Name: Digimon Survive
Item: Digimon Survive
Rating: 8
Author: robiu013

Well, we're finally here.

If you're a Digimon fan like me, you too are probably aware of the troubled history of Digimon Survive. It's a game that basically went through development hell through the last 4 years and lots of people just about gave up on it. Until a couple months ago when Bandai Namco finally dropped the news that 2022 is in fact the year, and end of July the month.

But did it turn out good? I mean, the development issues have to be a bad omen, right? Well, for what it's worth I'd say this is **the best Digimon game in just about forever**. Not everybody will agree with me, as appearently 1-2 days ago the Metacritic reviews for the game were bombing citing the over-presence of the visual novel gameplay and marketing that made it seem more battle-oriented as reason, but looking at it right now the reviews look ok and I can't quite agree with the marketing criticism as I always anticipated the game to be at least 50/50 on visual novel story-telling and turn-based strategy battles.

Now, why do I think this is the best Digimon game of perhaps all time? Personally, I just feel like Survive **captures the spirit of the original - perhaps 3 - seasons of Digimon** better than any legacy product Digimon churned out in nearly 2 decades. It has battles and digivolution but it also has the heart that made seasons 1 and 3 the most memorable of Digimon shows. Story-telling and characterization is peak Digimon and this game perfectly fills the underwhelming void that Digimon Adventure 2020 left when it was decided that Digimon would get rebooted (sorry for a short diversion: the currently running Ghost Game anime is fine, the individual episodes have pretty good writing, but there is a lack of a broader narrative and meaningful character development).

The story told is **very reminiscent of the original Digimon season**. Takuma and 7 other of his "classmates" (they're technically from different schools) somehow open a gate into a different world, where they are greeted by small creatures known as Digi... uh, Kemonogami (the term Digimon is almost not used throughout the entire story). These creatures have an unexplainable bond to the kids and eventually develop the ability to evolve into bigger creatures for a limited amount of time before reverting back to their original forms.

From then on Survival is the name of the game. Whoever storyboarded this game was definitely fascinated by just how implicitly scary the setting of the original show was and amped that aspect up to 11. Interestingly, the game almost plays like a horror game: there is a general sense of tension, kids are struggling with the pressure and mental health,... they may die gruesomely. Yeah, this game does not hold back on making kids die. But it's not all doom and gloom: by the time I finished the game it really just felt like a love letter to the Digimon franchise and a meta-narrative on how fan interest kept it alive over the years (I know, I know capitalism lol). Somebody really took his time and thought through what story he wanted this entry in a 25 year old franchise to tell and it turned out pretty good.

Can't say everyone will experience as such for sure, cause **supposedly there are 4 possible endings** and various mini deviations throughout - I think I got the boring ending, but the journey and overall theme was still good. The story shapes itself based on player action, which is also reflected in the evolutionary path the protagonist's kemonogami **Agumon** takes: making more morally based decisions makes Agumon turn into more heroic warrior Digimon, acting friendly and diplomatic will pronounce his dinosaur-esque features as he grows larger and stronger, while making rash and emotion-filled decision might make him transform into a slightly more scary and dark creature.

Along Takuma who is the protagonist and to a degree self-insert character for the player, there is also a **colourful cast of secondary characters**:

Minoru and Falcomon: Takuma's jokester best friend and his owl-like companion with the heart of a moral and surprisingly mature protector.

Aoi and Labramon: The caring and motherly oldest girl in the squad and her devoted watchdog.

Kaito and Dracmon: Impulsive tsundere but nevertheless caring big brother who teams up with a loudmouth tiny demon/vampire.

Saki and Floramon: The rash and honest girly girl and her equally sassy flower child.

Shuuji and Lopmon: The oldest of the kids with a leader's ambition but lack of skill to follow that up. His rabbit-like partner wants to live up to his high expectations, but seems to struggle meeting them.

Ryo and Kunemon: Almost bully-like loner Ryo finds himself next to a bug incapable of speaking his language, but determined to stick to him no matter what. Unfortunately for the little insect, Ryo seems to be afraid of his fated partner.

Miu and Syakomon: Kaito's imaginative younger sister, who clashes with his overprotective personality. Trying to escape his grasp she runs off to the Kemonogami world and befriends her loyal clam-like friend.

Much like how Agumon will evolve based on Takuma's decisions you can also build up affinity with the other 7 kids by bonding with them giving them answers they like to hear. While their Digimon's first evolutions are story-based, they will only evolve to even higher levels, if the affinity backs it up.

I have talked at lenght about the visual novel aspects of the game and how I love them, but what about the TBS battle system? Meh, it's fine. **It's no Fire Emblem** and I don't think they got particularly imaginative in how they implemented it. Much like in Fire Emblem there is a triangle like system which determines a Kemonogami's advantage over his enemies: Vaccine beats Virus, Virus beats Data, Data beats Vaccine and Free is the no dis/advantage type. The mid-battle evolutions are a nice touch that reminds of how it worked in the original anime.

If you don't particularly like any of the main kid's 8 Digimon, you can also boost your numbers and **get your favorite Digimon by befriending free Kemonogami** in free battles. Similar to the Shin Megami Tensei series you try to negotiate with them. Give them the answers they want to hear and you can recruit them or ask them for free items instead. Free Digimon lack **the Talk action** (the ability to talk to partner Digimon mid-battle and give them bonuses like power ups or recovery), but they still have the ability to evolve further (permanently in their case) by consuming enlightenment slabs, which you collect throughout the story or free battles. There's **only 113 Digimon** in the game, which is notably less than Digimon's previous installments, but in a way it didn't really feel like the game was lacking that much to me regardless.

So yeah, overall this game lived up to what I have been waiting for over the last 4 years. If you wanted a great new Digimon story in 2022, Survive is about as good as you can get. Battle system lacks a bit of imagination that would make it stand out next to it's more popular predecessors, but I wouldn't call it dysfunctional or bad. Overall a good recommendation for fans of the franchise and people who enjoy story-based titles.

Well, we're finally here. If you're a Digimon fan like me, you too are probably aware of the troubled history of Digimon Survive. It's a game that basically went through development hell through the last 4 years and lots of people just about gave up on it. Until a couple months ago when Bandai Namco finally dropped the news that 2022 is in fact the year, and end of July the month.But did it turn out good? I mean, the development issues have to be a bad omen, right? Well, for what it's worth I'd say this is the best Digimon game in just about forever. Not everybody will agree with me, as appearently 1-2 days ago the Metacritic reviews for the game were bombing citing the over-presence of the visual novel gameplay and marketing that made it seem more battle-oriented as reason, but looking at it right now the reviews look ok and I can't quite agree with the marketing criticism as I always anticipated the game to be at least 50/50 on visual novel story-telling and turn-based strategy battles.Now, why do I think this is the best Digimon game of perhaps all time? Personally, I just feel like Survive captures the spirit of the original - perhaps 3 - seasons of Digimon better than any legacy product Digimon churned out in nearly 2 decades. It has battles and digivolution but it also has the heart that made seasons 1 and 3 the most memorable of Digimon shows. Story-telling and characterization is peak Digimon and this game perfectly fills the underwhelming void that Digimon Adventure 2020 left when it was decided that Digimon would get rebooted (sorry for a short diversion: the currently running Ghost Game anime is fine, the individual episodes have pretty good writing, but there is a lack of a broader narrative and meaningful character development).The story told is very reminiscent of the original Digimon season. Takuma and 7 other of his "classmates" (they're technically from different schools) somehow open a gate into a different world, where they are greeted by small creatures known as Digi... uh, Kemonogami (the term Digimon is almost not used throughout the entire story). These creatures have an unexplainable bond to the kids and eventually develop the ability to evolve into bigger creatures for a limited amount of time before reverting back to their original forms. From then on Survival is the name of the game. Whoever storyboarded this game was definitely fascinated by just how implicitly scary the setting of the original show was and amped that aspect up to 11. Interestingly, the game almost plays like a horror game: there is a general sense of tension, kids are struggling with the pressure and mental health,... they may die gruesomely. Yeah, this game does not hold back on making kids die. But it's not all doom and gloom: by the time I finished the game it really just felt like a love letter to the Digimon franchise and a meta-narrative on how fan interest kept it alive over the years (I know, I know capitalism lol). Somebody really took his time and thought through what story he wanted this entry in a 25 year old franchise to tell and it turned out pretty good.Can't say everyone will experience as such for sure, cause supposedly there are 4 possible endings and various mini deviations throughout - I think I got the boring ending, but the journey and overall theme was still good. The story shapes itself based on player action, which is also reflected in the evolutionary path the protagonist's kemonogami Agumon takes: making more morally based decisions makes Agumon turn into more heroic warrior Digimon, acting friendly and diplomatic will pronounce his dinosaur-esque features as he grows larger and stronger, while making rash and emotion-filled decision might make him transform into a slightly more scary and dark creature.Along Takuma who is the protagonist and to a degree self-insert character for the player, there is also a colourful cast of secondary characters:Minoru and Falcomon: Takuma's jokester best friend and his owl-like companion with the heart of a moral and surprisingly mature protector.Aoi and Labramon: The caring and motherly oldest girl in the squad and her devoted watchdog.Kaito and Dracmon: Impulsive tsundere but nevertheless caring big brother who teams up with a loudmouth tiny demon/vampire.Saki and Floramon: The rash and honest girly girl and her equally sassy flower child.Shuuji and Lopmon: The oldest of the kids with a leader's ambition but lack of skill to follow that up. His rabbit-like partner wants to live up to his high expectations, but seems to struggle meeting them.Ryo and Kunemon: Almost bully-like loner Ryo finds himself next to a bug incapable of speaking his language, but determined to stick to him no matter what. Unfortunately for the little insect, Ryo seems to be afraid of his fated partner.Miu and Syakomon: Kaito's imaginative younger sister, who clashes with his overprotective personality. Trying to escape his grasp she runs off to the Kemonogami world and befriends her loyal clam-like friend. Much like how Agumon will evolve based on Takuma's decisions you can also build up affinity with the other 7 kids by bonding with them giving them answers they like to hear. While their Digimon's first evolutions are story-based, they will only evolve to even higher levels, if the affinity backs it up.I have talked at lenght about the visual novel aspects of the game and how I love them, but what about the TBS battle system? Meh, it's fine. It's no Fire Emblem and I don't think they got particularly imaginative in how they implemented it. Much like in Fire Emblem there is a triangle like system which determines a Kemonogami's advantage over his enemies: Vaccine beats Virus, Virus beats Data, Data beats Vaccine and Free is the no dis/advantage type. The mid-battle evolutions are a nice touch that reminds of how it worked in the original anime.If you don't particularly like any of the main kid's 8 Digimon, you can also boost your numbers and get your favorite Digimon by befriending free Kemonogami in free battles. Similar to the Shin Megami Tensei series you try to negotiate with them. Give them the answers they want to hear and you can recruit them or ask them for free items instead. Free Digimon lack the Talk action (the ability to talk to partner Digimon mid-battle and give them bonuses like power ups or recovery), but they still have the ability to evolve further (permanently in their case) by consuming enlightenment slabs, which you collect throughout the story or free battles. There's only 113 Digimon in the game, which is notably less than Digimon's previous installments, but in a way it didn't really feel like the game was lacking that much to me regardless.So yeah, overall this game lived up to what I have been waiting for over the last 4 years. If you wanted a great new Digimon story in 2022, Survive is about as good as you can get. Battle system lacks a bit of imagination that would make it stand out next to it's more popular predecessors, but I wouldn't call it dysfunctional or bad. Overall a good recommendation for fans of the franchise and people who enjoy story-based titles.

Digimon Survive

Digimon Survive

Player Score

robiu013