For so long as I can keep in mind, each Digimon and Pokémon have been an enormous a part of my life. The 2 monster-taming franchises roared to life within the late ‘90s with a pleasant rivalry pitched to the general public as a struggle of monstrous proportions — however they’ve at all times been rivals, not enemies. Digimon and Pokémon are strolling parallel to one another, not crossing paths, however for a pair a long time now, Digimon has fallen behind, and Pokémon… effectively, it’s the best grossing media franchise on the earth. Want I say extra?
That could possibly be altering, although. Digimon has been slowly constructing to a renaissance in recent times, and I believe it’s about to blow up in reputation (once more) this October with the launch of Digimon Story: Time Stranger. It’s the most recent recreation within the Digimon Story collection – the extra laid-back, extra Pokémon-like subseries of the Digimon franchise – and it’s shaping as much as be a worthy rival for Pokémon as soon as once more.
At a preview occasion in Sydney, I spent about three hours with Digimon Story: Time Stranger, break up up into two sections — the opening 90 minutes of the sport, and a section halfway via the story. My time with this recreation was spent on the PlayStation 5 model of the sport, and sadly no Swap 2 launch has been introduced but. I’d prefer to think about such a launch is on the way in which, however we’ll have to attend and see on that entrance. Something is feasible, and writer Bandai Namco is a robust supporter of Nintendo consoles.
From the get-go, Time Stranger wowed me with its cinematic course. It opens with a delightfully animated 2D cutscene, an in-universe anime impressed by the actions of the primary character and the organisation to which they belong, ADAMAS. ADAMAS investigates unusual goings-on on the earth, very like the detective company in prior Digimon Story video games, which appears to nearly at all times tie again to Digimon. Humorous that.
The primary main factor I observed about Time Stranger was simply how snappy its opening was. Mere minutes into the sport, I used to be choosing a starter Digimon (Gomamon, after all), tackling different Digimon within the wild, and acquiring new Digimon. It’s nonetheless acquired loads of story and exposition, but it surely’s blisteringly quick in comparison with a contemporary Pokémon recreation.
From there, I progressed via the story to discover a curious environmental hazard — a big chasm that couldn’t be crossed simply by leaping. I used to be tasked with discovering a Biyomon, a sort of chook Digimon, to assist me cross the chasm, and she or he joined my staff as a brief Digimon till the duty was over. This jogged my memory significantly of the Pokémon Ranger collection, which has gamers gathering particular Pokémon that may assist with duties within the wild, earlier than happening their manner. In a later part of the sport, I did one thing comparable with Submarimon, which let me swim via robust currents.
Throughout that later section of the sport, I used to be thrown into the center of a narrative the place I needed to acquire medication for a sick Digimon. There’s some story-related stuff that I received’t spoil about this, however I’ll say that the story is maturely written, however not in a manner that essentially precludes kids. There’s little question that Digimon Story: Time Stranger is aimed toward older teenagers and adults – it has an M score in Australia – however with some steering and assist, I believe it could possibly be loved by most individuals.
It’s very well-written, and importantly very-well voice acted, with most strains of dialogue within the recreation being acted in each English and Japanese. That is one thing else that units it other than Pokémon, which has notably been absent of any voice appearing all through its foremost collection video games, typically to its personal detriment. As Pokémon turns into extra targeted on storytelling, with extra cutscenes and cinematics, its lack of voice appearing turns into much more obvious, and whereas I don’t suppose voice appearing is required, I do suppose it will go an extended approach to promoting the moments Pokémon is attempting to promote in current video games. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is proof of this — it may have simply been achieved with out voice appearing, but it surely’s a lot extra impactful when there’s a voice to the phrases you’re studying.
This later section confirmed off the depth of the fight system, which I used to be more than happy with. It’s turn-based, with some velocity and switch ordering shenanigans much like Pokémon Legends: Arceus, however Digimon will get the credit score for the system right here — this type of flip ordering has been a mainstay of the collection for some time. Each Digimon feels sufficiently distinctive in fight, and fight encounters aren’t afraid to ask you to make use of a little bit of technique. Fortunately, there are simple and arduous difficulties you’ll be able to swap to at any time, too, for anybody who desires a neater or harder time with the sport, one thing Pokémon may stand to be aware of.
I don’t imply to make so many comparisons between Pokémon and Digimon, however taking part in via Time Stranger actually made me mirror on my current years with Pokémon. I’ve loved each Pokémon recreation launched thus far, and each Digimon recreation too, however up till now each have been at all times left feeling somewhat bit under-budgeted. That’s to not say they weren’t good – they completely have been – however there have been clear limitations that appeared like they’d stick to each collection eternally.
Now, with Digimon Story: Time Stranger, it’s clear to me that these limitations aren’t set in stone. Time Stranger appears like the most important price range Digimon recreation thus far, going larger and higher than ever earlier than. It appears superb, with a pointy, constant, and really nice artwork type, it has incredible voice appearing, nice localisation, very tightly-refined fight, and numerous little bits and items that make it really feel magical.
Pokémon can do the identical. We don’t know when the following era of Pokémon video games is because of be launched, but it surely’s more likely to be a Swap 2 unique, and it appears to have had somewhat bit of additional time within the oven. I can solely hope that, like Digimon, it’s an enormous leap ahead for the collection, lastly stepping out of the presentation points which have plagued it in current entries and evolving it into one thing that feels made for the trendy age from prime to backside.
That pleasant rivalry I spoke of earlier, it’s not a contest. I don’t suppose Digimon is ever going to be on the verge of taking up Pokémon, nor ought to it — they’ll, and will coexist. However I believe every collection can push the opposite to do higher, to goal larger, and to attain extra. They take little bits and items from one another – issues that make sense – and refine them. There are undoubtedly folks engaged on Time Stranger who’ve performed a variety of Pokémon up to now, and there’ll undoubtedly be folks engaged on the following era of Pokémon who play Time Stranger, too. Hopefully, they’ll be taking notes.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger is about to be launched on PS5, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PC on October third, 2025. Hopefully, Swap 2 received’t be too far behind.
