over time. Add some baby spiders inside Holoch’s gem as a quick but significant fix

Lovinu would work fine as an alternate skin in The Binding of Isaac, but as a collectible monster feels painfully low effort. Lovidovi looks like a design for animation warm ups. These characters are successful as minimalist designs, but there’s just nothing to talk about aside from their broad “male/female duality.”

I’m reminded of Yo-kai Watch when looking at these Nexomon. Unfortunately, I’d see them as E- to D-Rank, where the early-game and filler-tier characters reside.

Varawirl

My gut reaction to this Nexomon’s design is to call it “by-the-numbers.” It’s an ambiguous quadrupedal sea monster with spikes (spikes are instantly cool, after all!). Despite the buzzword I dropped, I like Varawirl.

No reason is given for the mask and chest equipment, but they’re welcome additions that elevate the design above being completely “by-the-numbers.” The in-game biographytalks more about its two-tailed whirlpool attack, which is sadly not communicated well in its front-facing sprite or animations.

Frogick’s giant fleshtone feet and lack of arms create a bizarre appearance that works to its advantage. My initial thoughts while playing Extinction were, “Why is this half metamorphosed frog so weird? I need to tame it!” Without these factors, I doubt I would have reacted the same way.

Even with the reused colors, I sadly don’t get the same vibes off of Cranoad. It’s not nearly as weird to me.

Boilgog

To explain my disdain for this Nexomon, I’ll have to yet again make comparisons to Pokémon. For many years, my younger self vocally hated Heatran, deeming it to be the “ugliest” Pokémon (out of the 493 that existed at the time). I’ve long since grown indifferent to its design and can see its merits.

Nexomon’s Boilgog is like Heatran somehow melted further into a lumpy garbage heap of lava. The majority of its design is a hideous shade of red, and the random pointy bits add nothing.

Other insects resonate stronger as my favorites, but Enercer is still a great addition to Nexomon’s bug repertoire.

Scaratic is another Nexomon that doesn’t “Wow” me, but I appreciate its clean design.

These Nexomon clearly evoke the design gimmicks of characters like Magneton or Dugtrio - a single organism swarms with its kin to create a “new” creature.

I’m only lenient when Game Freak pulls this stunt because of nostalgia goggles (or because the duplication is a joke, i.e. the whac-a-mole Dugtrio). I think Omecharge needs to take more cues from characters like Magnezone, where the duplicate monsters fuse into something entirely new.

Antarzen

Here’s another Nexomon that brings up memories of my childhood art, but not as a compliment. This is a peak example of my budding design philosophy. Nigh featureless freeform shapes that are nonsensical to the design! Tacked on accessories (i.e. Antarzen’s garish fins)! So, so many spikes! It all feels like a hodgepodge, rather than a cohesive design.

The first two evolutions feel like standard bird designs to me. Senshizuru, however, is way more creative. I love how its plumage mimics a kimono. Its pronounced clavicle implies a female humanoid form without going overboard. If its hat-crest better blended in like the kimono feathers, it’d be perfect!

It’s a backhanded compliment, but these Nexomon are gross. If the artists were aiming for a “cute and cuddly” food theme, it was done infinitely better by Game Freak.

At the same time, it might be intentional that Yummo becomes a melted tub of lard and sweets. There are certainly merits behind this idea. But I also have to be honest with myself and admit that I don’t care; I don’t like these characters all that much.

Byeol

I feel there’s context I’m missing to understand the “joke” with Byeol. This is the official flavor text (for a Legendary-tier Nexomon, mind you) in Extinction:

This utterly enigmatic Tyrant is… Weird? Bizarre? This thing is always staring and smiling. The person writing this entry feels uncomfortable describing Byeol so let’s leave it at that.

4th wall-breaking humor runs amok in Extinction’s dialogue (ranging from chuckle-worthy to obnoxious), but this is the only time it shows up in the Nexomon encyclopedia. It reminds me of a Legendary ghost in Yo-kai Watch whose only power is spoiling the plot of movies and TV shows. For all I know, Byeol is supposed to have an equally disappointing story.

Considering that “Tyrants” play a huge role in Extinction’s plot, there are a couple possibilities at play. Either Byeol is part of a side quest I skipped, or it’s saved for the post game (which I also ignored). Perhaps then, Byeol is better fleshed out. But until I encounter this Tyrant, I’ll never know.

Even with partial context, I’m not confident I’d rank Byeol higher than “underwhelming.” I’m drawn to the mysterious star-shaped “dreamcatcher” with its fun shape and bright colors. However, nestled at its center is a character with as much detail as a gingerbread man. I’ve dunked on Lovinu and Lovidovi for similar reasons.

If I had any idea what the “dreamcatcher” is, perhaps I’d make the argument that Byeol’s simplistic “main body” helps balance the composition. But with only its looks and biography to go off of, Byeol is just a sketchbook doodle of a character. It doesn’t communicate anything noteworthy.

These wild-haired cyclops ghost girls look as great as they sound on paper. I’m not sure what their “outfits” are made of, but I love how they seem more like body markings than literal clothes. Malitress’s hair hands are simply fantastic.

I’m immediately sold at the thought of stone gargoyle griffins. Waser delivers on that hype, but I feel Wargoyle underperforms. Additional texture on its body would elevate its appeal.

I think Nexomon’s art team nailed it with the unusual choice to personify the culinary arts. Both Chowser and Cuisizle have teapot snouts that spit their fire attacks. I like how each arm is a different utensil, and how Chowser upgrades both in chef rank as well as cooking arsenal.

Goblat

A flightless floofy bat monster is a great idea! I like how its arms have atrophied into single-clawed limbs, while its hearing and vocal capabilities have improved (assuming the cyan spheres are vocal sacs).

However, a few details are huge drags to Goblat’s design. The pure cyan is revolting with the rest of its color palette. The red “crest” feels random and unnecessary. Most of all, the tail needs to either be scrapped or reworked, because its blank wispy design is as useless as the crest.

(Side note: this Nexomon probably shouldn’t have the same name as Golbat with literally one letter switched. There are hundreds of Pokémon to keep track of, but many people will remember Golbat.)

I feel like I’ve seen rock dung beetles before, but that doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of these two Nexomon. Both of them did a great job experimenting with eye shapes; the gemstone pupils fit in perfectly with their mineral theme. Their designs are a perfect balance between texture and solid colors. And their punny names are glorious - a rock-lifting Hercules Beetle that becomes as strong as the titan Atlas.

My curiosity piqued when I first saw Masquiti reveal its vacant face upon evolution. It’s a comfy trope with the supernatural, but there’s nothing wrong with that. While I wasn’t particularly drawn to their designs, I was curious how Masqat would follow up with its concept.

Apparently, Feliblanqo was going for a “twist” on said trope by putting the mask back (what a rip off!). It also appears to have stopped at Goodwill to buy a cheap onesie, the significance of which I fail to understand.

If there’s a positive spin to Feliblanqo’s design, it’s that the unexpected change is the reason behind its appeal. There’s a unique oddity about this Nexomon.

That’s right, there’s a bootleg Reuniclus in Nexomon! I have no idea if my favorite jelly homunculus has global popularity, so I like to think that Globlob was designed as a shout out to the (presumably small) fanclub.

Unique to Globlob is its zigzag smile and little heart visible through its translucent chest. While it will always sit in the shadow of Reuniclus, Globlob still makes me smile, and that’s worth writing about.

Wyverne

Within Nexomon: Extinction’s world are peacekeeping dragons - one for each elemental type. They ensure that humanity is protected from the aptly-named Tyrants that try to wreak havoc on the land. Most of the dragons are forgettable to me, with one exception - Wyverne, the absolute goofiest of the bunch.

This Nexomon is attempting to break tropes common to dragon characters. Its upper body is bulky and top heavy, whereas the typical dragon is sleek. It’s also avoiding the batlike wing structure people are accustomed to.

But whatever Wyverne is trying to do, it turned out amusing for the wrong reasons. Its arms look like giant inflated balloons. The lines around its mouth are akin to pursed lips, like it’s eating an entire lemon. And there’s way too much detail clustered at the top half of its body.

Neither of these dragons are directly related; I just lumped them together because my notes overlap. Tyrake and Krainnull’s designs are… a mess.

Wyverne’s composition may be imbalanced, but at least it’s not overwhelmed with high-detail areas. There are a dizzying number of fluffy hairs, clouds and spikes (even spikes on top of spikes), that I can’t pinpoint specific areas that would radically fix the designs. My critiques of these Nexomon are short and callous: redo them.

All three of these thieving gators look great! For the most part, their “costumes” feel like natural growths on their bodies (Domigator’s literal cloak being the exception). Croncho’s belly scales alternating in a two-one-two square pattern is an effective and clean design choice I’ve never thought about before.

As much as I like Domigator, that cloak has to go. Its spikes and gloved hands all bleed together, forcing my eyes to stare at the only areas with contrast - its bottom jaw, glove cuffs, or crotch. Croncho and its isolated “collar” do a better job at keeping the design under control.

I think these Nexomon have potential, but their designs are too clunky to truly captivate me. Granted, things could be worse for them; they could be Basil and Drare’s families (shown below), who don’t elicit any reaction from me.

Orgot and Oregoon’s exaggerated throat sacs are interesting contrasts to their spindly body frames. I never tire of seeing dragons crawl with their wings. There are solid elements in place for some wonderful characters.

The unfortunate “clunkiness” comes from the mind-numbing amount of rocks littered onto each Nexomon. The artist(s) varied each stone’s shape, but they end up fighting for attention over the rest of their compositions. However, I can’t suggest removing all of them - it’d make the Nexomon look too plain.

Orgot’s stone crest is the closest to a perfect balance of detail. If Oregoon’s was also dialed down as such, the rest of its facial details could stand out. I also believe that three types of rocks are overwhelming to the eyes. Two at most have a chance to fix the previous headache.

Nexomon: Part 3

Nexomon: Part 1

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