While Digimon has existed for many years, there was a whole bunch of games which mostly stayed in Japan, or were of poor quality. The higher quality Digimon games didn’t start showing up until the PSP release of Re:Digitize, but even that game didn’t make the trip over. Thankfully, before all hope was lost, Bandai Namco decided to localize Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. While the localization is far from perfect and the game itself has some issues, it’s still a fun time and it shouldn’t be overlooked.

The game is about your chosen avatar, which can be either the male Takumi or the female Ami. They go into a virtual digital network with their friends to check out the veracity of a rumor that they heard about a net ghost. When they finally find what they are looking for, they also find a monster that attacks them and the avatar is caught by it. While they survive, they now exist purely as a form a data, separated from their physical body. Others that share their fate aren’t so fortunate and end up in comas. Your characters unique situation allows them to go back and forth through cyberspace to solve crimes in order to stop the EDEN Syndrome and get their body back. Along the way, you’ll also be solving cases like a detective. In fact, most missions are accepted through a bulletin board.

Gameplay for the game is very basic. It plays like a traditional turned based RPG, with a monster collecting element that’s been a huge part of Digimon for years now. You can use items, attack, or use skills, but monster collecting is actually fairly streamlined. You don’t have to use silly Pokeballs or throw meat at enemies for the chance at catching them. Instead, you scan them to a percentage just by fighting, and once it gets to 100% or more, all you need to do is convert the code into a Digimon in the DigiLab. There also a dual layer Digimon type and elemental affinity mechanic at play, where the type is often more important than the elemental attack used. As for getting stronger Digimon, the evolution mechanic is also pretty interesting, and definitely more accurately represents how evolution works, albeit skipping eons of micro-evolution. There are several branches that a Digimon can go to, each having specific requirements. You can even evolve backwards which increases the level cap for your Digimon, which also often is necessary to let you pick up other skills to use the next evolution can be done.

While the game has a decent story with equally decent music, there are some features missing from the game that hint a small budget and a smaller localization budget as well. There are some features seen in most RPGs which are industry standard, but are simply missing here. You can save the game anywhere, but you can’t load anywhere, or exit back to the title screen to re-load. At least there is cross-save functionality between the two versions of the game. One other odd decision was the ability to be able to queue up multiple quests is missing. You can only do a single quest at a time. Aside from these issues, the game lacks any documentation, so mechanics like what ABI does aren’t explained, even with the scant tutorial drops in the beginning. This lack of care also extends into the game’s localization. While functional, there are some typos, but among the voice-acting, half of the dialog seems to be missing voices. There also is no English dub, leaving a Japanese only audio option. There are parts of the game where your avatar looks to be talking, but there is no text or audio to accompany the animation. Add to the fact that the game selectively decides when they actually do have lines, and you get the feeling that the localization feels unfinished.

Translation and lack of features aside, the game is a fun RPG. At least the quality of the translation is significantly better than the initial release of Sword Art Online: hollow Fragment. While the music is decent, nothing stands out. The biggest draw to the game is seeing all of the Digimon from the series’ history represented is wonderful, and to the fans, collecting them all will have players spends hours crafting the perfect team. The story is fun too, and there are few side missions that have some interesting content. The DLC for the game is free too, and there will be updates to the game that will increase the roaster of Digimon. If you are a fan of the series or even just good RPG, be sure to grab this game.

Gameplay

Graphics

Sound

Overall