An Honest Review Of Digimon Survive: One Year Later

I never shared my final thoughts on Digimon Survive, and there was a reason for that.
Digimon Survive Review
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Writing, Narration & Editing: @CoreyOnline
#digimonsurvive #digimon #digimonadventure

[@Duckkis]

Survive is one hell of a game, and definitely worth all the wait. I've beaten it multiple times, seen all the endings and pretty much done everything there is to do. It also is my favorite Digimon game now. It was such a love letter to the original Adventure, and it's only one more reason to love the game. It gave me some of my favorite characters in the entire franchise.

[@Twilord_]

I feel like Survive, World, and Story all represent different pillars of what makes Digimon magical. Survive is an evolution of the anime and World is an evolution of the V-Pets, while Story offers an experience more in line with SMT and Pokémon that is a great tribute to the bestiary. I would love to see all three continue to evolve.

[@robotoboy30]

Survive was extremely Shin Megami Tensei though. It even has the "evil" "good" and "neutral" routes with those respective characters becoming a "god" of sorts...

[@Twilord_]

@@robotoboy30 I mean, sure. I don't mean to pretend like it wasn't learning taking inspiration there - it definitely helped them with finally game-ifying characterisation-driven Digivolution. I was just using the two best known "Turn-Based Mon RPG" franchises for the comparison.

[@lnsflare1]

​​@@robotoboy30Maybe it would be accurate to say that Story is to mainline Shin Megami Tensei what Survive is to Devil Survivor (though Story was the one who got Devil Survivor's artist)? And I guess that makes World... Devil Summoner, I guess? Though that one is a bit more tenuous.

[@diamonshade7484]

Have you not played the Ds story games

[@TaeSunWoo]

The prefect digimon game will be one that’s a mix of all 3 gaming styles

[@luiserodriguezserrano4287]

I literally loved it in its entirety. Specially the character writing. Specifically with ryo and shuji. In the first playthrough i didn't care for thrm when they died i even believe ld that they deserved their fates. But after saving them their character development really clicked and actually made me like them genuinely as their grew.

[@SonicLegends]

I think the character Shuuji gets some unfair criticism as no wasn't deserving of death but rather the "other" method as displayed in true route for taste of his own medicine (eye for an eye NOT an eye for a whole head). I'm surprised people just seem to miss all the nuance with the character symbolically from the very death (consumed by own hatred taken literally) and even from the title screen where it appears as though Lopmon is the one with the problem in accepting their tamer. They're a fusion of Joe/Ken and frankly I'm glad unlike Ken who no self-respecting Digimon fan accepts the dark spore turned him evil bs retcon which really did cheapen his digimon emperor turn for the worse like it would be one thing if the the dark spore empowered his dark emotions to fester but to be the very reason for his heel turn is just disrespectful to the fans that like Ken's redemption arc from his having kicked puppies along with his verbal and physical abuse on Wormon that the hate for Survive's would be Ken expy is really disgusting that some people were like happy he got killed when it didn't warrant to that degree. Plus not even their own digimon partner wanted to do what they did, but the haters miss that. Additionally, what also makes the death good is that it's superb foreshadowing given the imperfect fusion of sorts being put into play for the dark biomerge later between Aoi and Labamon for what the characters mention it being similar to that. Wrath path is easily my favorite story wise of all the routes and want to say it's the route DigiKnow is referring to for a sequel.

[@asrafkhalid1231]

i can get why shuuji acted the he does. he feels inferior due to being constantly compared with his older brother by his family and unfortunately he sees that lopmon to be inferior when compared to the other digimons/kemonogami. due to this, lopmon become the object of his hatred, as lopmon is the physical manifestation of his worst/ugly feeling and weakness.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

@@SonicLegends To be honest, you're not wrong bud. On a first play through I honestly can't blame fans for thinking that way but when you see his arc come full circle and he actually attempts to be real part of his team by helping others it's genuinely great to see. Also, I love the detail that the only reason Lopmon was so scared all the time is because Shuji was as well... like I felt so bad for Lopmon but I can't say his arc was poorly handled.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

You know what I respect? I'm pretty sure nearly all the returning Digimon in this game were voiced by their original anime voice actors which really shows they cared about making a faithful Digimon game. I think the only exception to this was Piedmon because his original VO died, so his son voiced the role instead. Indeed the voice cast for the game is fantastic.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Sam3!

[@asrafkhalid1231]

Survive is indeed a love letter to the OG digimon fan. all i can say the story is a masterclass, with all the twists and a bit of reminiscent of the original digimon anime/story but its darker, grittier and the cast were lovable.

[@Red-Rebel]

While I enjoyed playing Survive, there are definitely some things that hold it back from being an absolutely amazing game. The battle system, while fine enough, feels like a blueprint that didn't get filled out. I get the main focus of the game was the light novel aspect, but fighting is a mandatory part of the game. There's also how the game handles choice making and different routes. It doesn't offer many differentiations on your choices apart from "X character is/isn't present" for a specific fight, and doesn't try varying it up in any way, like changing the arena, or skipping a fight. Any real deviations only occur during the last portion, which gives the choice of picking an ending path that *somehow* has drastic ramifications. And two of those paths have a sudden shift to focusing on a specific character, which I feel comes at the expense of the current story. And I particularly dislike how they made character deaths either mandatory to a first time run, or a consequence of a route rather than a player's choice. For a game that's supposed to be focused on story, that type of consequence should be a result of your character making a bad choice rather than the game making you. If we ever get a sequel, I hope they try and improve these aspects because the game has an idea that could made into something outstanding if it was more refined.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

Agreed. I compare the games too much, but, Devil Survivor does a great job with most of those snarls. It's hypothetically possible to save all the party members you possibly can in a first run, but without experience and knowledge of exactly how, and a bit of trial and error, it's functionally impossible. The routes do follow a similar "the routes are mostly identical for 90% of the run" pattern, but which characters end up on each route, and in focus positions, and the direction the route will go is pretty easy to predict, with wildcards only cropping up if you missed a lot of interactions with particular side characters. The individual arcs and crises of the cast also GENERALLY feel a lot more organic and predictable, better capturing the feeling of rising pressures, pressing stress, and occasional moments where you realize an opportunity was missed to change something, compared to Digimon Survive where things generally feel much more like forgone conclusions that have to be drawn out. There's tons of little details like that that, perhaps unfairly, made me have a hard time enjoying Digimon Survive as much as I wanted to. I kept seeing the flashes of how a similar thing was done better, in a game that didn't even claim the caveat of being a story-first experience, and had a fully cooked game underneath.

[@bearerofbadnews1375]

I feel like the developers could definitely iron out the issues in a potential sequel if the game ever gets one.

[@mastergreeen1385]

SPOILERS AHEAD! yeah, the way the 3 base routes differentiate themselves does make me feel like the Moral path is the one you're supposed/intended to play as your first playthrough since it seems the most formulaic, is in-line with the style and themes of the original Adventures anime, and keeps its focus on the main villain; whereas the Harmony and Wrath paths tell a "What If" style story where the narrative focus drastically changes, what with the addition of unforseen story variables that normally shouldn't occur; Truth path is, of course, where the games own actual story plays out in it's entirety without any weird cuts or omissions

[@fabiandenherder4029]

i honestly think digimon will die soon. The release rate of games is low while the games itself feel unfinished. There is always something that doesnt feel right. I wish they would just remake Digimonworld 1 and 2. Those games had a huge fanbase and would ramp up the steam chart for sure

[@MikulOnIce85]

One small detail that I appreciated is that someone old DOES have their own digimon partner and being a 'destined party member' isn't just relegated to children. But I loved this game, and I am glad I got the chance to play it. It came along during a time where my interest between pokemon and digimon was shifting towards favouring digimon more and this game helped solidify my enjoyment of digimon.

[@DrawciaGleam02]

Yes! I'm also glad that we had an adult-aged digidestined!!!

[@SutasSjet]

It's nice when anime does this. The common trope of the 16 year old hero leads to less wishful thinking as you age as an anime fan. Pokemon doesn't shy away from focusing on the elderly pokemon master or the salary man who moonlights as a trainer. They just get a lot less focus than the young heroes.

[@edge-of-nowhere4224]

Same, I've always hated that only kids can get partner digimon, that's such a fraction of your life :(

[@kyleellis1825]

Survive isn't a game. It's an interactive novel. A hard copy novel is about 25-35 dollars. That's what I got Survive for and it satisfies me at that value.

[@tomparker8282]

So glad you loved it! An additional note on evolution, you are so right about them being events, but also the choice to have Takuma's partner having a branching tree tied directly to your choices was an absolutely genius move. Truly a great mechanic. Also, like you said I loved some of the choices they made, the pretty girl character getting a poo-shooter was a particularly funny subversion.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Legit the Digivolution scenes in the game IMO were fantastic. They had a sense of presence and emotion no other game has really been able to display, likely due to it being tied to the story. But that music that plays when Takuma shouts out to Miyuki... that got me in the feels.

[@Skimmer951]

Saki getting veggiemon can also be read thematically as well besides the whole subversion thing as there were some dialogue with her about how she wants to be percieved as nice by her peers but feel uglier underneath as she can get rather sassy and catty through the narrative as she slowly gets comfortable with the group to be more herself and it is reflected in veggiemon.

[@orionishi6737]

I wish we'd gotten a few more animated cutscenes. That opening sequence was gorgeous.

[@edge-of-nowhere4224]

Sameeee

[@orionishi6737]

@@edge-of-nowhere4224 would have been such a good anime to reboot Digimon for the older audiences too.

[@ariwl1]

What's interesting about Survive is that I started playing it and thought I'd like it better as a regular Anime season, but towards the end I realized it worked better as a game. If it had been an Anime, I could only see it being one that showed the true route where nobody died. The story's unique identity is in the very real danger that you could lose someone, especially since the game forces you to lose characters your first go round.

[@bradtobin839]

Same here. The Truthful route deserves to be adapted as an anime season.

[@michaelbarrett8141]

Well why not make it until Chapter 8? And for each ending we got four new Episodes? Persona 5 the Animation made extra Episodes for all romanceable Characters. And another Romance Anime made that similiar to what i just referred. So its possible to see all Endings in a Season. It takes some serious work tough. But i think its worth it.

[@DrawciaGleam02]

@@michaelbarrett8141 Yeah, I thought we could get special animated shorts of key moments of Survive.....

[@Robertz702]

I loved Survive for what it presented. When I first heard about this game slowly being released, I was back in my digimon phase and it peaked my interest to check it out. First run was honestly very good as I enjoyed the characters, music, the world building towards the end and story. When i played NG+, it honestly became one of the best experiences i had as I felt attached to all the characters I had in my first run and the ones that can be saved. I still hope for Survive 2/sequel game as i do think it has potential to be do good or even better than what Survive 1 did but I'm satisfied with what Survive was trying to do. Out of all Digimon stories/plots, this is a top 5 for me and one of my favorite digimon games of all time and gaming in general.

[@Coomamon_Memes]

My favorite character in survive has to be ryo. I found him grating at first. Everyone was just as scared but was the only one losing it from fear to the point of being a burden and constantly crying for his mommy like a child. Upon replaying the game i quickly changed my mind. I had just lost my mother a couple months before survive came out too so his backstory reslly hit home hard and i immediately related. Idk if id be any better in those circumstances. I probably would have either broke the same way or broke the opposite one and became horribly reckless because i didnt care anymore. Everyone else were stressed too but most of them came to that world in a good headspace. It let them try to be optimistic and believe that with luck can overcome the situation if they try hard and work together. They also had their digimon to talk to or play with to keep their mind off things if they needed to destress. Ryo came there while already emotionally exausted. He went on that trip to refresh but ended up in a nightmare world with a mute partner that he found a bit creepy over it being a huge bug which was made worse by a giant spider attacking right after thinking they found someplace safe to stay.. Death was constantly on his mind. He felt alone and under constant threat and part of him probably welcomed the end because it might let him see his mom again. Really made a huge impression on me. 10/10 character and writers deserve an award.

[@Tarripin6266]

I wish Digimon did this more. It's amazing. I loved my 2nd play threw I loved that the 2nd run could be very different.

[@narutheweirdo]

I have always loved the Digimon series and tried my best to see each of their games as something that is presented by themselves instead of comparing them as a series... I very much agree with how you feel and see the Digimon survive, It was a Digimon game that I really really look forward to the moment I saw its first screenshot out, and bought with expectations that it could disappoint me, but it genuinely captured my affection right away with the way of its story telling.. It feels nostalgic and basic at times (in a good way) but also caught me by surprise by the simple things that were said by the characters... I really hope it got a sequel..

[@SergirothGames]

It’s nice to have your content in my feed, I really like your takes and explanations. I’m not big on visual novels, but you made it sound interesting enough, so I’ll give it a try on holidays🤙

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Bless you bud, to be fair as someone who's not big on visual novels I could understand your hesitation. Of course, in my case it was more a result of while VN's aren't my thing, I am always down for a great Digimon story and in that regard Survive will more than deliver on the goods. Legitimately I think Survive is better than Last Evolution Kizuna because the characters are well fleshed out. I hope you enjoy the game dude.

[@matthewlynn6108]

Also, the Floramon line got me. Was super confused and disappointed with the champion evolution, but by the end of it I understood what they were going for. But Minoru / Falcomon best Digimon partner duo change my mind.

[@ubx9563]

I'd gladly buy a good sequel day one. I was very happy with Survive's story and world.

[@PipeFoxDream]

I was loving the game but I had a really bad mental health episode part way through playing because of school, and I was still on the first run and couldn't really deal with the character deaths at that point. I need to go back and complete it sometime soon, because I loved the character writing and the gameplay was fun.

[@SonicLegends]

I do agree as the 2nd character death was so shocking I had to after the chapter was done take a break and let what happened settle in. I think the character gets some unfair criticism as no wasn't deserving of death but rather the "other" method. I'm surprised people just seem to miss all the nuance with the character symbolically from the very death and even from the title screen where it appears as though their digimon partner is the one with the problem in accepting their tamer. They're a fusion of Joe/Ken and frankly I'm glad unlike Ken who no self-respecting Digimon fan accepts the dark ring turned him evil bs retcon which really did cheapen his digimon emperor turn for the worse like it would be one thing if the the dark ring empowered his dark emotions to fester but to be the very reason for his heel turn is just disrespectful to the fans that like Ken's redemption arc from his having kicked puppies along with his verbal and physical abuse on Wormon that the hate for Survive's would be Ken expy is really disgusting that some people were like happy he got killed when it didn't warrant to that degree. Plus not even their own digimon partner wanted to do what they did, but the haters miss that.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Also love your name, btw, too! Hugs?

[@SonicLegends]

@@TheSapphireLeo (if you're referring to me) Thanks and hug accepted.

[@FATBOYMUZIK]

This video won you a subscriber, very well put my guy

[@SophieSquid]

it's nice to see a positive take on this game. I am currently working on writing a script for a review of this game because I went into it as a visual novel enthusiast and tactics rpg enjoyer, and came out of it being quite disappointed in various areas. I really did want to love this game, and *did* love it for the first several 10s of hours but I found myself falling off hard with it. I hope beating the true ending will give me something to enjoy

[@ivanthegreat5757]

I was thrilled about Digimon Survive when I first bought it at Gamestop. I began to play it, and I realized how amazing it was. It has some good plot in it.

[@MrNovascar]

I'm pretty torn about how I feel about the game. At the story side, I totally agree. It's one of the best of the franchise. But gameplay wise, it was so lackluster... They tried to make it "more than a visual novel" by implementing the battles and the friendship stuff. But failed preety hard. I go into some story stuff as well, so SPOILER: The tactics battles are too basic. The choices you make have zero impact on the events. You are the leader, the party actively calls you that. But all the times when you get a choice, someone jumps in or something happens and do something different. Usually, that one wasn't even an option, you mostly only have 3 "wrong" answers. The choices only affect the karma, which only chooses your evolution line and unlocks the choice for the endings, the only time you actively impact the story. You mentioned it already, the first person dies, you search online about what you did wrong. And this is where everything falls apart: The first person dies always. You can only prevent this in NG+. This would be fine if we had some secret that we couldn't knew at the time, but its just the affinity rate gets doubled. Which makes it pretty ass hole move from the game to tell you, "maybe you could have saved him if you'd cared more for your friends". You know, I get it. You should know, things are at stake. This games is called SURVIVE for a reason... And then they do it again. The second one is also locked behind the same requirement+ the first one has to survive as well. The story made it clear, mental health is a critical factor, so I should keep everyone happy. EXEPT THAT EVERYONE ELSES DEATH IS TIED TO THE ENDING YOU CHOOSE! Affinity is only a meter to unlock evolutions. I stopped caring because I knew nothing matters. That no one would die because I messed up. The game chooses to kill them and I have no influence over that besides the single one question, that chooses the ending. I'm even not interested in the NG+ because the events will stay mostly the same. Yeah, there are 2 more people around, but I know already that only one ending gets changed to a "true ending" for saving everyone. So I assume no major changes happen until the very last chapter.

[@siobhannoble8545]

That frustrated me too. I don't like when games force you to play the story all over again just to have all the options that should've been available from the get-go.

[@MoeJamieMusic]

I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT! IT FELT LIKE PLAYING MY CHILDHOOD TV SHOW FROM 1999, FELT LIKE BEING ONE OF THE KIDS THAT I WISHED I WAS BACK THEN. I LOVED THE STORY AND MUSIC FELTT LIKE I WAS RIGHT THERE.

[@edge-of-nowhere4224]

I just started my new game plus playthrough. I really, really like this game. It had a goal of what to be and do and I think it did it pretty well! As someone who's never played the games and only watched adventure, 02, and tamers, I think it's pretty good at presenting it's world and love of the franchise. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it. I went in completely blind and I'm pretty surprised to find how many people dislike it! Maybe because they had expectations unlike me? Idk. I recommend it though!

[@Katbirdseat]

Characterization was so well done in this game. While the characters fit the archetypes of the shows, the collectibles and visual novel inferences really made for some three-dimensional characters.

[@Akechi_The_Phantom_Detective]

Digiknow, thank you for sharing your feelings on the game. I posted my own feelings on the game before hitting play on your video but what you've said, I think perfectly nails exactly why I adore this game. I think Survive's dedication to it's characters and story alone puts it on par with some of the best Digimon media ever released. As someone who's with no specific preference towards visual novels or Tactical RPG's I had no issue diving into Survive because as long as the story is engaging that's all I need and Survive really went above and beyond with it's characters, I'm also pretty sure nearly the entire Digimon cast are voiced by previous JP voice actors. The Tactical RPG gameplay I also think is spot on, it accounts for about 30% of the gameplay and while it's not as deep as dedicated TRPG's I think it's engaging enough to test your skills without being intrusive. What you said about it being a sort of spiritual retelling of adventures story I think is spot on as well, seven young kids do go to camp but this story is a tremendously psychological one and it has major consequences on these guys lives. I also adore the fact after Kizuna's rather tone deaf idea of having Digimon die as a result of their tamers growth, this game did a complete 180 by having the adult within the main story be at the real heart of it throughout. Digimon Evolution in this game was also wonderfully handled as you say as they all felt they had emotional weight in a way the other games really couldn't deliver due to being a mechanical aspect rather than a plot defining one. For me the Moral Ending was easily the best in the game because of it's tremendous character investment, I adore Miyuki because she's a sweet girl who this game clearly wants you to care about, Takuma is probably my favourite in-game protagonist because his emotional responses and VO was spot on and I liked the Professor because he was a dude I genuinely wanted to know more about. All in all, for me... Survive is a real winner and if a sequel ever comes along I look forward to seeing what kind of story it can deliver. Also, did anyone else get major Fatal Frame vibes from the "True Ending"?

[@tomasito932]

Awesome video, I bought the game hyped for "Last evolution Kizuna" movie and I have to say I am really happy with both of them!

[@randalf94]

Nice review, you raise up a lot of good points! While I understand, and agree with, a lot of the criticism towards the game, I also love it a lot. As you mentioned, it's one of the most captivating & emotional Digimon stories for a good while. Hoping to see more.

[@bradyanderson1229]

I share a lot of the same sentiments. I had never played a VN before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it absolutely blew me away and is now my favorite Digimon game and in my top 10 favorite games of all time. Like you said, it incapsulated that magic feeling so well that one would get from watching the early anime seasons. The only bad part about this game is that it ends!

[@DragoonMS]

Two questions. First, what Digimon is that at around 3:25? Looks like a jogress evolution/DNA Digivolution between Lilimon & Taomon or Angewomon. Second, at 5:34 and maybe a couple other spots...that Professor guy...is that an older Takeru/T.K.??

[@tylerd4039]

I never got around to playing this one, but I saw it recently went on sale. You’ve convinced me to pick it up. Thank you.

[@Steviesaurus_]

I loved Survive and when I played the true path I couldnt help but feel this story was up there with Adventure and Tamers. Just thinking "I would watch the shit out of an anime adaptation of this!" But I know part of the reason I liked the game and story so much was through my interactions with it, how I interacted with the characters. Agumons evolution path felt like mine if he was my IRL partner. Solid game, would love to see the series continue but also 100% satisfied if it doesnt ❤

[@johnnyemezie4299]

This actually makes more sense as any other digimon origin story.

[@conqueringruler]

Would have loved to see this cast with their own set of unique Digivices. I think it was the only thing truly missing from this incredible story.

[@codyholley]

They don't need digivices they are soul linked

[@BigHalfSteps]

@@codyholley Technically speaking, even in the old days of digimon anime digimons were soul linked to their partners. The rookie mons were constantly drawn to the children, knewing they could trust them and that they belong to each other. Additional evidence is in Digimon (Guilmon series) where three kids who have no digimon halfway through the series, even when two of them tried hard as they can to recruit some (Babamon for example). Digivices are not needed to bound, it's needed to receive experience from fallen enemies and amplify it in the heat of moment for digivolution - which would take otherwise more massive amounts to permanently digivolve into champion/mega/ultra.

[@codyholley]

@@BigHalfSteps you don't completely understand it's the point of a digivice yes it's a catalyst for digivolution but in most cases it allows for something more unique than that. What I'm trying to say is the soul link is unique in such a way as that it facilitates the function of a digivice without requiring one

[@mastergreeen1385]

​@BigHalfSteps what @codyholley is meaning by "soul linked" is that in the lore of Survive, every individual human being is permanently bound to a specific digimon, their spirits are tethered to each other, what this means is that anything that happens to one results in similar changes to the other, mainly when the humans undergoes significant physical, mental or emotional changes, it reflects back onto their digi-partner, this is what results in the evolutions of this game, this specific type of connection does not exist in most other digimon stories

[@codyholley]

@@mastergreeen1385 exactly

[@90shandheldgamer]

Great review. I picked this up recently and look forward to playing it.

[@nafsii04]

how was it

[@blacksheephero2539]

Thank you for making this! I love Digimon but I don’t really have the time to invest in a Cyber Sleuth length game. I wanted to check this game out but was on the fence until now.

[@Trottskee]

This is by far my Favorite Digimon Game to date. I played this game SOOO much. Like any chance I had, I was just cracking hours into this game. Beat it 3 times. I love the characters, each of them being different and refreshing with each chapter. I hope they decide to make more games of this nature in the future. I would LOVE to see more games of this. This had me hyped, sad, and actually constantly jumping out of my seat. This game is a must to Digimon fans imo.

[@gugamilhomem]

I LOVED this game! It's pretty impressive and I did wait 9 long years to play a Digimon game on xBox. Anyway, it's almost on the same level of Digimon World 3. I think Digimon Survive is one of the best games of this generation exactly because of the dark and mature energy of its story. A lot of characters' aspects/features are developed during the gameplay - explicit or not. Some traumas Miu did passed through her life and this response standard Kaito has to try to support her sister... It's an intense game on history and character development. The true ending of Survive is great with the Four Sacred Beasts, but even better is the path we pass during the game. There's not a moment where you're not focused on some character's story and what it means to them. The game come with a real immersion on its world-building. I could spend hours and hours talking about how this game is incredible. I love it!

[@datguyfernas1114]

I LOVED Digimon Survive. My first playthrough was rough, I had like, 3 characters die, but in my second playthrough I managed to save everyone and it felt fantastic. Seeing Ryu live and help the others throughout the rest of the game was magical, he became my favorite character. Digimon Survive might not be for everyone, but it sure as hell was for me.

[@khh6801]

Thank you so much for your review. I completely and utterly agree. Im huge into story based games anyway, but this season of digimon (because it felt like a season) was one of my favourite stories they’ve ever done. I was disappointed with GG, but this gave me so much hope (heh) that they can go back to the darker and more complex and serious tone that once was. I’ve been craving that type of storytelling from digimon since Tamers. The story blew me away. And though the combat wasn’t my favourite style, I still enjoyed that part of it too. Visual novels I don’t mind either as long as they’re gripping, and boy was this gripping! So nice to see some love for one of my favourite games. Thank you Digi-know!

[@purewhiteloverbizarrejelly]

I think it’s praiseworthy how different of a game Survive is. Visual Novels and Turn based Tactics games are both rarely explored, especially for global audiences. With some polish, Survive 2 could possibly worth the $60 price tag

[@b1ake__]

Such a great review! I really like how the story uses nostalgia without relying on it, in exactly how you described; the feeling of seeing a new evolution without knowing it was coming.

[@grunner7557]

"Digimon Survive is the best Digimon anime season I've ever had the pleasure of playing through." A perfect way to sum up Digimon Survive. While not the best in regards to pure gameplay, Digimon Survive is one of the best Digimon games to experience. I'm someone who typically isn't into visual novels, but this story just kept me hooked from beginning to end so perfectly. It's actually quite interesting. Much like the monsters within it, Digimon is a series that just keeps changing and evolving. Showing a flexibility that few other franchises have. One game you're a l33t cyber detective, going on exciting adventures throughout modern Japan. And the next you're following a group of scared kids fighting tooth and nail just to stay alive for another day.

[@evanminton8315]

I honestly agree with every word you said. Your review might as well be my own. Adding my own thoughts though, I’ve never been a fan of the Digimon World games. For one thing, I could never get a digivolution I wanted. I know that digivolution is based on how you raise your Digimon but back then it just felt so random. In addition, it was hard to figure out where to go and what to do next. I got into Digimon through the anime. After watching the TV series, I wanted to go on a Digimon adventure of my own just like the kids in the show, just as the Pokémon games allowed me to go on my own Pokémon journey to be the very best like no one ever was. Digimon World 1-4 did not scratch that itch. The Digimon Story games did scratch that itch and so did Survive. The Cyber Sleuth games and Survive have become three of my most favorite Digimon Games ever. These are the games I wanted to play as a child.

[@seancolleran5843]

@Thedigiknow; haven’t played this but I think I might cause of your recommendation. But did you see the Digimon movie news?

[@peterjohnson7625]

I love Digimon Survive as I really did enjoy going through all 4 routes in the game, Harmony, Moral, Wrath, Game Over, and the Truth Ending. I love All the characters even Shuuji even though people don’t really like him I sometimes Cosplay as him at Cons too. I would never treat Lopmon like he did and I kind understand where he came from too. To me the ending that hit me the most when playing the game is the Wrath Route and what happened to two of the people we grow close with too. I definitely would love to see a sequel take place or what they could do with this in the future too.

[@axoa-noah8331]

I wouldn’t go so far as to say it one of my favorite Digimon games, but I 100% agree that this games story is phenomenal. Easily the thing that kept me invested. The relations between the characters and one another AND the characters with their partner Digimon just felt so organic. And the digivolution scenes were handled perfectly. I can’t express how cool it was to see their evolved forms towering over the tamers! I didn’t really care for the forced new game plus aspect of it and would have preferred if the true ending was accessible from the beginning though. It made it a little hard for me to like characters in the second playthrough who were previously problematic in the first. I get that they were going through a redemption arc, but if you would have had the ability to save them in the first, the entire problem could have been avoided. My only other major gripe was the first playthrough endings. The story up until the final act of the game was so enticing, but when you make the decision to return to the digital world, it just kind of fell off for me. I won’t go to heavy into spoilers but the way that either kind of ended the game in a bizarre state just didn’t set well with me, felt almost like an afterthought. Over all Id give the game a solid 7/10. If it were to ever get DLC or a sequel, id buy it, but I don’t feel the need to replay through it for a third time as it stands now. Loved the video and keep up the amazing work friend 😊

[@mul25]

your review make me wanna play it. i will try it thanks

[@the_otaku_chronicles8330]

I just got survive a few weeks ago and just beat it with the moral ending , I’m trying to decide if it’s worth playing a second time for the true ending lol 😂

[@Gigawolf1]

Yes, 100 times yes. Moral is nice, but Truthful is absolutely worth it

[@kfk4441]

I really, really loved this game. I´m buying it again on steam...when it´s on sale. It´s been just a year and it´s already giving me nostalgia when I hear the music or if anyone mentions Kunemon or Dobermon

[@nicktourville9398]

This is a spiritual sequel to SMT Devil Survivor, right? How does it compare to that?

[@mr.m1785]

Interesting looking at this, and some of the comments. I was on the fence about this game, but ultimately dropped the idea of getting it after finding out it was, I think a visual novel? Now I'm wondering if I want it again.

[@ShukakuTheCrazy1]

I liked it. Not the biggest visual novel fan, but it was a great story. No regrets. Only beat it once

[@ivanthegreat5757]

I know, right? The game had some good plot.

[@goby1764]

This feels like it dropped 3 months ago. Crazy how time flies

[@bearerofbadnews1375]

I enjoyed the game the first play through I went Harmony route and it was interesting and grim to know why Miu and Kaito moved to the countryside. Also Boltoutamon is unlocked for completing that route and it was just better than Dracmons actual mega.

[@matthewlynn6108]

The biggest gripe people seemed to have with this game was the tactics elements but honestly they were fine. Fire Emblem is treated as the gold standard for tactics games and there really isn’t much more to them besides *move* -> *attack* But at the end of the day Survive got enough good reviews and did well in sales to justify a sequel so let’s hope that happens.

[@yudaisazuki7994]

Had to finish the getting my platinum before watching this one and im glad to see positive things said about this game cause I really enjoyed it.

[@imackamoo2]

I absolutely loved it and finished it twice. NG+ for me, was completely worth it. Hell, they even give incentive to play a THIRD time. I really liked it, and consider the essential first entry of this kind of story telling done by Digimon, i think it really has a ton of potential. Really liked it and gave me the same feeling i had watching the original. It was magical

[@Twisted_Murse]

I felt the same way! I loved the game second play through made it even better!

[@ericksoler1221]

Now Im curious about your favorite Digimon media in order. Survive is 3rd so were is Adventure, Tamers, Frontier, etc on your list

[@Kalebent]

I'm looking forward to a sequel.

[@legendarydarkknigth]

survive is def one of my fav games ever its so good it truly is a shame that they gave no marketing and they might never follow up on this because it was a good thing hopefully they bring it sometime later

[@Sardaukar_]

I've been on the fence about getting this for a while; now that it's regularly down to $12 the only reason to still wait is knowing that it's likely to show up in a bundle. I've never gotten deep into Digimon but have always wanted to, since I always found the setting fascinating as a kid even if I didn't have one of the original digivices back then. At first the IGN review put me off, but then I watched ACGs and yours really sold me on it, but I have to ask: Should I wait until I've played through something like Cyber Sleuth or World before playing this? The way you talk about some of the surprises in Survive makes it sound like I'd be missing a lot without having a foundation of contextual familiarity to play with my expectations.

[@Darkstar301]

It worth getting I just picked mine up this morning

[@snehashismajumdar8157]

It seems like aside from repetitive gameplay mechanics, Survive managed to capture what most Digimon media are lacking nowadays with deep story, character arcs and emotional moments. Digimon was always popular in its heyday for its tight narrative. It would be nice if sequel anime’s chose a more mature perspective.

[@chikasuryani]

To me is the best digimon game series ever. Amazing story, good battle mekanik, not too a grinding game, amazing new game plus, and many more.

[@sonkien3]

Dude I literally beat Digimon survive yesterday and started a NG+. I really liked the story and collecting Digimon though combat wasn’t great. Edit: I did I was shocked when what happens during playthrough 1. I only googled that to find out I did nothing wrong. And let’s just agree the camera using aspect was lame.

[@lucuador1992]

The character writing was great in this game, especially when you do new game plus and see the changes. I'm glad to see games like this with more on the line.

[@24hr-Gaming]

My main criticism of it is the srpg needs a lot more polish. Once you get Wargreymon the game is pretty solved. If they work on that part and make the srpg less barebones, they have a strong formula for a really good game series. I think for reference they should look at the Devil Survivor series because the way race skills work would go really well with the direction they're already going in.

[@sonkien3]

When doing auto battle do not equip 3 Digimon with acceleration/ acceleration +. Those guys just fall back in battle and keep increasing their movement range even when it was already used on one. Other then that taking the boredom of battles, it would’ve been nice but too much to ask for a auto battle strategy that collects the treasure chests too.

[@dinodude2597]

I loved the story, the characters, animation style, and that I could finally have Dinorexmon as my partner Digimon

[@phyxiuss]

Survive will go down as an underrated digimon game. I loved it

[@MewCocoa]

Im currently on my first Playthrough ( chapter 7) and im adoring it. I really give props to the writers because I came to love the first character that died so much ( not saying in case of spoiling someone currently playing) that when they ended up dying and i found out i couldnt save them on my first playthrough i got upset with the game and didnt play it for awhile. The fact that they could ilicit such a response from me is crazy. Dont worry im back to playing it now and im really enjoying it, and now i cant wait to get to my second NGplus playthrough where i can save my boi. Im definitely going to do multiple playthroughs of this game to get all the endings. This is now my favorite digimon media, even more than Digimon Tamers, which was my fave season of Digimon.

[@TheDavidsana]

Great video, once i finish cyber sleuth i'll buy Survive and try it out Also thanks for not spoiling everything of the game

[@chrischau8604]

never got to finish it cause my switch got stolen and started spending more time on Xenoblade 3. I want to go back and play through it twice but the game just plays kinda slow so not sure when i'll be doing that

[@Masteroftheweb]

I agree with your assessment wholeheartedly... And funny enough, I feel like some of the alternate endings could lead to amazing stories or sequels in their own right. I remember thinking to myself, "I'd watch that..." with one of the non Moral routes. Also one of the few games I have 100% and only light novel I have 100%

[@4ncientGu150]

I kinda forgot about this. You have my attention.

[@cruxnajii2056]

Perfectly explained why I love this game.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Hm, I see, fair and valid points and opinions Review, personally I think this Game was very interesting, I really wonder how a Sequel would be like? By the way, about the Forced Death, will it always the same Character who dies in your First Playthrough or can it be a Different Character? Just how scripted is the First Death of a First Playthrough?

[@minicle426]

A better (spiritual) remake of Adventure than the 2020 series.

[@wwdmmax]

I'm in a weird place. I love the story and visual novel elements and... I really, really didn't like the half-baked SRPG bits. Not that they were hard (they aren't) but because it killed the flow of events and took forever to resolve. I honestly felt they were jarring and unnecessary, and the game speed, in addition to not being adjustable, proceeds at a slow, plodding pace. It felt very much like they were trying to ape Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, a game where I felt very much the same way about the story being interrupted every time a fight happened. I do like it, overall, it's just a bad feeling when what's supposed to be a major moment of gameplay feels so very unwelcomed in the mix, you know?

[@KapiH]

I wish they would animate it (Make a series) if they don't go for a series Seekers style, A darker Digimon story (NOT GHOST GAME STYLE) would be great!

[@nsg_kuunda4786]

I need to play this game.

[@tannerrichards-el9sk]

I’d like to see the combat of survive to cross over into future Digimon games

[@Mirokus194]

I just bought survive since it is now 14.99 on the pSN store, and I am happy that I did. I wish i would of bought it on day one.

[@blksteve11]

Oooof this is a great video! I agree and am loving the idea that the digital is something humans kinda stumbled upon rather than humans creating digimon 😊

[@AustinAngelus723]

I feel like they could have done more with the choices you made being a bit more impactful and newgame plus made you feel like some illusion of choice was involved and its a pretty long game to sit through but it was pretty good all things considered and probably the best we're going to get for a long time.

[@nazeersadek6705]

I’ve never played any visual novels before Digimon survive and yet I loved the game so much!! I have more than 245 hours in it and completed only 2 endings: morality and true ending. Maybe in a few months I’ll pick this game up again to try and do the other 2 routes

[@YuubiTimberwolf]

Digimon Survive is an amazing game and i absolutely love it, the story and characters are absolutely insanely well written I hope for a sequel that fixes up the issues it has, mainly how the combat lacks depth and how some characters are not at all at risks at all to die. The forced deaths are good, but the explanation at the end of the first route is confusing (i had the highest possible affinity with Ryo already, he surpassed everyone easily be 20-30 points) Also, Survive Agumon and Kunemon are my boys, they are absolute gems and I would die for them.

[@jorthebjoestar]

Playing this game twice back to back so I can get the true ending, and boy do I love this so much. I find it funny that some people would call it the actual Digimon Adventure reboot which I can see why because it has some of that Digimon Adventure DNA in it like the wonder of the Digital World, but it is able to tell it's own story well. I wouldn't mind an anime of this if Toei doesn't make it go for like 50 episodes straight like they usually do. They can break it up into seasons because I know Toei can animate well. Season 1 of World Trigger was 70 episodes straight and was so meh animation wise and then when they did season 2 and 3, they were both 12+ episodes and the upgrade in quality was astonishing. Or even an anime like Survive, with a bit more mature feel to it would be nice as well. I just really loved the characters in story in survive so much

[@BlackStarrTurnsHeel]

Wait you can play as Lopmon in this! Antylamon has been my favorite digimon since I saw the American version of the first movie back when I was a kid. 🤩

[@Puffytosser]

It just so happens to be on sale on the Nintendo E Shop right now… so maybe I should give it a shot finally.

[@backlogrob8358]

My ONLY gripe with Digimon Survive was that you couldn’t get the true ending on your first run no matter what you did. Like, I knew from the start that the first character death was coming and I maxed out their friendship stuff first among the whole cast, but I couldn’t save them even though I did the exact thing that would’ve saved them in a new game plus run. Other than that, you’re spot on that it’s one of the best Digimon stories of all time.

[@connorwood9211]

Jeez, has it really been a whole year?

[@mbilica76]

Awesome game, I had a ton of challenge and the first play through was very interesting. Then, the 2nd was very cool

[@kinggoku56]

This game always looked legit, but I never really heard anything about it post release. You may have persuaded me to play this game, especially as someone who loves story & lore in video games

[@kiblade2613]

We need a digimon cyber sleuth 3 so darn fun

[@commonviewer2488]

Hope we get another

[@Nek0JAM]

Digimon survive is definitely one of my top favourite digimon games along with digimon cyber sleuth, totally agree with your review

[@illegalTyrant]

I loved it just wish they continued to support like more dlc Digimon why only 1 and was pre order until later

[@MarkATorres1989]

I actually enjoyed the game, even with some of the mechanics not being to my liking. Personally, I was not a big of a fan of the social building needing a gauge and such, because that was the thing I was looking at constantly in the playthroughs after the first time around to try and get both the other characters to survive but also to get their digimon partners to hit their final forms. Not the biggest issue truth be told, but it was one of the things that put a bit of dampener to my enjoyment. The other nitpick, is that I wished there was more variable forms for some of the other characters' digimon. Yes I know there is those other Ultimate forms in certain runs, but I am referring to how certain characters like Minoru, Saki, and Miu have a more or less linear line with their partners. I was sort of hoping that there would be a possible multi-evolution paths depending on how the main character was acting. I did enjoy how the MC's partner's evolution path was dependent on your choices and your dominating personality of Wrath, Harmony, and Courage. Though I suspect doing this for the others would've been taxing to the mechanics and developers; but it is an idea to play with for possible future games that take this route of game play. I did enjoy the story overall, especially the sibling reveal and time larp moments.