Digimon is a great series, which throughout its history has arguably had to live in the shadow of the unstoppable Pokemon franchise Nintendo. Debuting on Bandai’s handheld Wonderswan — which was developed by the late Game Boy and Virtual Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi — Digimon was one of the handheld console’s major IPs. However, the massive success of Game Boy and Game Boy Color – spurred by the massive hit of Pokemon – meant that Wonderswan was not only released in Japan, but the Digimon series was only playable in its early stages in the Land of the Rising Sun.
It came to the West and other platforms later, and for years it was best known for its RPG.
Which is what makes Digimon Survive such a bold and exciting launch for the series.
Digimon Survive goes against what fans have known for decades, a mixture of visual novel and tactical RPG genre.
It’s a brave decision to change a tried and tested formula, and it’s hard to hold on to landing on the first try when venturing into new land.
But Digimon Survive somehow managed to pull that huge change into the franchise with aplomb, creating not only a great entry point for first time fans but in an exciting new direction for existing fans.
As a visual novel, Digimon Survive is one of the best examples of the niche genre in recent years, featuring an engaging story beautifully told with an impressive cast of characters.
You’ll wear the shoes of Japanese teenager Takuma Momozuka, who one day enters the Digimon world with his classmates on a school trip.
One of the first Digimon he encounters is of course the Agumon mascot series, but while there are many familiar faces, Digimon Survive takes a lot of surprising turns.
The story and visuals in Digimon Survive can sometimes be surprisingly dark, making for a more mature experience than you might expect when looking at the cute and cuddly creatures in box art.
The mystery that drives the story is fun right from the start, which is great because a compelling narrative is at the heart of what makes a good visual novel.
There are many great examples of the visual novel genre – from Steins Gate, to Root Letter, to Zero Escape – and their approaches can vary widely.
Some are more into the new side of the genre, with endless amounts of text and very little gameplay.
Digimon Survive strikes a nice balance – like other visual novels, you’ll find a great deal of text, but there are also story paths branching off depending on your choices, while decisions can also affect bolstering stats and other personal relationships.
And then, of course, there’s the fighting. Like other Digimon games, Digimon Survive adopts a tactical combat system.
It’s not as deep or exhausting as one of the gold standards of the genre – Fire Emblem – but there are a lot of things you’ll need to keep in mind, such as placing your characters as side and back attacks that do more damage, when you’re defending buffs use them to help boost your party’s stats .
Besides all this, one of the most eye-catching things about Digimon Survive is how beautiful it is.
From a presentation perspective, Digimon Survive is one of the best looking visual novels, with a vibrant art style, well-realized animated character models, and elegant animated clips.
For anyone who’s been following Digimon Survive’s progress since it was first revealed in 2018, this bold new entry in the long-running RPG series is well worth the wait.
This more mature and dark post-apocalyptic Digimon is a great entry point for first time fans.
And even if you’re not a fan of the series, if you like visual novels, Digimon Survive is one of the best examples of the genre in recent years.
Verdict: 4/5
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