Digimon Survive

Digimon Survive was a pleasant surprise and honestly, I’d say it’s the best Digimon game so far. Compared to Cyber Sleuth, it feels like a big step forward in a lot of ways. One thing I really appreciated was how much more player-friendly it is — the option to auto or skip dialogue was a huge time-saver, especially during slower parts. Gameplay-wise, it’s tight. The mechanics feel more refined, and the choices you make actually matter, which keeps things interesting across multiple playthroughs. The branching story paths were a nice touch too. If I had to nitpick, I just wish there was a bit more variety in the Digimon you can recruit. That would've pushed the replay value even higher. But overall, the story, gameplay, and even the music came together really well. If you’re a Digimon fan or even just into tactical RPGs with some visual novel flavor, this one’s definitely worth checking out.

Probably the best digimon story out there currently. The tactical rpg aspect is fun and easy to speed through once you've gotten a hang of it. Definitely not worth $60 but at a fair discount definitely pick it up.

[b]Digimon Survive[/b] is a deeply flawed attempt at merging a tactical RPG with a visual novel. While it showcases solid visuals and voice acting, the game fails to deliver compelling gameplay or storytelling, leading to a frustratingly repetitive and underwhelming experience. [h3][b]Pros:[/b][/h3] + [b]Strong Visual Presentation:[/b] The game's art style is appealing, with polished 2D visuals and well-executed camera transitions during dialogue scenes that add some cinematic flair. + [b]Full Voice Acting for Key Scenes:[/b] Important dialogues are fully voiced in Japanese, and the original Digimon voice actors return, offering an extra layer of immersion for longtime fans. [h3][b]Cons:[/b][/h3] - [b]Repetitive and Shallow Narrative Structure:[/b] The game’s 12 chapters follow the same repetitive cycle with little variation. Character development is superficial, and interactions lack emotional depth or meaningful progression. - [b]Poorly Executed Visual Novel Elements:[/b] Conversations are often redundant, characters feel one-dimensional, and personal conflicts are resolved unrealistically, undermining the themes Digimon is known for. - [b]Weak Tactical Combat System:[/b] Strategy elements are overly simplistic. There's little incentive to engage with deeper mechanics like buffs or positioning, and battles can often be won by brute force. - [b]Pointless Affinity and Evolution Systems:[/b] Gaining character affinity is unclear and often boils down to trial and error. Evolution paths are tied to karma points, but most evolutions lack emotional payoff or uniqueness. - [b]Misleading Marketing and Genre Confusion:[/b] The game was advertised as a tactical RPG, but is primarily a visual novel with minimal combat. Even as a visual novel, it fails to deliver a compelling story. - [b]Disjointed Storytelling and Plot Holes:[/b] Many character arcs and story elements are abandoned or resolved without buildup. Emotional moments are narrated instead of shown, making them feel cheap and rushed. - [b]Artificial Replayability and Route Design:[/b] With four routes and five endings, players must replay the first 8 identical chapters multiple times to see different outcomes — a tedious requirement. - [b]Ineffective Dialogue Systems:[/b] Both character affinity and Digimon recruitment rely on vague dialogue choices, often leading to save-scumming due to lack of feedback or logic. - [b]False Sense of Choice in Survival Mechanics:[/b] While marketed as a game where your choices determine who lives or dies, actual character deaths are mostly predetermined by your route, not meaningful decisions. - [b]Low Emotional Payoff in Evolutions:[/b] Unlike classic Digimon stories where emotional breakthroughs trigger evolution, here Digimons evolve with generic phrases like "let's fight!", missing the franchise’s hallmark moments. - [b]Dialogue Padding and Repetition:[/b] Characters repeat the same thoughts endlessly, with little narrative value. The writing is bloated and filled with filler content, dragging down pacing. [h3][b]Final Rating: C[/b][/h3] *Rating from lowest to highest: C, B, A, S.*

Classical JP visual novel with decent grid-based tactical gameplay and a compelling story. The combat isn't difficult and the presence of free battles means you should never feel under-powered. Part of me wonders if the story was written prior to the Digimon IP being slapped on as it feels more like a traditional Japanese 'yokai' story, but I suppose Digimon was always heavily rooted in JP mythology. At times, I wish I could reach through the screen and shake some of these stupid kids for being so obtuse and up their own asses but, in fairness, the different portrayals of how a young person (or anyone really) would deal with the shock of their frankly horrific survival situation feels fair. Poor Kunemon.

If you have played games like Danganronpa then this might interest you as 'choices' will definitely affect how you progress in the game. Being a Digimon fan myself I expected something similar to what I've played with the other digimon titles, but sadly I was mistaken as the title having 'survive' made more sense as I play it longer. This is 'NOT' a game for people who wants more gameplay though as it is more story-rich with lengthy chapters and repetitive battles to grind for loot. However, the main story is 'voiced' which makes it more tolerable than other visual novel games. The game devs applied a 'skip' and 'auto' which saves you from stress or smashing that next button as you can play the game in windowed mode to also multitask like read the walkthrough while you progress. Overall, having played this more than once to get all achievements, I do recommend using a walkthrough for this game as it becomes really tedious and in fact you get more from of the story with a walkthrough than scum saving on each choices (although I do recommend just playing your first playthrough blindly if you want the game to be more of a challenge). Definitely not a recommended game for people who are not Digimon fans, but definitely something people might buy if they are a fan of the series and having alot of time on their hands as this game kinda shows an understanding the lore how Digimon got digitalized.

打着数码宝贝战棋的AVG游戏，然而大部分角色都是巨婴。 只有亚古兽能让我感到一丝温暖。 越是玩到后面血压越高 打个怪自己给自己上压力 队友又怂又喜欢浪 谁都打不过还没事就单走 单走就算了出了事就怀疑队友 这帮队友我tm盖上游戏名字，以为自己玩的是黑暗地牢。

[h3]Underrated and misunderstood game[/h3] I know Digimon Survive got a lot of hate, but I belong to the fans of. Yes, this game is different from other Digimon games, because it's mainly a visual novel with a small amount of tactical RPG, so there's a lot to read. Visual novels are focused on story and plots (that why they're called visual [b][i]novels[/i][/b]), so gamers, who expect a full combat gameplay, will be disappointed (and I assume this is the main issue). But still though, the story is pretty unique for putting Japanese mythology and Shintoism into a Digimon universe, giving the existence of Digimon a completely new meaning! Beside, the dark and mystery vibe is typical for many visual novels, which makes fans feel at home. Tbh, I don't like most of the main kids, but I like them as a whole group. The only thing I really didn't like were the interruptions in the last few battles until the end, this was really annoying!!! Still though, I love Digimon Survive as a fan of Digimon, visual novels, mythologies, urban legends and dark and horror content. If you are also fans of these things, give Digimon Survive a chance.