

The battle system is also interesting, with one shared Stamina pool rather than individual PP values dictating how much attacks can be used, forcing you to consider weaker moves with lower costs as well as stronger attacks or status ailment that cost a bigger chunk of Stamina to use. With no dual-type monsters and nothing like Natures, Abilities, or IVs and EVs (Individual and Effort Values), Nexomon is lacking a lot of the depth of Pokémon's systems, but makes up for it with a lot more clarity - such as openly telling you when monsters evolve or what your capture chance is - and mechanics that let you easily boost creatures' stats as you see fit.

While it's a direct follow-up, the 1,000-year time skip between the two means that it's a fresh start (replete with an entirely new set of 300+ monsters) should you want to jump in with Extinction, though you will miss a lot of callbacks to the first game (which is also really good). Kicking off the list, Nexomon Extinction packs big Pokémon energy, and this sequel brings improvements over the original across the board.

If you'd rather stick to Xbox, though, here are some of your best bets. The Shin Megami Tensei series comes at monster training from a darker, more mature angle (although we do now have its spin-off series Persona on Xbox at last!), Yokai Watch delivers a more ghostly take with a novel battle system to back it up, while on PC, there are countless options available, including randomisers and mods that completely change up the classic Pokémon games. If you're open to the idea of leaving Xbox City to get your creature taming fix, there are even more options available than we've presented here (including the mainline series itself, of course). But don't sweat it - we have some awesome monster-raising games on Xbox, too!Some creature taming adventures available on Xbox are extremely close to the classic Pokémon experience, while others take elements from the monster-catching favourite and put their own spin on the formula. Luke Albigés As Pokémon Scarlet and Violet arrive on Switch, chances are some of you are peering over the fence with eyes greener than a Metapod.
