After experiencing three bounced cheques, the latest game under the IP “Digimon”, which is full of childhood nostalgia for many friends born in the 1990s, “Digimon Survive”, has finally arrived late.
Although the current reviews look good, if you look back, you will find that many of them point out game problems but still choose the recommended ones
After jumping for so long, players naturally have higher expectations for the quality of the game. For a game that claims to be “AVG + SLG”, what players who have raised their expectations expect to see are naturally unique and charming character designs, thrilling and well-balanced stories, and well-designed battles with appropriate difficulty.
So, what is the answer given by Digimon Survive regarding these demands?
I think most of the people who will be awakened by the old IP “Digimon” which is now somewhat weak should be friends who watched that classic animation on TV when they were young.
For most friends, the classic first installment of Digimon should be the place where dreams begin
So, I believe you also know that it was born in 1999. Initially, Toei was promoting the classic electronic pet “Digital Tyrannosaurus” launched by Bandai in 1997.
This kind of animation with obvious “eating” attributes is actually quite difficult to do well. But there is no doubt that “Digimon” has achieved it.
Not only does it seamlessly integrate the Digital Tyrannosaurus into the animation, but it also uses the excellent Digimon image production, allowing countless children to have a dream of “being selected”. Even today, the passionate and binding adventure of the eight “selected children” and their Digimons in the digital world is still talked about by many fans.
Friends who have watched the animation must be familiar with this scene
Even though the children who watched the animation back then have grown up and started to float in the dye vat called “society”, the memories belonging to “Digimon” will always radiate warm golden brilliance with their childhood.
In theory, with such a sentimental filter, the threshold for “Digimon Survive” to achieve both fame and fortune is not high. Unfortunately, even so, it failed to seize this almost effortless opportunity.
In this work, although there are indeed some familiar faces that fans like to see – such as the Agumon-Tyrannosaurus-Battle Tyrannosaurus, which can almost be used as a series endorsement, their presentation seems quite hasty.
As the facade of the series, the evolution network of Agumon in this work is quite rich
Not to mention the “Tyrannosaurus” element that may be hard to find because of the desire to “keep up with the times”, just this evolution scene seems extremely perfunctory.
Not only is the special effects design uniform, but there is also no blessing from the classic evolution song “Brave Heart”. Frankly speaking, as a game released in 2022, in terms of the expressive power of the evolution scene, even the taillights of the 1999 animation cannot be seen.
The elements of Tyrannosaurus disappeared in this work. Not only that, but all the evolution scenes follow the same unprepared path of “glowing on the body → shrouded in a ball of light → white screen → partial close-up to full body appearance”
And not only that, in the battle scenes of “Digimon Survive”, the models of Digimon are also hard to describe. Here, let’s take the Battle Tyrannosaurus as an example – looking at its bloated short body and walking posture that makes people speechless, I believe it’s hard for any friend to think it’s well done.
This is the combat modeling and movement posture of the Battle Tyrannosaurus in this work. To be honest, it is difficult to hold on
Additionally, I have some bad news to share with everyone. In this game, all 113 Digimons that appear, whether you are in the growth stage or the ultimate body, only have one skill. Taking the old friend Battle Tyrannosaurus as an example, except for the “Gaia Energy Cannon”, classic skills such as “Dragon Beast Nemesis”, “Battle Tornado”, and “Brave Shield” have all been forgotten.
Anyway, it’s a bit too shabby for an ultimate Digimon to only have one skill
In my opinion, the battle end is clearly following the path of war chess games. Making more skills can not only better restore the players’ emotions, but also greatly enrich the game’s combat experience. Why not do it?
Do you think it’s just a matter of having fewer skills? Too naive. In the game “Digimon Survive”, there isn’t even a skill broadcast. Yes, you heard it right, there isn’t even one. Whether it’s fireball or Gaia energy cannon, the presentation in battle is just simple action combined with quite “fifty cents” special effects.
Even powerful killing skills like “Gaia Energy Cannon” are presented equally in this work with simple actions and 50 cents special effects. Want to broadcast? No way!
Come on, it’s already 2022. Your production level is obviously not even comparable to some mobile games.
As a comparison, let’s play a video of E7’s ultimate move to feel it
In contrast to the poor performance on the “Digimon” end, this work has put a lot of effort into the character design – not only retaining some classic elements such as goggles, but also having a very significant “adult” tendency in the overall art style.
While the art style and character design are clearly adult-oriented, some classic elements are also preserved, such as the goggles inherited from the protagonist Takujin’s head
The problem is, this is a game with the title “Digimon”. Can’t the production team even figure out whether the players who are willing to pay are here to watch Digimon or the characters?
Sentiment is certainly priceless, but to make a game that focuses on emotions well, at least make these emotions vivid and tangible. Unfortunately, Digimon Survive clearly did not achieve this.
In fact, the change in the overall style of this work’s story can be seen from the name “Digimon Survive”.
Compared to the previous series’ consistent passionate plot, the story of this work obviously has more “dark sides”.
Whether it is the design of the three routes of morality, passion, and harmony in the first playthrough to kill two members of the protagonist group, or the negative character designs of Liang and Xiusi, all reflect this point.
I can’t help but complain a few more words here. Liang, as a character, began to deny everything because of his mother’s death. He is accustomed to a negative and complaining attitude towards various things around him. However, the Digimon he received happened to be the only Gu Nishou who couldn’t speak. I believe you can already imagine how it will unfold.
This combination has basically predetermined the positioning of the negative energy output unit
Xiusi is even more heavyweight, because he has been used as a negative example to set off his brother since childhood, and the whole person is obviously mentally twisted. Not only sensitive and suspicious, but also always despises his black big-eared beast for being too weak, and even punches and kicks it.
But if you really want to compare, the black big-eared beast is even more miserable, not only to be scolded, but also to be beaten
And these two friends happen to be the two who receive the least amount of bento in the first week. As for the way of receiving bento, it can be said to be getting what you deserve.
Liang directly called out to the Akili beast that wanted to catch them as sacrifices, and then became mentally ill and was swallowed by the black mist. Xiusi, on the other hand, was transformed into Wen Dishou after the last punch and kick. Xiusi was used as a snack to replenish energy after exercise.
I have no sympathy or sympathy for Liang (left) and Xiusi’s bento, and even want to open champagne to celebrate
As for me who has come this far, deep down inside, I only want to say’good death ‘.
To be honest, I completely cannot understand the significance of designing a plot killing for these two annoying characters. Does the screenwriter think that their deaths can have any impact on players? Or is it that two pure clowns encountering a plot killing can have an infectious and emotional effect?
At least from my personal experience, the answer is negative.
I firmly reject so-called “dark and cruel” stories like this.
In addition to this part of the plot itself, in order to rationalize the behavior of these two people and facilitate players to become saints in the true ending of the second playthrough, the game also spends a considerable amount of space introducing their past through memories. Such an arrangement also makes the already slow pace of this work more boring and lengthy.
Objectively speaking, the war chess part of this work is actually average in terms of framework.
Terrain difference design (there will be a bonus when looking down), damage bonus for attacking the side and back, and even divide the Digimons that appear into five categories: omnipotent, mobile, attack, defense, and special attack.
However, the problem is that these designs have very little presence in the game process, and to put it bluntly, they are basically useless.
The reason is simple: compared to classic chess games like “Royal Knights”, “Dream Simulator”, or “Fire Emblem”, the chess part of “Digimon Survive” is completely child’s play.
Most of the battlefields are flat and open, not to mention ups and downs, even a stronghold can’t be seen, which makes the terrain difference almost a decoration; different types of Digimon are not obvious in the battle. There is no difference, if you must say there is, it is probably that the number of mobile grids will be farther.
This battlefield design with some terrain ups and downs and Treasure box elements is already considered the most complex level in this work
It can be said that the war chess part of this work has a seemingly reliable framework, but the actual filling is very dry, and the final result is that the experience of the entire war chess battle appears to be too big and inappropriate.
In addition to the content of the war chess section, the multi-playthrough experience of this work is also quite torturous.
The most crucial reason is the “likability” design of this work. This “likability” may differ slightly from our traditional understanding – it does not directly affect the plot of different characters, but will unlock the evolution form of Digimon as the likability increases (40 unlocks the complete form, 70 unlocks the ultimate body).
The game’s unknown likability system design makes the second playthrough experience like being in jail
And this favorability cannot be inherited in the second playthrough.
Just looking at this, it doesn’t seem to be a big problem, but in this game, in order to achieve a true ending in the second playthrough, all partners must reach a liking score of 70.
So, this means that players have to repeat the lengthy plot that cannot be skipped to boost their favorability. Given the limited choices and few branches of the plot outside the ending, this experience is no different from being in jail.
Basically, this is the only important option in the first round
To be fair, even if the production team doesn’t have time to make any major changes to the game, at least add a second playthrough to inherit the good impression and skip the plot, which can be considered a blessing for players who have spent almost 300 yuan on nostalgia.
Overall, whether it is a nostalgic work or an AVG + SLG game, the quality of Digimon Survive is neither awkward nor awkward.
If you want nostalgia, the experience of playing this game is far less than revisiting the first remastered animation released 20 years ago.
In my opinion, if you really want to have a nostalgic memory killing, you might as well go watch the remake of this first part
If you want to play AVG or SLG, compared to this game, there are also many works with better quality.
Although there are also interesting designs in this work, such as “Choosing to Determine the Evolution Route of Archaean Beasts”, the small highlights cannot cover up the big boredom.
Perhaps considering that the group of children who watched the animation on TV have grown up and even entered middle age, this work has made quite obvious changes in the story style, but this more “adult” attempt has not achieved ideal results due to the overall quality of the script.
And this also tells us that sometimes, change may not be a good thing.
At least for me, a former office worker who used to be enthusiastic about “Digimon”, seeing this familiar IP, the hope that rises in my heart is always the passion and bond of youth, rather than some “black and deep” “new interpretation”.
