Digimon Survive took a long time to get here, but the result was worthwhile. It’s certainly narrative-heavy and can be a bit repetitive, but Digimon Survive is a unique and pleasantly dark Digimon experience that fans looking for a mature mon title will enjoy.
Digimon Survive
Developer: Hyde and Witchcraft
Price: $60
Platform: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
As the local Digimon guy, I’ve been waiting for Survive since its announcement. A dark Digimon game with tactical RPG gameplay and a focus on story is so up my alley that it’s almost hard to believe. But here it is, so much time later, and seemingly none the worse for wear.
The premise of Digimon Survive isn’t too different from the original Digimon Adventure, with the whole “kids on a summer trip end up in another world.” It’s nostalgic in a way, but the darker tone that permeates the story helps separate it from the lighter original anime. The characters are all fairly realistic for teenagers thrown into mortal peril, and the Digimon complement their respective Tamers perfectly.
This characterization is especially important given the prominence of the story to Digimon Survive, which is more of a visual novel than a tactical RPG. Though characters sometimes repeat information more frequently than necessary, it’s not a huge problem. There’s a lot of story to take in, and though I think it would have benefitted Bandai to clarify the more visual novel-heavy side of the game, I don’t mind it. Digimon is full of great stories, so I’m always open to more.
The tactical gameplay is relatively simple but fun nonetheless. This simplicity makes it more accessible, if anything, for those primarily interested in the story of Digimon Survive. The grid-based combat isn’t especially difficult anyways, but it’s still fun to take advantage of positioning and timed digivolutions to pull out victories against crowds of menacing Digimon.
Though the depth of digivolution obviously doesn’t reach the complexity of the recent Cyber Sleuth games, it’s still particularly exciting to create your favorite Digimon throughout the game. I especially liked how your alignment choices decide the digivolution route for your Agumon, as I found I had a different evolution than my friends when we compared, highlighting the differences in our playstyles.
Negotiating with Digimon is more satisfying than the similarly structured demon negotiations in Shin Megami Tensei, as it feels like there’s less guesswork to the answers. There’s a good number of Digimon to recruit too, so you can have your own unique team composed of quite a few favorites and more obscure Digimon.
The art in Digimon Survive is quite sharp, evoking a more mature sensation than most of the more friendly and expressive anime series. Both styles are excellent, but this one better suits the more consistently harsh and almost oppressive atmosphere that Digimon Survive comes to use. It helps that the featured Digimon all sport excellent designs, which is one of the series’ strong suits. The voice acting and music are both wonderful, with a lot of real passion going into the dialogue.
The Final Word
Digimon Survive has lived up to its long-incubated hype. The story is intriguing and pleasantly mature, the gameplay is simple but enjoyable, and the performances are rock solid. It can be a bit repetitive, but I’d still recommend the game to anyone with a passing interest and a love for narrative-heavy mon games.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
