Digimon lives in the hearts of all the chosen children who had the opportunity to see his anime in the 90s. Leaving nostalgia aside, the franchise could never stand out from the second season of the series, which already had a quality and proposal that many did not like.
There is no doubt that in those times, the battle to know if Pokémon or Digimon was better, and which came first if the Digivice wave pokeball separated and broke friendships. However, over the years, we all know who ended up succeeding in their original product (video games) and it was certainly Pokemon.
These digital monsters of the “Digiworld” have been seen on rare occasions. Although during the PlayStation everyone knew the franchise Digimon Worldslowly faded away until the recent releases of cyber sleuth on current platforms. Although the proposal was very good and offered us a different story, we cannot deny that we still wanted to know how far the franchise could digivolve.
All this introduction leads us to the simple question:Digimon Survive is it what we expected? I am pleased, and I say this happily, to say no. Because at the time this game was released no one knew what was coming. For more trailers that were presented, we did not understand if this would be a Visual Adventure in the style of the famous danganronpa Y Zero Escape or if it would be a strategy game like Pokemon Conquest.
What I experienced was neither one nor the other, and I assure you as a fan of both genres.
Constructing the narrative of the Digimundo
Digimon Survive it is, and it was always said, a Visual Novel. That is to say: You will follow the characters throughout a narrative, you will make some decisions that will affect the fate of the characters and you will have an overall sterile movement. As such, it would be ridiculous to come and complain: “This is not Digimon World”, because really the game at no time tries to be.
The game proposes a new aspect: Accompany a group of teenagers to explore a world unknown to them where unknown creatures live. Following some tropes, the group is made up of stereotypes that we see and know from any anime of the style: The protagonist who is a born leader, the smiling friend who fakes his problems, the fragile partner with a soft voice, among many others.
At this point, the ignorance of this dimension lends itself to the group gradually discovering about the world and its creatures. Each of the members of this team with a specific companion, a Digimon, who will accompany them. So far, the formula is what is said and known about this franchise, or any similar one.
At first, following the narrative could be tedious due to the common places that it exposes and visits, every time a character comes out you know what role they are going to play in this group. Suddenly you make decisions that alter small events, personally I would have preferred the options to be displayed randomly but as the game progresses you realize that left means “Morale”, top is “Courage” and right is “Harmony”. The game is very transparent about it and that’s fine. You accept it, and you try to be as honest as possible. You talk with your peers, in the same way with a decision tree and improving their affinity. Without realizing it, the game immerses you in its own narrative that will slowly transform.
In terms of gameplay, pressing the corresponding button to continue the dialogue might not be appealing. Nevertheless, the art of each character, each stage and the animations are achieved in such a spectacular way that you immerse yourself in this story as if you were living your own digi-adventure. Similarly, you can explore areas with your cell phone, discover secret objects and from time to time, VERY occasionally, you will have battles in a strategy game format.
Unfortunately these fights are the weakest heel in the game. Maps that only play a little with latitude, limitation of attacks by the Digimon, generic and repetitive songs; There comes a point where the last thing you want is to fight. On top of that, the performance of these battles on Nintendo Switch it is catastrophic when lowering the frames per second when what happens on the screen is minimal, it is a complete digi-disappointment. What’s interesting is that you can recruit other Digimon to join you. You can talk to them and according to your level and character they will ask you some questions and decide whether to join your ranks or not.
At that moment I realized. East Digimon was something different and its closest simile was the most recent Atlus games such as Shin Megami Tensei V Y person 5. Which is never a complaint since the studio makes great titles and a Digimon game as a simile could be a good proposal, which fell short in the gameplay section that it tried to propose.
You know the side that nobody told us about the Digichosen in Digimon Survive
The most important point being the narrative, one expects the classic story of these games. As it goes on you realize Digimon It is no longer completely aimed at a children’s audience, but instead appeals to the nostalgia of those who lived through the original series or some later ones. Not only for the inclusion of all the Digimon classics of the first digi-chosen in the digi-90s, but because of the twist that the narrative gives. What yes, we are happy to say that the game comes with two Spanish language options, one being “Neutral Spanish”. We will be forever grateful for this option.
I want to clarify that If you are a Visual Novel player, the script may not surprise you, but seeing the evolution of Digimon in this section is something that one does not expect. There comes a point where the construction of characters allows you to see these children as real thinking beings who are facing a crisis: They are not only teenagers far from their family, they are in an unknown place, with people alien to them, with some monsters they don’t know. (and they chase them with: “I am your destiny”, “I come to help you, “WANT ME”) and facing enemies who seek to sacrifice them in a blood ritual in fights for which they are not prepared.
And it is then that the game reminds you that your decisions matter. The path you choose will be the destiny of many things. The most basic: Your Agumon can evolve into three very powerful dinosaurs (including the classic Greymon), until you reach a specific chapter where the gap between your group will be defined by the decisions you have made.
Without going into much detail about it, I want to make it clear that the story of this game does take a turn that turns the narrative into something dark, with moments where you question whether this was the franchise of your childhood and that places you in a context where the characters are humanized and deconstructedsome surrendering to madness, others to despair and some with fateful destinies.
This incredible story is diminished by slow moments within the narrative, a basic proposal of battles in the form of strategic maps, a huge visual section, full of personality and with incredible definition, but an unfortunate auditory section that is better to forget due to repetition. and generic that it is; Except for the voice acting, the Japanese actors (the only option available in terms of dubbing) do an excellent job in representing each of the characters.
If you are a fan of the franchise, it is a great way to get to know another facet of these creatures.. In case you are new to the world of Digimonyou will have a very crude way of knowing him, but it will be magnificent if you decide to follow until the last consequences of your decisions.
What do you think of Digimon Survive? Does it excite you a little? We also remind you that you can follow our news through Facebook, Twitter Y Google news. Do you want to be part of our community? Pass to Discord where there is a place
We played Digimon Survive on Nintendo Switch with a code provided by a Bandai Namco representative in our region.
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