For so long as I can keep in mind, each Digimon and Pokémon have been a giant 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 conflict of monstrous proportions — however they’ve all the time been rivals, not enemies. Digimon and Pokémon are strolling parallel to one another, not crossing paths, however for a pair many years now, Digimon has fallen behind, and Pokémon… properly, it’s the very 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 lately, 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 sport 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 phase halfway via the story. My time with this sport was spent on the PlayStation 5 model of the sport, and sadly no Change 2 launch has been introduced but. I’d wish to think about such a launch is on the best way, 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 path. It opens with a delightfully animated 2D cutscene, an in-universe anime impressed by the actions of the principle character and the organisation to which they belong, ADAMAS. ADAMAS investigates unusual goings-on on the earth, very similar to the detective company in prior Digimon Story video games, which appears to virtually all the time tie again to Digimon. Humorous that.
The primary main factor I seen about Time Stranger was simply how snappy its opening was. Mere minutes into the sport, I used to be selecting a starter Digimon (Gomamon, in fact), tackling different Digimon within the wild, and acquiring new Digimon. It’s nonetheless received loads of story and exposition, but it surely’s blisteringly quick in comparison with a contemporary Pokémon sport.
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 kind of chook Digimon, to assist me cross the chasm, and he or she joined my workforce as a short lived Digimon till the duty was over. This jogged my memory drastically of the Pokémon Ranger collection, which has gamers amassing 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 phase of the sport, I used to be thrown into the center of a narrative the place I needed to gather drugs for a sick Digimon. There’s some story-related stuff that I gained’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 doubt that Digimon Story: Time Stranger is aimed toward older teenagers and adults – it has an M ranking in Australia – however with some steering and help, I believe it could possibly be loved by most individuals.
It’s very well-written, and importantly very-well voice acted, with most traces of dialogue within the sport being acted in each English and Japanese. That is one thing else that units it aside from Pokémon, which has notably been absent of any voice performing all through its foremost collection video games, generally to its personal detriment. As Pokémon turns into extra centered on storytelling, with extra cutscenes and cinematics, its lack of voice performing turns into much more obvious, and whereas I don’t suppose voice performing is required, I do suppose it could go an extended option to promoting the moments Pokémon is attempting to promote in current video games. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is proof of this — it might have simply been achieved with out voice performing, but it surely’s a lot extra impactful when there’s a voice to the phrases you’re studying.
This later phase confirmed off the depth of the fight system, which I used to be very happy with. It’s turn-based, with some pace and switch ordering shenanigans much like Pokémon Legends: Arceus, however Digimon will get the credit score for the system right here — this model 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 straightforward and arduous difficulties you possibly can change to at any time, too, for anybody who desires a better or tougher time with the sport, one thing Pokémon might stand to be aware of.
I don’t imply to make so many comparisons between Pokémon and Digimon, however enjoying via Time Stranger actually made me replicate on my current years with Pokémon. I’ve loved each Pokémon sport launched so far, and each Digimon sport too, however up till now each had been all the time left feeling a bit of bit under-budgeted. That’s to not say they weren’t good – they completely had been – however there have been clear limitations that appeared like they’d persist with 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 largest funds Digimon sport so far, going larger and higher than ever earlier than. It seems to be superb, with a pointy, constant, and really nice artwork model, it has implausible voice performing, 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 subsequent technology of Pokémon video games is because of be launched, but it surely’s prone to be a Change 2 unique, and it appears to have had a bit of bit of additional time within the oven. I can solely hope that, like Digimon, it’s a giant 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 fashionable 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 will, and may coexist. However I believe every collection can push the opposite to do higher, to intention greater, and to realize extra. They take little bits and items from one another – issues that make sense – and refine them. There are undoubtedly individuals engaged on Time Stranger who’ve performed a number of Pokémon previously, and there’ll undoubtedly be individuals engaged on the subsequent technology of Pokémon who play Time Stranger, too. With a bit of luck, they’ll be taking notes.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger is ready to be launched on PS5, Xbox Sequence X|S, and PC on October third, 2025. Hopefully, Change 2 gained’t be too far behind.
