Is Digimon Making a Comeback?

[@GymLeaderEd]

Hey guys, Bandai actually copyright claimed the whole video, so I'd really appreciate it if anyone who enjoyed would consider subscribing to the channel instead to show support :)

[@AllStarTruth333]

Def

[@ericclass8441]

The Digimon Card Game has actually had a major spike in popularity in the US. It has actually gotten into the top 10 card games being played and purchased.

[@LtZerge]

enough to justify bi-weekly tournaments at multiple local game stores here, 3rd place in frequency behind inevitable MTG and Pokemon TCG

[@enderborn6860]

thats actually cool let me guess yugioh is in that list too wouldnt be shoked if hearthstone was too

[@midnight1978]

Digimon always had it's small but dedicated Fanbase but since it is so small compared to something like Pokemon it never really drew much attention. But I also noticed the increasing popularity of the Franchise which makes me happy as a long lasting Digimon-Fan! I'm very excited to play Next Order on the Switch soon and looking forward to more Digimon-Content. I hope Bandai finally starts to see, that the Fans, especially in the West, WANT more Digimon. Since Bandai always treated the Franchise as quite insignificant, which is pretty sad. It has so much potenzial, Bandai just needs to start listening to it's Fans worldwide.

[@uwuowo1773]

bandai is greedy as shit yet ironically doesnt want to utilize its potiential

[@ericschauer5950]

@@uwuowo1773 agreed I also find it rough cause any fan game gets taken down while they put the lowest budget on their games even cyber sleuth, and they haven't released any new games besides their spin-off which was mainly a Visual novel and I'm really not a fan of them so here's hoping they atleast add digimon to next order switch release imo it needed more balance with the pallet swaps

[@Minifutzi_o.O]

I think if Digimon could get more younger fans then they would have a good foundation. Pokemon always seems to attract young people. Digimon currently still lives from the generation who know Digimon from the first anime.

[@midnight1978]

That's true, but also because they do that on pupose. Using the Original Adventures Cast in the Adventures 2020-Reboot instead of using a new cast and catching onto the nostalgia with the Adventures Movies. I hope that the games like Survive and soon Next Order gonna catch the attention of some more younger people

[@RippahRooJizah]

@@ericschauer5950 Survive isn't a spin-off, it's just its own thing.

[@drkmgic]

Digimon will always be number one for me. Lol when I was a kid I wanted to be digidestined so badly!!

[@Maartwo]

Same here, was such a big part of my childhood 😭

[@louis.as.v3725]

samee

[@lonniethewaffle]

same for me

[@karrikemppainen1535]

What digimon partner did you wish for as a kid? My favourites have always been renamon, leomon and weregarurumon. Love the new order and story games, because you can have multiple partners.

[@chimuoma390]

@@karrikemppainen1535 I Want Hyokomon/Chronomon Holy Mode!One Chrono DSR,And Arceus Is A Bad Egg!Digimon World DS/Dawn/Dusk FTW!Digimon>Pokemon!

[@andimjustalex]

Digimon has been on the up-and-up for years now. There's the 2020 TV anime, Tri, Last Evolution Kizuna, Ghost Game, Vital Bracelet, Survive, the Card Game, so on and so forth... They may not all be home runs, but us fans are definitely eating good.

[@yumijandro7761]

2020 and tri are absolute trash tho...

[@melissamurray8307]

@@yumijandro7761Tri wasn’t that bad, I came in expecting the other megas to appear so at we got that.

[@yumijandro7761]

@@melissamurray8307 well, to be honest I haven't watched it, I have only heard of it being terrible

[@-isabelle-7788]

Well it seems with the recent surge Bandai is planning for more games released outside Japan so I have high hopes for Digimon becoming more popular than before

[@ericschauer5950]

I hope your right really been craving a good digimon world game and a good new digimon story game, would of really wanted digimon world decode switch release but I understand that that probably won't happen but then again you never know either, also even a 1-3 remaster/port would be nice its hard to find a copy of the older games for cheap

[@geminitiger01]

Bandai as a whole I have noticed a uptick in games by then in the west

[@eddiecuevas7003]

Cybersleuth is what really brought me back. The Royal Knight story is awesome. Hopefully they explore that more in future games.

[@grimsongreen3217]

I hope they delve more into the Olympus 12 and witchnely. It wouldn't be hard to get some more RK content while exploring those two concepts since they're kinda related.

[@Sgt.Dornan117]

Me too but admittedly I haven't played the first story but instead got hooked on hackers memory. It's such a good game

[@eddiecuevas7003]

@@Sgt.Dornan117 I liked hackers but the first one was way better in my opinion.

[@Sgt.Dornan117]

@Balmug yep I forgot where I read but they wanna expand on the Olympus 12 like how the royal knights were the vocal point of the story

[@shadygradyredZ]

I want to play the X-antibody story because wow it's dark

[@kanchomerocks12]

According to a Toei report Digimon is currently their 3rd most profitable franchise. Only surpassed by titans like Dragon Ball and One piece. Digimon Adventure merch is selling really good, and I'm guessing the vital bracelet toys are also selling decently, though that's more bandai's thing. In fact the vital bracelets are doing so well, they're expanding them to other franchises too, like My hero academia, Demon Slayer and Tokyo Revengers. Granted, the old vital bracelet also expanded to other franchises, like Ultraman and kamen rider, but Digimon is the only franchise that is actually being represented by both generations of the vital bracelet, and it's the poster child for them. Digimon Survive supposedly sold around 2 times as much as Klonoa on Steam despite coming out later, being part of a much more niche genre, and not being pushed by KZbinrs with big audiences (though admittedly, Bandai namco didn't advertise Klonoa at all). The franchise is definitely in a good spot right now.

[@draco4826]

As a long time Digimon fan, it's amazing seeing more people getting into the franchise! Also I think the new Digimon card game that came out around 2 years ago is really helping with the popularity of the video games.

[@ericschauer5950]

Agreed

[@ericschauer5950]

@Quattro I do like the card game myself it has an interesting pace about it

[@draco4826]

@Quattro I was still into digimon, but the card game kicked it to a whole new level. It's very fun to play.

[@draco4826]

@@ericschauer5950 I love the pace of the game, it really lets players have fun most of the time.

[@DHankins19]

its actually crazy because digimon could crush pokemon in everyway the best things about Pokemon A games B the first season and movie but digimon always had the better anime the story is just so much better honestly digimon should try to change into a more developed anime going past being considered a kids show put a dark and bloody twist on it like imagine demon slayer but demons as bad digimon and slayers tamers and their partners that would be too lit going from area to area to exterminate digimon feeding on humans Data

[@Cybershroom]

it all started with the petition to get Cybersleuth amongst other games to the west, that game was the step in the right direction and not only found love from old fans, it got newcomers to enjoy it. And on top of that, Bandai managed to create one of the most genius and enjoyable Digimon TCG. It's a good time to be a fan.

[@joeherrera8826]

One of the things I love about Digimon is not only the design of the Digimon but the stories in the recent games and anime which can get dark and disturbing but turn out to be really well and though off stories.

[@lnsflare1]

Part of it was probably because Cybersleuth and Hacker's Memory had resolved many of the problems people had with Sword and Shield, despite having initially come out 4 and a half years earlier, on significantly weaker hardware, with a small fraction of the budget.

[@necronerdicon]

Its a really exciting time to be a digimon fan. I am having a great time with the new show and card game. I highly recommend looking into new digimon products and games if digimon was ever your thing, because the new stuff really does it for me.

[@DigitalZed]

I definitely was a Pokemon kid growing up but always liked/appreciated digimon. And had digimon world dawn on the DS and loved playing that. Then as I got older and in college, I started rewatching all the Digimon anime series and fell in love with the franchise. And now my biggest hobby is the Digimon Card Game. Its a very fun card game with great mechanics and is really matches the themes and ideas of digimon. Highly recommend. All this to say I'm super happy that Digimon seems to be making a bigger splash in the West than it has in recent times and I'm all for their success.

[@chimuoma390]

Have You Hacked Digimon World Dawn With AR Codes?!You Can Be Nigh-Invincible With This Code:C0000000 00000027 12135AA0 00000064 DC000000 00000164 D2000000 00000000!The Only Thing That Can Damage You Is Counter Effects(Sonic,Dark,Burst Counter)!HAVE FUN WITH THIS!

[@seankelly6620]

Bonus fact the Digimon card game is also growing very well especially in the crowded TCG market. The Digimon brand is still going strong and honestly I firmly believe that Bandai is the biggest reason for why the IP hasn't grown like Pokemon over the years. Pokémon split off into its own company to promote and manage itself where Digimon has always been on the back burner or afterthought for Bandai who are mainly focused on the Japanese audience and research. Bandai has dozens of IPs it can market and are contracted with they make those expensive One Piece, Gundam and My Hero Academia and some Pokemon figurines and models.

[@ligtningdog6399]

The uprising for Digimon started with Cybersleuth. It was very well received back on the PS4. And the Complete Edition for Switch/PC became highly recommended for fans of Pokemon and Persona/SMT. Coupled with the newly successful card game and the Vital Bracelets, the IP has finally been about to gain a stable footing.

[@Matthew_Murray]

I think a big thing that Digimon has over Pokemon is that it’s not locked on a release treadmill. When it comes to Pokémon everything from the anime to the cards to the games all has to be ready to go at the same time. This worked well for Pokemon when it was on the Gameboy and DS but now with the Switch the faults of the Pokémon strategy are becoming more apparent. This puts Digimon in the unique position to push itself as an alternative to Pokémon, one that is able to take time to work on projects and are able to take more interesting and creative risks.

[@MrDoreius]

Well not only that, if you compare the game ideas then it would look like this Pokemon mystery Dungeon= Digimon World 2 Pokemon Legends Arceus? = Dogimon world 1, or at least one of the remakes Digimon was always the more inovativ branch for this kind of things, just because the had the time to do annew take for it, and yes that worked for us fans

[@yumijandro7761]

More like the difference is Pokemon would be fine even after multiple comertial failures, Digimon cant have the pleasure to go trhough them

[@melissamurray8307]

Exactly, I rather that they take their time to make a quality product then rush and end up with something bad.

[@xDinomanx]

Digimon has been on quite the rebound in recent years. We've had the Adventue 2020 remake anime plus the very successful Digimon Ghost Game anime which came out afterwards (still ongoing although I imagine it is finishing up soon), the successful card game, v-bracelet/fitness watch, more pendulum/tamagotchi's, Digimon Survive (which had a 5 year DELAY and thankfully was well-received), the localisation of old games being ported to newer consoles and PC. It's a very exciting time to be a fan. Let's hope it continues to rise.

[@RanchCookies]

Dont forget cybersleuth!

[@RippahRooJizah]

Survive didn't have a 5 year delay, it was just about 2 or 3, and it was due to a team change.

[@bluetimesskyrii]

I wish Digimon merch and physical games were more readily available, but I'll take it over the near-hopeless times that were the early-mid 2010s. (I still wish Appmon made it over the west.) I am absolutely hooked with Digimon Survive and the TCG! Even got a cute Veedramon plushie earlier this year from a Japanese merch store!! I can't wait to see whatever Digimon has beyond the Next Order port.

[@sealeafharris4151]

I hope Digimon does gain more popularity

[@lukedelameter7961]

Between CyberSleuth being steadily successful, the release of Survive, and the Card Game receiving some great success, I’m hopeful.

[@ZakFerguson]

I really do think it is! On top of everything in your video it's also crazy that for the first time since I was a kid, I can now walk in to Target or Barnes and Noble and find Digimon cards and V-pets! I think the fans are really speaking with their wallets and it's been cool to watch. My ps4 just died so it looks like I'm now going to buy the switch or PC port of next order. I also bought the vital hero even though I'm also buying the BE simply because I want Bandai to know that there are western fans willing to buy stuff.

[@Raftklanz]

i often saw the argument against digimon is that their monster design. people often says their weird and has sexual feature to them. i think people often forget that digimon supposedly representation of internet data. if their design wasn't weird or sexy then it wasn't true to itself. plus i think digimon design is their strongest feature anyway.

[@dragoness777]

I always preferred Digimon designs honestly, especially most of the child and adult level Digimon, they felt much more organic and unique (some are a little over-designed but it's mostly the variants). Plus, Pokémon also has some suggestive designs, especially for the all-female lines. Not sure why people would be like "sexy bad", when I was younger I just thought that the monsters became human and the humans looked like fantasy people. I still prefer Pokémon's battle system though.

[@Yous0147]

I don't mind sexual design per se when it's appropriate, but when it's every character and even on characters that used to be relatively normal it just feels excessive. Look at the original adventure crowd and then look at especially the girls in Cyber Sleuth, it's a completely different expression. You even see it in already established characters, just look at Angewomon and how she's portrayed in newer media. That is something that has changed considerably over the years to such a degree that I honestly wouldn't fault anyone not invested in Digimon to find it to be weird.

[@Nighthawk200199]

I was very upset when digimon rearise for iOS was shut down I loved that game. I’m currently playing digimon survive for switch. But I do love the monster taming games for sure.

[@Mysticgamer]

I wish they could release it as a full game special events could trigger depending on how many levels or how many digimon you've raised or something 🤔

[@Matiasfv]

I know the next new digimon Story game is in the works, but we really need the second coming of "cyber sleuth" right now and more than ever. The next digimon story title has been in development since 2017 and we need a digimon game that look and feel like a AAA title to increase the interest of the general audience in the franchise. I'm 100% sure the story title will achieve all of that, as long as it gets the proper marketing after its announcement, hopefully early next year.

[@calebgoodman3028]

Not really a new game. It’s a port of an older game from 2016.

[@Matiasfv]

@@calebgoodman3028 did you read what I said? I said the next story title. Not the digimon world port

[@calebgoodman3028]

@@Matiasfv Wait but they just said new games are in the works? Did they release a new trailer that I missed?

[@RayOfTruth]

@@calebgoodman3028 no trailer yet, but Habu has said they're working on a new Digimon Story game about the Olympus XII.

[@randomweeb6997]

The thing about Digimon is that it was never really dead. It was niche, and, while not that bad, it didn't exactly attract new people. Bandai was making Digimon Story games on DS, and then Re;Digitize on PSP, followed by an updated release on 3DS. Then came Cyber Sleuth. That was a big deal. Having played previous Digimon Story games and seeing what Bandai was teasing, it was pretty obvious that this would be a big deal. People outside of fandom thought so too, so they made that petition begging to localize it. It started to snowball from there. On the anime side, Digimon Adventure tri was getting a lot of hype, and despite being, well, a bad mess, it was successful enough to convince a few more anime projects. From there, it seems to be doing well enough to keep going. On the V-pet side of things, there was nothing. Until there wasn't. Digital Monster Ver.20th - cheap, easily accessible, and being Digimon too, so people started to buy them. A lot. They were limited in Japan, but Japan was getting a lot more (but still limited) V-pets. In the West, they weren't limited, and they still get new shell colors. That eventually snowballed into Vital Bracelets, and it's still going strong. Turns out, if you make something decent, people would buy it. I guess that was a surprise for Bandai.

[@Douglas628]

Digimon definitely had a period where it needed a come back, but it's not now. Interest in the series started dimishing around the time of Frontier and started coming back in 2010 with the peak being in 2014 when they announced Cyber Sleuth and Digimon Adventure tri. The game side kinda fell off the spotlight recently because they kept focus on Survive despite its development issues, but that's ultimately due to Digimon tending to focus more on their already existing than new ones, at least in the game side. Habu himself stated that they did this because they didn't want to let down the fans that were excited when the game was first announced. Back in 2017 they were already setting the groundwork for the schedule we starting to see now, with regular releases and setting the games from different Main Series to different studios. He even mentioned some projects they wanted to work on later, like a MMO and a World 1 remake.

[@nestrior7733]

I'd definitely love a comeback, just gives me an excuse to finally put all my thoughts about Adventure 01 onto the page. Because shit was crazy, especially for a "kids' show." There were some massive topics covered in those 54 episodes. Which I still struggle to comprehend as to how there weren't more. And no, I'm not ripping on Adventure 02, Tamers or even Frontier. I truly fell out of it when Data Squad aired, so I'm not even making a Statement(tm) about that. It's just that the original season has always stuck with me in ways I've only reflected on in the last ten or so years. Sure, I've stayed a Pokemon fan for all these decades, but Digimon has remained in my heart just as much.

[@TheMaxCloud]

Digimon has great concepts that were never Exploited. For Example: Did you know that in the Digital World there is actual Magic? And it is performed as a very old and extremely complex Programming Language? Back in the day Programming and stuff wasnt that popular, but today Programming is a very more popular thing. Its a Cool Idea to have an entire Magic system that works like a Programming Language.

[@yumijandro7761]

Did you know Togemon was created by Vademon? Who is an actual alien that came from space and is on area 51

[@TheMaxCloud]

@@yumijandro7761 Did you know that there is an entire alternate Digital World where everything is Medieval? And this concept was NEVER EXPLORED.

[@yumijandro7761]

@@TheMaxCloud did you know Omegamon should not exist? Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon are not compatible for jogress, Omega should be a Chaosmon but is not thanks to the wishes of good of people. This also means the one from Our War Game might potentially be the original Omegamon in the multiverse

[@TheMaxCloud]

@@yumijandro7761 I do know that yes. Do you know right now There are only 12 Royal Knights because Gankoomon left? Jesmon is currently in possession of a Digiegg born off the monster that possessed the 7 crowns of the 7 deadly sins of the digital world. That egg will become the new 13th Royal Knight in the future, it will probably be a digimon with a Natural X Antibody.

[@yumijandro7761]

@@TheMaxCloud nice one, here another one. Did you know Alter S is most likely the original Omegamon royal, which was turned into a Zwart by Yggdrasil, then it got infected with a virus turning into Zwart D, then it turned Alter B and the effects of Black digitron went away so he became Alter S and meanwhile, it was replaced by a new Omegamon royal knight?

[@nazeersadek6705]

It’s defiantly getting a resurgence in popularity which I’m really happy to see

[@MrMirageCaster]

An advantage Digimon always had over Pokemon was the malleability of its world building. Anything and everything could happen in Digimon Games/Shows and fans could reasonably differentiate between properties to balance their likes/dislikes. Pokemon meanwhile had a more realistic setting and outside of Mystery Dungeon kept itself in a singular world setting. That singular setting meant that Pokemon could easily grow on its singular foundation and fans of a prior work could easily expect that they'll like the next one. But now things are different. Mega Evolution broke the long standing mechanics and immersion of their linear storytelling. And though players and fans predominately accepted Mega Evolution, the success of that made Pokemon undergo further and further changes. Now Pokemon has undertaken multiple massive changes, with stupid things like Z-Moves, Ultra Beasts, and now the whole -Max gimmicks. That linear foundation is gone, the reasonable expectation of what future products will be like is broken, and people who may even like these changes are being made to review each game differently leading to further deliberation on their feelings with Pokemon. Digimon was always poised to mix up their games as much as they wanted, but from my viewpoint they did learn what was the happy basepoint they'd need to keep too in order to maintain fan approval. Pokemon wasn't, and worst their rapid irregular changes have started losing fans. It's why they lost me.

[@dadwithnomustache]

Digimon X and Digimon 20th Anniversary Vpet is the one who brought me back to Digimon in recent year its like an old school tamagotchi but you can use it for battle via physical connection, and some fans actualy build a special device and online community around it so you can battle with people around the world

[@jinhong91]

I was one of the fans who signed the petition to bring more digimon games to the west. And I think I got the original soundtrack for Digimon World Next Order as a result of it and by original I mean the WAV files. I would say Digimon is slowly making a comeback from the days when they released many different games, some good, some not so good. With Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth doing so well, we will probably the core of it in the next Digimon Story game. Then there's the Digimon World Next Order releasing on Steam, which I think they will well enough to keep making games like that in the future And then there's the more experimental games of Digimon, much like the Digimon games of the Playstation era. I think they will still experiment with the idea of Digimon, seeing how well Digimon Survive did. They got the foundations to build on (Digimon Story), their roots (Digimon raising games) and they keep looking for new things (Digimon Survive) The only complain I have regarding Digimon franchise (other than not enough games) is that they need more non-humanoid Ultimates and Megas to keep things interesting.

[@randomperson9498]

Digimon is kind of in a unique spot because its more recent releases like Cyber Sleuth, Next 0rder, and Survive seem to be more targeting the original Digimon target audience - as in the people who grew up with it in the late 90's to mid 2000's that are in their teens, twenties, and early thirties now. You can see it everywhere from the Cyber Sleuth games being T-rated to bringing back old characters like Mameo and Sayo to the whole existence of Digimon Adventure tri/Last Evolution. Digimon found that they couldn't grab the Pokemon audience the way they used to so they went after what would otherwise be the periphery demographic and it seems to be working out pretty well for them.

[@pichaelthompson]

Hell yeah. I’ve been collecting the cards since BT-01, and it’s always such a good time. I don’t even play the card game, but the artwork is by far the best for any tcg imo.

[@twarnold14]

Cyber Sleuth got me to look back at Digimon, but it was news of new Digimon with a new wave of v-pets just after SwSh that got me to really pay attention. Localized v-pets, two new anime series (subbed on Crunchyroll but dub has been announced for the first), the card game, and the vital bracelet line along with 20th anniversary stuff for Tamers and Frontier really does make this feel like a bigger push from Digimon than in other years. Survive is big, but they have been doing other things to ensure that western fans can experience the franchise regularly outside of the video games.

[@WeavyTheSomeone]

Absolutely. The TCG is doing very well and financial results says it's actually becoming profitable in the West. I think the multiple games announcement also helped, especially since Cyber Sleuth sold well in the West. I'm personally waiting for a proper reveal of the new Story game. Now that I would be very hyped for.

[@Sgt.Dornan117]

I have a suspicion the reason the TCG is doing so well is due to the decline of Yugioh. Yugioh TCG has gotten so bloated and unbalanced, players are desperate for a more simplistic experience in other games, rather thansit there for 10 min and get locked out the game turn 1 ...... It's just something I've noticed.

[@jermaineevans6910]

@@Sgt.Dornan117 Possibly that, people not happy with the state of Magic the Gathering, and the increased interest in Pokemon/Digimon in recent years because of things like Pokemon Go and Digimon Cyber Sleuth

[@Child_of_woe_1994]

as much as I absolutely love pokemon I love digimon a little bit more because they aren't afraid to get a little dark sometimes

[@von970]

I hope Digimon makes a comeback. Cyber sleuth was an excellent game, and the card game is one of the best on the market atm imo. I think they’re on the right track.

[@mubarakzahruddin]

IMO localization plays a huge role to the Digimon popularity. I'm not saying it's the biggest issue, but imagine this : The JP term for the monsters evolution is Baby-Child-Adult-Perfect-Ultimate. EN term for them is In Training-Rookie-Champion-Ultimate-Mega. The EN term tried so hard to relate to Pokémon where the main goal of protagonist is becoming a champion in a league. Digimon plot is abt saving the world. The origin of franchise is raising your pet monster from baby to a perfect form. When localization fails to understand the plot of the series, it's hard to attract viewers. This is just one of the localization problems. But tbf the internet was not a big thing back then. So it's hard to understand other cultures and most importantly, ppl hard to understand the concept of digital space back then. I think that's also the reason why The Matrix got so famous, bc of the new technological concept. Digimon had an opportunity to be like that. . . (Btw, some Digimon viewers might be confused for the 'Perfect-Ultimate' and 'Ultimate-Mega' situation. You see in original series, it assumed that the Perfect is their evolution limit, but turned out they can evolved beyond perfect, the Ultimate form of digital monsters. I'd like to think when this plot twist revealed, the localization team realized they're effed up and gave up on the competition-themed naming, hence they just went w Ultimate and Mega.) Edit: holy s-- that's a long ass comment 😂

[@RayOfTruth]

Saban's English dub of Digimon Adventure removing character depth, ruining the thoughtful atmosphere by filling all quiet moments with constant talking, replacing the music with mostly worse songs, and removing character development, also helped with ruining the franchise's reputation in English countries.

[@SirPreyas]

More Digimon games in the works? Older Digimon games possibly getting re-released/remade? I look forward to all of this.

[@calebgoodman3028]

Not just possibly, Next Order was confirmed to receive a Switch port next year.

[@RayOfTruth]

Habu has said they've been working on the next Digimon Story with a plot about the Olympus XII.

[@ClintStryzerGaming]

Digimon could of been just as big if the games let you transfer your mons to the next game or any sort of progress from one game to the next. Cyber sleuth is the blueprint they should build off of going forward. Or something like arceus WITHOUT the death mechanic.

[@uwuowo1773]

world games are ABOUT the death mechanic cause digimon as a franchiese is based on tamagotchi

[@ClintStryzerGaming]

@@uwuowo1773 still!

[@ericschauer5950]

@@uwuowo1773 I love the world games myself though I wonder if they could do a transfer of digimon in story games plus combating friends too make it more in line with pokemon games

[@Moofydakidd]

It’s all fun and games until Digimon Ghost Stories gets a western and dubbed release

[@ShootingStarSheriff]

Another big thing for digimon is the vital bracelet and more Vpet releases as well. The vital hero did also recently have a US release as well. A new vital bracelet is coming out soon as well to go along with Ghost game the newest anime.

[@DesertHeroWilliam]

When I was a teenager, Walmart had an entire isle that was like half pokemon and half Digimon with a few Yu-Gi-Oh cards in the middle. A few years later the Digimon section was as small as the Yu-Gi-Oh section. Then by 2006 it was completely gone. I couldn't find Digimon anywhere. This year they started carrying a little bit of Digimon stuff again. It's making a comeback. This year is also when Pokemon no longer has half an isle to itself for the first time.

[@bearberserker]

I would say it's making a comeback with the new games getting a western release, along with how their mobile games have been coming to the west.

[@profjeff9]

I've always loved their character designs, but I haven't found anything that recaptured the magic I felt watching the English dub of Adventure and Tamers as a kid. Would like to one day though.

[@baalfgames5318]

Honestly, I would love an action RPG starring Digimon themselves, especially if Dragon Quest Treasures isn't going to deliver on that front. I'd also love it if I got to play as Gargomon... and he gets at least one kicking move.

[@Wintercide]

Digimon world 4 is the closest to what you're asking for lol

[@leonardofrazao5661]

Mr. Habu, Digimon Game's director, said that Digimon Survive is focused in youngsters and adult(mainly adult). Then we can imagine that another lines, Story and World, will be focused in childs and youngsters, probably World line in childs because it can be adapted to them. But i believe that people more old will buy it in the ocident by not want face many texts and jump to the action. I guess that a Digimon World like Digimon Links would more sucess with everyone.

[@hypnotic13371337]

It just needs a smash it out of the park game and I feel like it'd make a nice comeback. Cyber sleuth but not as much grinding at the end, some more lessons throughout the game to get you ready for super boss side content/end of arena challenges, and some more depth to the individual digimon

[@EumelaninKnight]

If the Digimon(2020) anime dub release coincides with Next Order's PC/Switch release, I'd say they are being smart to revitalize the series. This has always been my preferred -Mon series, but the last decade and a half of releases have been... Lackluster for one reason or another. I mean.. Digimon world 4 and then the vita exclusives, for example. They were not building a new audience like that. Here's to 2023 being a great year for the Digimon franchise.

[@salmanalseemare9821]

Around Digimon Story Dawn/Dusk is when digimon went into slumber for a while till sleuth, next order, hacker memory, app mon and tri

[@notscorchingsands9718]

Honestly hope we get a yugioh master duel like game for the cardgame. Looks so fun to play.

[@KreuzDrache]

My biggests hope. 🙏🙏🙏 Be even better if they try to do code cards for double dipping like Pokemon did/does(?).

[@WillTheGreatest]

As both a big .hack and digimon fan I'm a little accustomed to Bamco kind of ignoring the smaller fanbases despite there being a lot of potential. Glad digimon is in the up again though

[@sewnmind1786]

Survive was what I really wanted to see. I love the more mature stuff coming with Cyber Sleuth and HM but Survive really hammered home the real theme of what Digimon are and what makes them different from Pokemon.

[@brutalnobody5240]

the digimon fanbase has always been around just , good luck finding content during that drought

[@joseecadequeiroz3190]

As someone who puts Digimon at the top - I love how Bandai/Toei are finally giving it the attention it deserves. That said, one thing that helped boost a lot of its new popularity is the TCG. Really well done, so far well managed (outside of them trying to keep the international version on the same timings of the Japanese but still not fully managing that), with great artworks. Then there's the Adventure reboot, which... Isn't as well done as the original, but that was probably to be expected, and Ghost Game, which also seems to be seeing a lot of popularity, as well as the new Vital Bracelets.

[@oyahman]

I guess they are making a comeback? The reference book updates randomly,the new century digimons,the anime,toei reports etc etc. It certainly seems like they are gaining momentum.

[@omnimon1996]

Been a huge Digimon fan for most of my life and I can definitely say yeah it’s definitely making a comeback thanks to Cybersleuth, Survive, and the TCG. Though for me personally it’s still been the anime that keeps me hooked. XD

[@viruschris3160]

I love Digimon! I've been playing Digimon World a few days ago and I just beat the main story of it and currently trying to get every Digimon to the city (I have 97 City Points before I cleared the game so one last Digimon), get all the Medals, and get every Digimon registered on the Chart. Beat the story with Mamemon as that is the 'canon' partner of the Player Character of DW1 (Mameo as a nickname). I might play DW2 and 3 soon enough. I'm looking forward to replay Next Order on my Switch with some QoL updates I hope. Digimon is such an awesome series and want it to continue growing. I love games like it and Monster Rancher. Hey Gym Leader Ed, have you ever played the original Digimon World games? Even the 4th one? Which I have.

[@karrikemppainen1535]

Digimon fits these times the best imo. Pokèmon is currently TRYING to grow a bit with us(according to couple of memes I saw few seconds back), but our world is right now becoming perfect for virtual sentient critters with AI and whatnot. Us digigeeks deserve this and ohhohhooo how we've been waiting, amirite? 😎 I see good "worlds" and "stories" ahead ☺👌

[@yumijandro7761]

If i ever get to see a v-pet pr vital bracelet in a shop in my country, i will be happy

[@CircuitReborn]

Saw vital bracelets on cable TV yesterday. Hype.

[@g-pixiu2076]

Hey @gym leader Ed do you think there will be a new mobile game for digimon? Digimon rearise ended so do you think there will be something new soon?

[@unkowntcg6219]

In many places it’s starting to get a little bit more known but not a lot.

[@gibitekaarapongas]

Well, considering 3 digimon animes in a row (appmon, digimon adventure 2020 and ghost game), new games on the west, English dubbed movies (tri and kizuna), some toys being sold on game stop, new versions of the English Vpets and an awasome TCG with great illustration and interesting mechanics it all makes digimon stand out more than the preview years where this things didn't happen. And, there was some news circulating the gaming community that digimon makes more profit minecraft (wich I don't if it is true or not) which makes you think...

[@GymLeaderEd]

I'm just so happy to see it doing well. Especially as someone who fell off for a literal decade, but always had love for the franchise and looked fondly at it

[@NoraNoita]

Digimon Tamagotchi are only really available in Japan, which is sad, if they made at least the shipping easier it would be very nice to get the latest ones or the anniversary editions etc.

[@yarc9]

Pokemon sells worldwide digimon only a hit in japan

[@kanchomerocks12]

I don't know where you live, but there are multiple Digimon v-pets that have been released outside of Japan in recent years. The most recent example is the Vital hero.

[@uwuowo1773]

they literally sell them at gamestop

[@ericschauer5950]

@@uwuowo1773 was going to say this aswell as in it being sold in Barnes and noble plus if you can't make it to a store in person amazon sells them too all english also

[@NoraNoita]

@@kanchomerocks12 probably either in the worst town ever, or in a country that doesn't care.

[@TiredWeeb]

The card game being quiet isnt entirely true, guess it isn't marketed as much but the tcg is getting constant releases atm. Our next one is around the corner on November 11th. Imo after the cyber sleuth games, it's been on the up swing

[@melissamurray8307]

The fact Digimon has lasted this long is due to the great content they have produced. While I may not be a fan of everything, I appreciate their willingness to try new things.

[@ejmisa7413]

I love the digimon world 3 soundtrack as the background music ❤

[@Anti-HyperLink]

I should look for a Digimon Survive playthrough on KZbin. CyberSleuth is fun but fucking confusing. But a game about being a detective being difficult kind of makes sense.

[@jamalhartley5863]

Well you said Digimon was always popular in Japan. Bandai had just been kinda ignoring the Digimon fans in the West for the longest. There was a literal petition to get Cyber Sleuth translated, it's kinda insane people had to basically scream at Bandai to tell them Digimon fans exists in the West too. So I'm not sure if it's a comeback, but definitely a resurgence. Especially since Pokemon has been leaving a bad taste in people's mouth.

[@SacrificAbominat]

I think this current comeback started with Tri, but due to how poorly that series was handled, seriously releasing 6 movies over 3 years was ridiculous, I think it was Cyberslueth that was the first official big spike in interest of this comeback. Both anime and game wise the series has had a pretty steady output since then. Even though Survive took a while to come out there was the 2020 reboot and Ghost Game going on in the meantime, those and Applimon definitely need international localizations at some point. I think what attracts me to Digimon more than Pokemon is the variety it has, that's also why I gravitate towards SMT more as well. Most of the games are very different from each other and while you have the Story and World series kind of having similar structures from game to game you are getting a pretty different experience with each one. Not to mention the Animes themselves are very experimental too. I'm really enjoying Ghost Game even though it doesn't really have much of an overarching plot. Each episode is basically it's own take on some horror story and oh my god I'm surprised it gets away with being considered a kids show sometimes, especially with that mushroom episode from a couple weeks ago. I am also really looking forward to the teased Meicrackmon Vicious Mode appearance in the next episode too. Please have her fighting Gulusgammamon please Ghost Game I want to see those two dark Digimon duke it out. I do think the series does have a bit of a nostalgia pandering problem though, and I think a lot of fans are kind of tired of seeing the adventure cast after Tri, Kizuna, and the Reboot anime. Not to mention there's a 02 movie coming out next year and I get the feeling there will be a 02 reboot anime that follows that as well.

[@digidrveKJ]

I think if they ported the mmo to consoles they’d also get a nice amount of newcomers. Also getting a port of the ds games to switch would be neat.

[@Ookami20]

I love the state of Digimon lately and it can only get better we are blessed I’m getting close to finishing Hacker’s Memory and I also hope they make a TCG game for the Switch I would love to play it irl too 💚💚💚

[@stratosphere94]

As a Digimon fan, I'm all for this. I want a new Digimon movie tbh!

[@RaWasabi]

There is a new movie in the works. “Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning” set to release in 2023.

[@calebgoodman3028]

There is a new one coming out.

[@dovesr0478]

This may be confirmation bias because I'm pretty immersed in Digimon but I agree that the franchise is experiencing a strong uptick right now. Ghost Game is pretty well received AFAIK and the card game is steadily gaining popularity. The new vital bracelets are cool (though expensive), and the west getting ports of old games clearly indicates that Bandai is trying to grow the fanbase.

[@arareshinygardevoir]

I recently came back to Digimon cyber sleuth hackers memory and I’m having a blast tbh. Balance is def an issue imo with the game but I’m still loving it as an alternative to Pokémon due to my gripes with the recent games. I played Digimon world next order as well a long while ago and it had so many issues from a gameplay perspective but was still an experience I enjoyed a lot more than I expected due to the many aspects from the story to the evolutions and how that is.

[@KreuzDrache]

I hope the new release of Next Order tries to fix some of the grind I keep hearing about.

[@arareshinygardevoir]

@@KreuzDrache I can explain the awful grind. How your suppose to raise your digimon stats is in the training area but every time you train a hour passes and you maybe get 100 stat points. Due to an hour passing each time your approaching the digimon end life span quickly and by the time they’re ready for use, they die. The best way to get stats is by fighting by far. There is a cap to how many stats you can get in battle per fight but it raises many stats at once and time does not pass in battle. You have to fight hundreds of battles to max stats or even get the to a decent point due to poor story balanced fights. Also the training area can’t really be upgraded until late game for some dumb reason.

[@KreuzDrache]

@@arareshinygardevoir Ah geez, that sounds way more brutal than Cyber Sleuth lol

[@carlosguerrero6501]

Digimon never died, it always made a lot of money, had the V-pets consistently (main form of content) and the current anime is top 3 in revenue to fucking toei, only dragon ball and one piece best it. Also, games affect digimon a lot. The highs are INCREDIBLE, original and really interesting, but the downs are DMO (worst MMO ever, probably) and world 4. Wich are gigantic lows.

[@42Caio]

I think Digimon was never in a situation it needed to come back from. Maybe the early 2010s when they stopped releasing games in the west (we missed 2 Digimon Story games and 1 Digimon World game), but Digimon has been pretty fucking active in the past decade especially if you take the anime into account. Between tv series and movies there was always something either being released or in the works, and most of that did get released in the west at least partially. I also don't think Digimon really needs to worry all that much about appealing to the west, a lot of the franchise's strenght even back with the old 90s dubs was not hiding how intrinsically Japanese the series is, and that's only became more true with the newer games and tv shows. Digimon is already doing well and I don't think there's a potential to be huge beyond a niche in the west and no need to try to do so and risk completely floundering the steady momentum the franchise has built.

[@christopherbennett5858]

Oh I got back with Cyber Sleuth. It came out when I was at university and it was a blast. I’ve always enjoyed my card games but, in recent years, a bunch of games either died during the pandemic (rip Buddyfight) or just became too expensive and/or unenjoyable to the point that, even with newer stuff, it hasn’t felt the same (Cardfight). So when Bandai revealed a Digimon card game that was fun and relatively cheap? That was a done deal. For a while, Digimon has toed the line between moving forward and looking back. Whilst I will not fault Pokémon for being comfortable, it is interesting to see the variety in Digimon games and shows. Digimon can often get a pass because of one thing; it has a very campy, endearing heart.

[@LogogoFromKeron]

I love Digimon. Still need to find time to play CyberSleuth lol

[@ericschauer5950]

It's definitely a good one 👍

[@renogargoyle9943]

I grown up with Digimon, played all Digimon games which were released for the West...and i hope they will release some good game that i can enjoy Digital monsters!

[@kthking]

Digimon should stick to and expand and improve upon what they did with Digimon World 1 on PS1/PSX cus that game was awesome and very different to Pokémon or other monster taming games, the whole digivolution tree and how your Digimon will evolve based on how you raise it, train it, feed it, even toilet train it, lol, and your Digimon having a finite lifespan that also changes depending on how you treat and raise it, all that made it unique. Would love to see a giant Digimon World game that has File Island and File City in it, but as a small part of a giant continental open world Digimon map, with loads of quests and secrets, opportunities to befriend Digimon perhaps, and Digimon World 1 you could only have 1 Digimon at a time, which was cool, and if they keep it that way, it would be all good, cus having a giant party of Digimon would be too intense to handle with all the feeding and toilet training, but maybe 3 Digimon could work, idk, but one Digimon at a time works, maybe they have a friend system where you can befriend Digimon on your journey, and during battles you can call in those friends to join your side of the battle, maybe it's region based too, like if you befriended 3 Digimon in one region of the map, then they will be available to help you in that region, but in a new region you would have to befriend other Digimon if you want the option to have them participate in battles. A Digimon World game has so much potential if they use the first Digimon World game as the basis and just expand, improve and innovate from that base.

[@demonic_myst4503]

im glad and i think digimon can get abit ahead of other none pokemon competotors on the mere fact it can survive alongside pokemon if it gains enough awarness While others try to give almost exact ehat pokemon does digimons allways had its own ways focusing on story telling and the relationships between characters you can like both franchises and get difernt things out of them so its less an either or than other competitors pokemon can give that great sports feel to creating your team beating gyms becoming the very best While digimon strives on stakes dipping heavily into the fantasy genre of saving the world and is allways willing to exsperiment

[@bubalackgaming8892]

I hope Digimon gets the attention it deserves so it can make a full comeback considering almost every game they've made in recent years has been flat out better than anything Pokemon's made in the same timeframe

[@cosmicspacething3474]

People are finally getting sick of the quantity over quality model and are going elsewhere, at least I hope so

[@DominatorLegend]

The TCG is great, the last videogames were pretty good, the current anime is pretty fun, Gammamon is a god-tier monster... Yeah, we Digimon fans are eating pretty good now.

[@Minifutzi_o.O]

Honestly I don't really think that Digimon is experiencing a renaissance. It seems their biggest difficulty is to attract the young generation who are 10 years old. Bcz they mostly grow up with Pokemon only and there also aren't noteworthy mobil games of Digimon (Rearise is off again) currently who could rival Pokemon Go. If Digimon could also become more popular in China I think then there would be a good chance for a new trend. On the other side it seems that Bandai Namco also doesn't really know how to handle Digimon. They're quite conservative in their approach. How about games that would focus adult fans and games for children?.

[@RayOfTruth]

Digimon Adventure: Colon and Digimon Ghost Game have been aimed at a younger audience than Tri, Survive, or Cyber Sleuth.

[@jacobrodriguez-bertoni2716]

If Digimon was a popular or had the same budgets pokemon did; we'd all be happier. The comparison is crazy when you consider which one has the advantage and ability to create something beyond your belief. But when you look at the actual product produced by each; the smaller arguably less popular of the two still outshines the more favorable and it baffles me, it's almost like corporate greed and ego has turned their competitor into a shell of it's former self and one or two more good drops by Digimon might be all that's needed to uncrown the king at the moment; especially this month if Scarlet and Violet don't hold up and continue to show standards dropping with the pokemon series. Comparisons aside; I've always loved the upward mobility and variation between digimon as well as the customizability and potential competitive scene it can have; the skills abilities and so on by digivolving one route and back are insane; light years ahead of any other monster tamer game. I just pray this company gets it's well deserved respect with their next drop; I sadly wasn't as big a fan with survive as I was with Cyber slueth. An MMO/Open world style digimon game touching base with the world style of digimon mix, might be exactly what we need. Could even mix in a bit of tamers vs gangs/criminal organization foundation to give that game an update like system to promote time based updates or events. Digimon Go but better; the did at one point make data absorption a thing.

[@conandbethdoendurostuff4632]

As im older now I prefer digimon as it grew with its audience with adventure tri and what not. Where I grew out of the pokemon anime. I hope digimon gets bigger in the west and more games released in the west

[@tirosc]

I am a huge fan of Digimon but fundamentally it hasn't been changing it's own formula for a good 10 years it seems like. The most interesting arcs I can remember are the Dark Masters and the 7 Demon Lords arc. Bandai has just been re-releasing old games with the exception of Survive. I am happy to see that Bandai is now developing new Digimon games(praying for digimon world 3 type remake) and hopefully that means new story arcs and revisiting old established arcs as well.

[@xyoness]

Don't forget about the MMO they are currently working on. Digimon super Rumble. So far it's Korea only but there are ways to get an account and play it already. I've one myself and the game is really fun, nice graphics and the fighting system is also smooth, it's still in a beta so let's see how it will turn out in the end.

[@lightningbug9564]

i had this idea for a while back for them to make a Tamagotchi style app

[@Moofydakidd]

Digimon making a comeback? Lol psssht! Digimon never left to begin with 💪

[@LucasTigy2]

you didn't even mention the v-pets which are probably responsible for this jump-start to begin with. sure you played that trailer that featured them, but considering the v-pets are probably what led to the vital brace release, they are most likely responsible for the resurgence.

[@Roto3]

Digimon tri and Cyber sleuth what brought me back into Digimon.

[@BonnersMonsters]

I was thinking: I never met a Digimon fan that wasn't a fan of the original Pokémon. Still, I've ALWAYS liked digimon better, even though Pokémon has admittedly performed alot better overall from the anime, to games, to the toys/collectibles. Like you say though, digimon is on the rise while pokemon keeps dropping the ball. It would be down right amazing to see them compete on the same level again ❤️

[@WattSCar7597]

Digimon world 2 ps1 was my fave. I remember gamesharking a bunch of toy planes just to get metalgreymon lol

[@Roots-n-Horizons]

I'll have to check that game out sometime!!

[@homeyduh]

I think it is making a comeback for sure. We've been in a draught, I think, for new content. The Next Order announcement for me is extremely hopeful because the dialogue sounds like it's from the game itself, which to me suggests that the game is fully voice acted and dubbed in English at least, which will go a LONG way I think.

[@V-Jes]

The game was already dubbed in English back in 2017 when it released on PS4...

[@Wintercide]

There are a few moments where there's no voice acting but very few. Most, if not all, of the major story beats are voiced.

[@reijiseiei740]

the Digimon card game is booming in popularity also contribute to pulling fans and non fans into it. Easy to get into, great mechanic and cheaper than most card game.