This review is going to be biased, as I'm an avid fan of both the Anime franchise and its card game. Just keep that in mind while reading this small review.
[h3]THE GOOD;[/h3]
● The graphics are a visual delight and show a lot of improvement compared to the days of Cyber Sleuth and Digimon Next Order.
● The skill animations are fantastic and show a lot of the individual characteristics of each Digimon.
● The gameplay is basically the same as in the previous Story games, but it does improve in some aspects, particularly with the new "gun" functions given to the playable character. Even though, I must admit, I barely used them by the end of the game.
● The amount of Digimon available in the game is a delight. I would have loved to see some Digimon from the Ghost Game series as well, especially since the series was airing while the game was being developed.
[h3]THE NOT GOOD BUT ALSO NOT BAD;[/h3]
● Let's be honest: the story isn't particularly good if you're looking for a story-heavy game. This isn't really that kind of game.
While I understand the development issues the game went through and the amount of reboots it apparently had, I would have at least expected a bit more from the story. Most of it can basically be guessed within the first two hours of the game, and the same goes for many of the "plot twists" you encounter along the way.
That said, I absolutely loved the Neptunemon and Venusmon storyline.
[h3]THE BAD;[/h3]
● There is essentially no post-game. Once you beat the story, that's it. At least Cyber Sleuth gave you the option to continue doing unfinished side missions if you had missed any.
● No PvP. While PvP was never the main premise of the Digimon games, and it certainly wasn't the main focus of Cyber Sleuth either, the online battle system still allowed you to fight other players in ranked matches. It would have been nice to see this carried over into the newest game in the series.
● The DLC. While I'm aware that there is a story update currently in development for the future, that doesn't excuse the three rather disappointing 2–3 hour DLCs we received.
Yes, they add new Digimon, which is always nice, but the problem is that many of those Digimon are just different variants of Omnimon. I understand that Omnimon is basically Digimon's Charizard at this point, but having one DLC add three different Omnimon variants is just a joke.
[h3]CONCLUSION[/h3]
As someone who has been a fan of the franchise since I could walk, the game definitely hits that funny bone for me and makes it worth the price.
However, if you aren't already a fan of the franchise or are simply looking to try it out, I would recommend waiting for a discount—or possibly waiting for a "Complete Edition," if we end up getting one after the major story DLC planned for 2027.
At this point, I can only hope that Bandai has finally realized just how many fans this franchise has and hope that we won't have to wait another 10+ years of development hell for the next Digimon Story installment.
