Digimon has always held a real soft spot in my heart. From the classic anime to the card game nobody played, I’ve loved these digital monsters for many years. But, after countless mediocre games and declining anime series, Digimon has fallen even further behind the spotlight of Pokémon. However, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition is a grand step for the Digimon franchise in both game quality and direction.
Story
There are two full stories/games here—Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth and Hacker’s Memory. Instead of going into a lot of the story beats, it is sufficient to know that both games have pretty different storylines with fairly good writing and good voice acting. Hopping between the networks of the digital world and the real world to solve cases and work with hackers, the story is always pretty interesting. It is just a little slower paced with a lot of dialogue boxes and exposition.
Gameplay
Both of these games take the basic gameplay ideas of old Pokémon games and add a lot of new features, complexities, and ideas. Players can summon/collect Digimon after scanning them a couple of times (seeing them in battle). The battle system is a little bit like the main Pokémon titles, but it does resemble, and add, a lot of other ideas. Drawing inspiration from turn-based RPGs, players can see who will come next in turn; there are much more than four moves per character; a small chat system creates stronger bonds and certain options with NPCs outside of battle, and more.
There are a lot of Digimon to collect too. Either collecting them by normal means or through Digi-evolution, there is a wide variety with a vast amount of abilities and strategic combos. As mentioned above, the way to “capture” Digimon is very different. As a player fights and encounters a lot of different Digimon, they will passively collect data on each of them. Once a player has secured enough data, they will be able to create that Digimon and use it. It is an interesting and very different idea that works well enough; it is also especially fitting to the story and the way the player interacts with the digital world.
Along with the combat and collection, the game focuses a lot on storytelling, fetch quests, and conversations with NPCs. This is both good and bad. At times, the game feels more like a heavily interactive anime rich in story, character, and flavor. But at the same time that you are learning more about the world and getting into the deeper storylines and dark, cyber societies, a lot of time is taken from the essential part of the game: the Digimon. So just a small disclaimer: if a player is seeking out this game mostly for the collection and battling of Digimon, be aware that there is a lot of time (at least in the first half) dedicated to world exploration and story progression.
There are a lot of other things in the game—a farm to grow and train Digimon passively, equipment for Digimon, and a plethora of in-battle items to affect combat. All of these add great depth and overall quality to the gameplay.
Visual
When it comes to other JRPGs, this game looks really good in comparison. The character models, overall design, color, and animations are really solid. It is really great to see an incredible amount of Digimon (new and old) rendered in 3D and given a lot of personality in the fidelity of their looks and body language. Some higher textures and smoother animations would have been nice, but overall things are good.
Sound
The general sound design is surprisingly good. From the individual Digimon attacks to the menu noises, everything has a very unique and strong audio quality that puts players in the world of Digimon. On the other hand, the music could have used more work. From the digital spaces to the mall, the music is either dull or even sometimes bothersome.
Replayability
After playing through the lengthy story of one, there is another whole game that is just about the same length right next to it! There are a lot of hours of full, storied content with great progression and leveling. I can easily see playing through again for the story as much as starting with a different Digimon and working with a different team throughout the game. There isn’t any real reason to play it again except for that reason, but there is plenty to enjoy out of both games.
What It Could Have Done Better
The biggest problem in the game is pacing. Far too often there is either too much running and talking, dungeon-crawling, or just dialogue. This makes the experience as a whole drag a little bit. Why couldn’t story beats play side by side with Digimon battles? Also, there is a lot of time in fairly simple tutorials like missions and activities which can, again, cause the game to slow down. One other note would be the need for better shifts in the story or important decisions. Far too often are you given a choice or option, but it didn’t matter at all.
Verdict
These two games get a lot of things right. It is pretty entertaining most of the time and the story is more interesting than I think anybody expected. But with some pacing issues and a sluggish start, the overall experience can be slightly tainted. Fans of the series should get a lot out of the great story and deep gameplay; most other gamers will find a lot of the same enjoyment if they can be a little patient with the game’s pacing.
