Few things make you feel old like realising a franchise you remember from childhood is just about to turn twenty. With its loveable little creatures to catch and battle (and no, we're not on about THAT one) Digimon hits double decades next year - and what better way to mark the occasion than by launching a brand new game, dubbed Digimon Survive, on PS4, Xbox One and Switch.
Yeah, there are no English screenshots. Anyone want to guess what he's saying?
What is Digimon Survive?
Celebrating 20th Anniversary of the Digimon anime series, Digimon Survive is the latest Digimon game, and one that looks to be a bit of a different experience to the more recent Digimon: Cyber Sleuth games, which had more of a light-hearted, "gotta-catch-'em-all" Pokemon-esque vibe to them. In contrast, Digimon Survive sounds like a bit of a darker, more serious game, with more of a focus on bonding with your particular partner 'mon instead.
Digimon Survive will feature characters designed by Uichi Ukumo, who Google turns up very little information about outside of this game, and music by Tomoki Miyoshi, the man behind the soundtracks of Square Enix role-playing game, I Am Setsuna and its sequel, Lost Sphear.
What is the story in Digimon Survive?
Featuring a "brand-new group of teenagers", Digimon Survive follows the story of Takuma Momozuka and his friends, who manage to get lost during a school camping trip. But this isn't just a normal case of straying off the beaten path. As it turns out, the trio have ended up in a whole other world - one that's strangely nostalgic, and full of Digimon, but equally brimming with death and danger. With the help of their new Digimon partners, they must not only try and survive this new deadly world, but also try and find their way back home.
However, getting back in one piece may not be as easy as it initially sounds - apparently, you'll need to make some quite difficult decisions along the way, which can have lasting repercussions that influence the final ending you get. Along the way, your choices can also affect how your Digimon evolves, and also whether your friends live or die - so no pressure there! A bit like a visual novel, multiple playthroughs with different decisions will give you different paths through the story, with different endings and different Digimon evolutions to be found - although how much it will vary in the actual game remains to be seen.
Picking different conversation options will see the story - and your partner Digimon - change depending on your decisions.
What will the battles be like in Digimon Survive?
Recent Digimon games have been a bit of a mixed bunch on this front, with real-time button mashing in Digimon World and slower paced, turn-based battles in Digimon Cyber Sleuth. Digimon Survive looks set to use yet another different battle system, this time with more of a Fire Emblem-esque feel to it, with a greater emphasis on strategy. From screenshots, it looks like a fairly standard strategy role-playing game affair, as your team of Digimon take it in turns to face off against enemies on a gridded arena, in a battle that revolves around forward planning.
Digimon Survive's battles look like they're going to be more strategic than its predecessors.
Who are your party members in Digimon Survive?
So far, only the three main characters have been revealed in any real detail, as follows:
- Takuma Momozuka - the protagonist. Little is known about him, except his Digimon partner is everyone's favourite orange dinosaur, Agumon.
- Aoi Shibuya - she's your honest and gentle upper classman. Senpai handles all the cooking and security at the base, and her Digimon partner is the cutesy dog-mon, Labramon.
- Minoru Hyuga - the best friend and classmate of the protagonist. Minoru is a talkative optimist. Transparent to a fault, he hates arguments, but he can be a bit of a risk taker at times. His Digimon partner in crime is the bird-like Falcomon.
What Digimon will be in Digimon Survive?
So far, the only confirmed 'playable' Digimon we've seen are your team's three partner Digimon:
- Agumon
- Labramon
- Falcomon
However, if you pay close attention to the trailer (and screenshots), you can also spot the following, either in cutscenes or as your opponents in battle:
- Floramon
- Numemon
- Meramon
- Okuwamon
- Metal Greymon
- Garurumon
The majority of the currently revealed 'mons.
Digimon Survive - Release Date and Platforms
Digimon Survive is scheduled to hit the Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, sometime in 2019 - whether or not this will be a simultaneous worldwide release, or Japan will get it first though, remains to be seen. Make sure you keep checking back for more Digimon Survive information, as we'll be updating this story as and when it happens, but in the meantime, why not check out the announcement trailer below:
