Digimon Survive is arguably one of the most disturbing games I’ve played in the past few years. It’s also one of the most enjoyable times I had while playing it. And to top it all off, it also disappoints in ways that I wouldn’t have imagined coming from a Digimon game. To put it into context, Digimon Survive is a Visual Novel first and tactical RPG second type of game and as such, it’s expected to have the many strips of dialogue cluttering your adventure… however it is surprising as to how it manages to hook my attention with its dark yet intriguing theme and the fact that it’s just a frick lot darker than your usual Digimon game. Now while that is a fun little surprise, it just came a mile short on its gameplay offering.
I’d say I’m actually an avid fan of Digimon games in general. My first RPG growing up was Digimon World 2, a game that didn’t really make sense to me back when I was a kid but when it did, I was hooked to it day in and day out. There’s a really huge difference with that game and this one though. For starters, I would choose World 2 over this one if we’re just talking about good gameplay and that’s not even my favorite game in the franchise. But we’ll get to that one a bit later…
The Disturbing Story so far…
Digimon Survive tells the tale of a dark and mysterious other world. Kemonogami as they would call it are the creatures that roam that world. You take the role of Takuma Momozuka whom is on his way along with his fellow classmates on a field trip that would eventually lead them to the other world filled with said creatures that are more than happy to sacrifice them for reasons unknown. It’s a tale that really puts the horror theme going despite being chased around by a small rock golem across the woods. But all jokes aside, its captivating story is also well executed thanks to its wonderful cast of colorful characters aside from that one guy, of whom will not be named. Each character in the game is relatable with each one having their own dark secrets to hide or just want to run away from and it starts to unfold as you run through each chapter of the game.
But what makes Digimon Survive’s story so captivating in the first place is the fact that it’s a story that is weaved based on your actions. While some decisions you make only offer little difference in the core story’s progression, there are certain choices that changes the plot slightly and at some point will lead to a greater effect. And this is what really drives me to go through those extra playthroughs just to get a better outcome or see an alternate ending that I would’ve gotten if I did things differently. But it’s also a very point and clicky game to the point (get it?) that it becomes frustrating. There are a lot of hidden things that you wouldn’t be getting otherwise whether it’s to help weaken a story boss or just increase your friendship with the other characters if you hadn’t taken that extra click for a bit more dialogue.
The lackluster showing for a tactics game
When you’re not sleuthing around though you’re probably going into the game’s tactics system. Something that I find so lackluster that a game from over 20 years ago will easily grab my attention more than this one. Digimon Survive is a game that supposedly integrates its karma system to its gameplay loop. It takes the narrative direction of your story and makes your partner digimon, in this case, Agumon into three distinct archetypes based on how you make your choices from Moral, Wrath and Harmony. Going mostly with Wrath up until the next plot progression would evolve Agumon into a virus type, however you can also still go into a different ultimate form should your Moral or Harmony catches up and this is what caught my attention when it was first teased. Sadly that’s also where it ended. Other tamers doesn’t really have a lot of branching digivolutions aside from its mega forms and your choices doesn’t particularly affect other digimon you befriend in free battles outside of its story either nor do they digivolve mid-battle unlike partner digimons do.
This makes the tactics game a bit less strategically interesting when your kemonogami doesn’t particularly have more than one move unless you equip them with one which also takes up one of your two available equipment slots for said digimon. Where it does try to make it look like a tactics game is the types of digimon they have to offer. You got your Mobility types that could either move more squares per turn or even have passives that could let them move twice in expense of losing the ability to attack during the same turn while a Defense type has a bit more defensive stats or a passive to support that, then there’s your Special, All Rounder and Attack types where it’s as straightforward as it sounds.
However where it starts to break the whole tactics formula is when you start spamming permanent stat enhancing items on a single digimon like Agumon until it can wipe a whole lot of digimons with a single hit from a mile away. It’s atrocious how the gameplay turns out when you can just literally go into Auto-battle for the most part and just watch yourself win a fight than actually do it. Then there’s the problem with the amount of digimon. With a small roster of 113 excluding the bonus Guilmon, you don’t particularly have a lot to choose from when that number easily shrinks to just over 30 Mega Digivolutions.
As much as I hate to say it, this just made me itch for an actual Digimon game that made me bought the complete edition of Digimon Story Cybersleuth on the Switch when I already had both games bought separately before on the Playstation Vita.
When visuals and sound harmonized into one
It’s a visually pleasing game though. The hand-drawn environment is crisp and detailed and while I expected a Visual Novel experience, what I got was something far better. It’s far from the usual VN’s I would get and instead it feels more like a POV from the main character with the ability to move the camera around and cutscenes aren’t portrayed in a manner that just fades in the talking characters and instead the camera would focus on where each character is as it moves fluently and it really emphasizes the broad range of expressions each character of the game has. It then cements the overall vibe with great voice acting despite only having Japanese voices and a fitting soundtrack as an icing on the cake.
In a nutshell, Digimon Survive is basically the Johnny Bravo of video games. With a highly buffed up story and lovable characters but with the lackluster showing for its gameplay elements. So if you’re looking for a game that delves into a different vibe, Digimon Survive offers just that if you can look past its shortcomings with its gameplay. I can’t stress it enough how good the overall experience is when it comes to its story and everything that comes in between be it the casts’ inner struggles with their selves or the group’s wishes of getting back to their own world. It becomes a rollercoaster of emotions as you move from chapter to chapter and see where each character is coming from and this is where it really all comes together.
Developers: Witch Craft Co., Ltd., Hyde, Witchcraft
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Publishers: BNE Entertainment, Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Reviewed on the Nintendo Switch
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