This Mobile Pokémon Clone Was Better Than Expected

There was a brief time when I tried to launch a gaming channel. Gaming is already an expensive hobby, so instead of buying more games, I used the ones I already had, or I played free-to-play or fan-made games. I played a lot of mobile games during that time. Most of them weren’t fun, and I didn’t have the personality to make them seem fun, so I went in search of something I might enjoy.

That’s when I found Nexomon, a free-to-play mobile Pokémon clone. I wasn’t expecting much from the game, since it was mobile and a Pokémon clone. I was pleasantly surprised when the game loaded, and a cut scene started. The cut scene at the start of the game did a great job at introducing the world of Nexomon and the enemy.

After the cut scene ends, you pick whether you want to play a male or female character. There are no customization features, which is a drawback, but it didn’t interfere with the gameplay. Your character starts the game in their room, before going downstairs to meet their scientist mother. Like the Pokémon games, you’re encouraged to go outside because your best friend/rival is outside waiting for you.

The Nexomon you meet in the game are similar to Pokémon. They each have a type and are weak or strong against certain other Nexomon. They also resemble Pokémon more closely than the ‘monsters’ in TemTem, which is another Pokémon clone. Some of them look as if they could have been ripped from the early Pokémon games.

I was surprised at how similar the game looked and played compared to Pokémon. The art style resembles that of the early Pokémon DS games. There’s an open world to explore, Nexomon to catch, and even trainers to fight. The game is exactly what I’d expect from a Pokémon mobile game if Pokémon had a mobile game.

The one major drawback of the game is the ads. Since the game is free to play, it uses ads to earn revenue. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me, but the ads seem to come at the worst times. You could sit through a cut scene and then have to sit through an ad before getting back into gameplay. You could watch a cut scene and have it interrupted by an ad. My least favorite is when you’re catching a Nexomon, and an ad starts. The ads were so disruptive that I almost stopped playing the game.

There is an option to purchase an ad-free version of the game, and the game is also available to purchase on Steam and several different consoles. I'm considering buying the Switch version to see how it differs from its mobile counterpart.

Nexomon is a decent Pokémon clone that does a good job of capturing the essence of everything that makes Pokémon great. There are many places to explore and an impressive amount of Nexomon to catch. There’s also a rich story that keeps you engaged. The fact that it’s free is also a bonus because more people will be able to play the game. There’s even a sequel, which I plan to play whenever I have the time.