Many Digimon RPGs have been released over the years and most fans have enjoyed them. However, this year is a little different as Digimon Survive is a visual novel. Unfortunately, a visual novel means there isn’t much in the way of interactive gameplay.
That’s not to say that Digimon Survive doesn’t have some form of gameplay. In some situations in the game, the Digimon has to face enemies in turn-based combat. The tactical RPG combat style is similar to that of the recently released Disgaea 6 Complete.
Since there is little real gameplay in Digimon Survive, the biggest draw card of the game is the long and interesting story. Players take control of a young boy named Takuma, who is supposed to be on a school trip with his friends.
Things begin to deteriorate when the schoolchildren visit a local temple in a forest. They are attacked by mysterious creatures, although they are eventually “saved” by their own Digimon. However, the children are not completely safe, because they soon realize that they have been transported into another world.
While the kids are trapped in this mysterious new world, their next goal is to somehow call for help and hopefully eventually find their way back home to the real Japan. Their mission is easier said than done, as evil Digimon are out there trying to kidnap and kill them! Not to mention they’re stuck on an island, and there’s no one else to call for help!
This is the gist of the story and I found many of the characters sympathetic. That said, this is a darker game than other Digimon titles, and not everyone in Digimon Survive will make it alive. I won’t tell you the whole story, but there are some sad parts to this game depending on the choices you make.
However, I must admit that the game can be painfully slow at first. Since this game is a visual novel, you will have to read pages and pages of dialogue without any sign of gameplay. Usually you just press the X button to wade through the next scene to unfold.
To break the monotony of the exaggerated dialogue scenes, there are parts of the game where you do need some interaction. For example, there is a point at the beginning of the game where you have to find a special room to access the main boss who kidnapped one of your classmates!
You can also sometimes interact with the environment to find special items and gear that can be useful during battle later in the game. Then there are not-so-exciting segments where you have to talk to pretty much everyone in your party before you can progress further into the storyline.
While not an important part of the game, there are also several turn-based combat battles that you need to do. This is a tactical RPG, which means that your characters and the enemies are in a grid-based environment. You and the AI will have to take turns moving and attacking each other.
Movement during combat is quite limited as the Digimon can only walk a few meters at a time. You have to place them safely on the battlefield to avoid being surrounded by enemies. Your Digimon will take more damage if attacked from the side or from behind. They can take less damage if you block attacks from the front.
In terms of your own attack, the Digimon can learn special attacks to deal more damage to enemies. Some Digimon can also evolve into more powerful creatures that can be useful when you take on the bosses.
Since this game is a visual novel, the developers have kindly added both the Very Easy and the Easy difficulty settings. You can also choose the auto battle setting which pretty much simulates battles for you. However, I only recommend using this mode if you’re bad at RPGs in general.
One thing I like about this game is that there is some replay value. While a playthrough can take about 25 to 30 hours, the game actually has five different endings. If you’re not spoiling yourself on YouTube, you can play the game multiple times to see all the possible endings.
Visually, Digimon Survive isn’t the most demanding game you can get on the PS5. Since this is a visual novel, you will usually only see illustrations of the characters talking through dialogue. The fight scenes are quite nice as the character models are in 2D and fit the anime style of the game.
Even though I’ve enjoyed several parts of Digimon Survive, I don’t think some of the video gamers will enjoy what is essentially a very long visual novel. If you want to play a real game with a lot of gameplay, you’d better play another Digimon game instead.
Anyway, Digimon Survive is a fine game if you can tolerate the lack of gameplay. The story is pretty good and the fight scenes are fun. Be warned that this is a visual novel and you will have to read a lot of dialogue!
Verdict: 8.0/10
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