We've played a little bit of Pokemon, but never really got into it. Probably because of the peer pressure from other furries to like or at least know all the different critters.
In NMS everyone's procedurally generated, so there's none of that! And it turns out the battle system is really fun. I like all the buffs/debuffs/shields/"hit after 3 turns"/etc. moves.
Oh, and it's all holographic, so no one gets hurt.
I do wish you got the opportunity to start swapping moves before getting to max level, though. Can't even start tinkering before maxing out.
-- Frost
They are indeed the normal critters you find on planets! You gotta make friends with them by giving them a treat first, then you can summon them wherever, ride on them, and now do this new stuff.
And yeah, the extra abstraction is actually a difference. :3 Means they don't get hurt even in-universe.
-- Frost
You're not Theotherfrost from YouTube?
Hah, nah, a totally different Frost! We don't make youtube videos or anything like that. :3