Nexomon: Part 3

At this point, I’ve exhausted the less-than-perfect Nexomon: Extinction characters to rotate between. Moving forward, each family received positive rankings!

(Read Part 1 here if you missed out on this series!)

This Nexomon family couldn’t settle with the great “land shark” trope - they also ran with the hammerhead pun! I love how Mallish’s lower jaw comprises the hammer head itself, while Mallark and Thrammer have dorsal fins built from the pronged end. Thrammer’s design may be cluttered in areas - i.e. the fin behind the hammer prong - but my other favorite land shark (Garchomp) has flaws that similarly don’t bother me.

I wasn’t expecting a little water hose serpent to be so endearing. After all, it’s “just” a noodle emerging from a tube. I like to think that the red button snout is caused by Hydrip bumping into objects, considering how awkward it must be to navigate with that unruly “shell.”

Hydrose isn’t a show stealer, but it’s design is fun.

Moonline

I sense that the artist responsible for this creation was highly attached to it, to the point that they didn’t give it an evolution to forever preserve its greatness. Very few non-Legendary Nexomon remain unevolved in Extinction.

I’m on the fence with the drab tunic, whiskers, and blue orb in its arms, but everything else about Moonline is undoubtedly fantastic. I love how its vacant eyes match the translucent bulbs atop its mushroom head.

Here’s the payoff to the “hypocrite” joke from a previous article. Typically, I’m not a fan of wild monsters wearing human clothes, but Croo and its crew (heh) don’t bother me. Is it because of my blinding favoritism to birds? Probably, but who really knows? Art is a fickle subject; there will always be exceptions to my arbitrary rules.

Navrigal’s puffy red chest stands out prominently to me. Until I wrote this article, the name of a well-known bird escaped my memory. After a quick web search, I realized it’s a Frigatebird!

(Photo Credit: Cameron Rutt) — *(Photo Credit:* *Cameron Rutt*)

Navrigal is a 3-layer deep pun on seabirds, the name of a species, and sailors. I’m in total awe with the amount of effort put into these characters.

By far, Woozy and Frictingle perfectly capture the spirit of Pokémon designs. Mascot appeal, simple yet strong compositions, pleasing color palettes, and a twist to real-world animals that make them their own monsters. It’s all here. I desperately need merchandise from these two Nexomon, I love them that much.

Frictingle was my longest-running teammate when I played Extinction. Its Stamina draining skills proved invaluable for large fights. The sooner your opponent has to waste turns refueling Stamina for their attacks, the faster the battle turns in your favor.

For other situations, Frictingle has decent offensive power to unleash electric-type attacks. It even has access to a sleep-inducing attack! It can’t be overstated how large an MVP Woozy/Frictingle is to me.

Duktar and Spektar are striking by their torn, spiraling garments. Spektar’s bright blue eyes and ghostly arms help tie the design together. I’m a bit confused why their third eyes look like Band-Aids, but they’re not deal-breaking blemishes.

Where Pebglem and its evolutions felt like a hodgepodge of meaningless shapes, every element in Moonica’s family exists in harmony. Moonette and Lunabelle’s orbitals act like hands during their attack animations. Lunabelle’s disintegrating “dress” is both eye-catching and strongly communicates the strength of its gravitational pull.

Bonus points go to this Nexomon family for once again proving that you can imply a clothed humanoid form without taking the idea so literally. To me, it shows a lot of creativity.

Smanic is forgettable to me, but it fulfils its purpose as an early-stage bug monster. Resonic is who caught my eye with its crescent wings. I like the contrast of curved shapes next to its pointed fluff collar.

Lurkost’s low profile effortlessly communicates its stealthy hunting tactics without words. The vague skull-shaped head and wisp atop its forehead tie into its ghost typing, while the spiked bracelets appeal to the “totally edgy” dorks like myself.

Lurkost’s purple “pants” aren’t explained, so it’s up to the player to ponder over them. Is it old shed skin? Or is its regular skin peeled back? I’d appreciate lore to clarify, but one could argue the ambiguity is part of the charm.

Lurkennie doesn’t spark the same reaction I had with its predecessor. It’s still a fine design, but a lot of personality has been lost with its generic pose.

Wadtail stole my heart as soon as I saw one owned by another Tamer. Its long proportions, pouty snake face, purple and black colors, and tiny wings won me over. Raising a “Mega Rare” Wadgon was only a minor delay to obtaining my permanent teammate.

Horget has more of the same majesty, although my favorite features from before are either missing or dialed back. At the same time, I can’t feel disappointed when looking at this chunky beast. I love its laid back, catlike personality. I wish it preserved the old wings, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

It’s impressive how many times Nexomon’s developers struck a home run with “Pokémon-tier” designs. Phantra could elaborate its design to be greater than “Sleeker Deyama,” but my love for these Nexomon supersedes the weight of that statement. My favorite elements include Deyam’s perfect mix of being “cute” and “edgy,” Deyama’s asymmetrical horns, and the way Phantra’s fiery tail shapes into a fin.

Nexomon: Extinction features quests to obtain Golden Nexotraps (their equivalent to Master Balls). My first one was tossed at a wild Noki without skipping a beat.

All three of Noki’s evolutions are solid designs. Once again, I’m not bothered by the final stage looking like a slightly fancier version of the previous one. If anything, this family has made me aware that my (unfunny) “Character 2.0” joke may not be so cut and dry. There’s a lot more nuance I’ve discovered through writing these articles.

Raksuma is my favorite deerlike character from Extinction’s roster. I anticipated a bulky triceratops motif because of Mara, but the direction it actually took doesn’t disappoint. I like how Marasuma evolves and blooms a flower “mane” that runs down its chest. It’s clever how a couple of Mara’s orange horns pivot into ears, then pincers by the time it becomes Raksuma.

Believe it or not, Noki was offered as a starting Nexomon when I first booted Extinction, and I declined it in favor of Behilda. This cutesyfied Dullahan is brimming with personality in the way it playfully tosses its own head around.

Of course, the purple and black color scheme immediately caught my attention. It even makes lilac - my least favorite shade of purple - look great! Having one eye missing with a clear “X” is another fantastic touch.

Heddeca doesn’t make a huge evolutionary step, but expands on Behilda’s strengths. Its straightjacket coat is easier to notice. I especially love how a couple arm straps act as spare limbs for Heddeca to use while one hand is busy holding its (now grinning) head.

Noocidal, in contrast, is “just okay” to me. The coat design, color scheme, and crossed arm straps are all perfectly fine. But something about it doesn’t approach the same level as Behilda and Heddeca for me.

Mulcimer

A mean, edgy black-and-red dragon? Yep, sounds like a guaranteed winner in my book.

Somehow, I went through all of Extinction without noticing that Mulcimer’s wings are attached to its head! Extra contrast around its neck would prevent this detail from hiding next to its dark body. Other than that small snag, this mixed up anatomy gives Mulcimer cool visual flair.

Mulcimer plays a key role in Extinction’s story as the Tyrant of fire. And since it and the other Tyrants can communicate to humans, its personality is fleshed out through dialogue. Its lifelong goal is callous and blunt: become king of all monsters and humankind through a baptism of fire. Mulcimer is a destructive, careless Nexomon - exactly what you’d expect to round out this edgy package.

Nivalis

Despite its clunky sprite art, I like Nivalis’s ice crab theme. It looks better in the game’s “cinematic” artwork.

The game doesn’t explain why Nivalis has disembodied limbs, but I reckon it’s a pun on “floating” sheets of ice. The chunk at its abdomen cleverly doubles as a hermit crab shell.

Even the ambiguous ice “crown” ties perfectly into its lore. Nivalis is in fact a king… the king of lowest-ranking Tyrants. Nivalis is so weak that it stands as the player’s first major boss battle. It chooses cowardly tactics, hiding in the shadows until it can sucker punch stronger Tyrants when they’re down.

Extinction’s sense of humor had stronger notes with Nivalis. The plot is self aware that the player is still a newbie when they battle this Legendary-tier monster. Everyone knows how terrible Nivalis is, and it makes for a great twist on old RPG tropes.

Petram

Petram stands out from the other Tyrants with its half-formed body. It appears to be crawling out of the earth, trying to build itself out of scraps. I think the yellow bands are sandstone, but first thought they were sturdy cloth binding its body together.

I love how Petram has a vaguely defined (and misaligned) ribcage. The random bone shards peeking under its body add variety to the larger ones.

Petram is a soft spoken and obedient golem, so its personality isn’t as outgoing as the previous Tyrants I wrote about. They’re also far bulkier than the others, so damage from enemies are of little concern. This makes Petram the perfect springboard for Extinction’s true villain to showcase their immense strength.

Eurus

Eurus suffers from similarly lackluster sprite art, but everything else about this birdman is solid. The garments and gold headpiece look like Eurus once lived with an ancient civilization. I think the wing-arms were a smart choice, as they look better than if they were fully humanlike.

While every other Tyrant scrambles for the throne, Eurus just doesn’t care… about anything, really. Their lax nature extends to doing absolutely nothing but lounge during Extinction’s plot. Even when supplanted by the main villain, they exclaim “Totally worth it!”

Funnily enough, I had a chance to demo Eurus in combat during the story’s climax, and I completely spaced the opportunity. Regardless, I’m sure Eurus would be my Tyrant pick for my post-game team (whenever I get around to that).

Nexomon: Part 4

Nexomon: Part 2

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