The most recent State of Play wasn’t incredibly exciting, but it did give us Digimon Story Time Stranger. As someone who enjoyed their time with the first Cyber Sleuth game, I think it’s good to see a proper sequel with improved visuals. It might not be the prettiest game, but I’ll take any HD Digimon I can get.
Fans waiting for Time Stranger’s release should do themselves a favor and pick up the Cyber Sleuth collection. Originally released on PS4 and PS Vita, both games are readily available in modern game stores, often go on sale, and have fun turn-based combat. Admittedly, they have a weird learning curve that might turn off some players, but hardcore RPG fans might enjoy it.
Unlike all Pokémon games, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and its sequel, Hacker’s Memory, go for a slightly older audience. Gamers who don’t like the kiddy nature of Game Freak’s titles will probably enjoy the scantily clad girls, light swearing, and horror elements. There’s also some witty writing that younger players won’t get, so that’s a big plus.
Admittedly, these games never get too dark. They are Digimon games, so fans can still expect to see the power of friendship to help out your character. Some might find the tonal dissonance weird, but look at Angewomon and Lady Devimon almost kissing.
Gameplay-wise, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is your typical turn-based JRPG, with some elements that are a bit dated. Random battles are still big in this game, so players are encouraged to save often and buy health items. Your Digimon gets some cool battle animations, but gamers can tell these titles were made for the PS Vita.
What differentiates these RPGs from Pokémon is how you add more Digimon to your party. After battling Digimon, players will notice a percentage meter go up. Once this reaches 100%, you can spawn that Digimon through your farming hub, ensuring you’ll have endless teammates.
Recruiting new party members might be easy, but having them digivolve into your favorite forms is another hurdle. Let’s say you want Patamon to digivolve into Angemon. In a normal creature-catching game, you’d just have to let them level up and have them evolve. However, these are digital monsters, and they have numerous forms from which to choose. Some forms need specific stats to reach a number in addition to reaching the proper level, which becomes more frustrating because your Digimon can reach their level caps before hitting that specific stat.
How do you perfect that stat? You’ll have to unevolve your Digimon to a younger form and grind out the stats through specific training regimes. Training is all done in one hub, so that’s not a huge problem, but we imagine some players won’t want to make Agumon punch things just to get Greymon.
Yeah, there’s a lot of grinding in these games, and we aren’t sure if Digimon Story Time Stranger will fix any of those flaws. Some fans probably don’t consider these a flaw since increasing these stats and seeing numbers go up can be addictive. Believe it or not, this is a leveling system we’ve also seen in the PS1 Digimon World games, so the Story series didn’t start this insanity.
So why should fans pick up the Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth games when they’re grindy? Because that makes them different and makes battles fun. Seeing a complicated feature like this is fascinating, but it is incredibly rewarding once you “get good” at it. This is probably what Soulslike fans see in their games.
If you’re in the mood for an edgy creature-catching game series that respects the power of friendship, pick up the Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth collection now. Digimon Story Time Stranger is coming out later this year for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.