"Digimon" was originally a story of seven kids at a summer camp who were teleported into the mysterious digital world. There, they met digital monsters or Digimon for short and they began their adventure to save the digital world from evil. This story is a great reminder of my childhood and I find myself going back and watching as many of the series as possible. On March 12, 2015, Bandai Namco released the rpg (role-playing game) Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. Now I had not heard about the game releasing until I saw gameplay of it by Herovoltsy on YouTube. Seeing the gameplay, I became extremely excited to play a game that would take me back to my childhood. And so, I bought the game along with its free DLC or downloadable content and dove straight in.
My first impression with playing the game was the sheer nostalgia of seeing the Digimon that I have always known like Agumon and Gabumon, Patamon and Gatomon. These Digimon really took me back to when I was 10 or 11 and waking up Saturday mornings to watch the shows. The digivolutions were also mostly spot on when it comes to the Digimon and what I had known for them to turn into. The concepts that comprised the main core of the game were great and was very accurate as one of the main points of Digimon was that they could become stronger in strength from battle-to-battle.
Another thing that I like about this game was the unique storyline. I had never thought of Digimon as a series that could be taken from the point of view of a detective or “cyber sleuth” but I definitely enjoyed it. The progression of the story from beginning to end was fantastic as the main theme of coexistence between humans and Digimon was continuously emphasized. The implementation of the detective mechanic where the main character (you) have to solve numerous cases to gain experience as a cyber sleuth also played a good role in its enjoyment by introducing the Digimon in a different setting than they are normally shown in the television series.
I had only a couple of grievances with this game. I wished the movement in game was a lot more open world based. I was looking for a little more freedom when exploring the game environment. I think that freedom within the game realm is essential as gamers enjoy being able to freely move around the game environment. Another thing that I didn’t like was the small resemblance that the game had to Pokemon. The advantage and disadvantage system may have had a different theme but I think that battle mechanic should have been limited to only the typing of Digimon (Data, Virus, and Vaccine). The use of elements like water, fire, earth for the advantage/disadvantage system alongside the typing I thought was unnecessary as some Digimon are already given an advantage based on the typing.
Overall, I thought the game to be a great success. There is a little more that can be done with the game as a player progresses. One thing that is very exciting is the introduction of the royal knights of the digital world which can be obtained through certain requirements. I hope to obtain one of these Digimon and hopefully battle online against other players. I would give this game a definite 9.5 out of 10 for its awesome gameplay and its play on nostalgia.
