Going into Digimon Story: Time Stranger, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had been a casual Digimon enjoyer in my youth, but skipped over titles like the recent Digimon Survivors and even Digimon World titles, as they just felt lost to me. Going into this game, I was cautious about what I was getting myself into.
So, color me surprised when, after hours of gameplay and completing the story, I found myself having a lot of fun with this game, its premise, and mechanics, even if things can get a bit overwhelming at times.
Let's dive in!
Before I deep dive into this, I want to specify that there will be no story spoilers of any kind in the review. I'll simply touch on the story now, saying that, as the title suggests, you are sent on an adventure through time into the past to unravel the game's mysterious narrative. However, that is all I'll be touching on there, as I know many people are excited to dive into this adventure and wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone.
Now let's get into the meat of things. It's a Digimon game, so you can expect to find and tame hundreds of Digimon, Digivolve them into countless lines, and field some of your old favorites alongside the new. I was stunned by the level of variety of Digimon in this game. They look visually stunning (unlike their human counterparts at times), all have unique battle animations, and really showcase a lot of personality that stood out to me from start to finish.
And of course, you will be in for a lot of battles with your chosen party members. There is a deep level of customization that is unique to this game, with the main combat revolving around turn-based gameplay, akin to what you'd expect from an old-school Final Fantasy game. And while there are many similarities, the game takes these battles one step further.
There are seven attributes you need to learn, and, like Pokémon, knowing each one's strengths and weaknesses is pivotal to understanding both. They can be a bit grindy and repetitive at times, but luckily, after you level up your Digimon enough, battles with lower-level foes can be skipped entirely while still getting the rewards. You also aren't locked to just your main team. You can set up a team of backup Digimon to replace fallen allies, keeping you in a battle longer. You can also use this feature to chain different combos to help make it through any encounter. There is even an auto-battle option if you want to get through a struggle quickly without inputting all the attack options over and over again.
It's a pretty great battle system, and the game builds itself around it pretty well with extra skills you can activate to assist your Digimon, known as Cross Arts, and even an option to increase Combat Speed if you don't want to watch the animations over and over again. It's pretty easy to be underleveled in later stages, though, so make sure to take on every battle you can to give yourself a fighting chance against the bosses!
Down but not out
Outside of battles, there are a lot more things for you to spend your time on. Whether it's spending time collecting the hundreds of Digimon, or learning all their Digivolution methods by having your Digimon meet certain conditions. There is a lot to explore. However, it also becomes the game's primary issue.
Despite the game being designed as the perfect entry point to the series for RPG enthusiasts, I found many of the mechanics and options available to me to be overwhelming. It really does feel like you are navigating through multiple menus, items, stats, and more to create the perfect party and check the correct box to achieve the Digivolution you are after. Perhaps it's just me, but I felt overwhelmed early on and ended up skipping a few things that could have been potentially useful, as the explanations are not always clear.
From trying to figure out how to find items, developing attachment skills, understanding the personality system, learning how the Digifarm works, and ensuring I have x, y, and z. It isn't easy even at a base level. And we haven't even got into the various skill trees you need to play around with and choose certain advantages in the long term.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing; having a lot of options and having the freedom to really tailor your experience and discover everything on offer can be pretty fulfilling. However, for me, it felt a bit bloated. Especially as all this stuff was introduced very early on, one after another, so I was having to learn a lot of different mechanics at once instead of being slowly brought into them one at a time. It's a personal pet peeve, though, and I'm sure many people might see it differently.
This is our last Digivolution!
Digimon Story: Time Stranger is probably one of the best Digimon games ever to grace modern-day audiences and feels like it was made for the hardcore fan of the series that have played through every previous entry. It has a stunning amount of Digimon to find and train, and feels like a labor of love.
In doing so, however, it somewhat alienates the core non-Digimon fan and the casual player, as many of the mechanics and story elements are challenging for those unfamiliar with the series. Even storied veterans might struggle to balance everything on offer here.
But for those who devote their time to mastering everything. There is no doubt in my heart that you are in for a great big adventure in the Digital World.
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