[NOSTALGIA] - an introspective look at Digimon World (Prologue and Chapter 1)

„A 29-year-old loser from Central Europe is trying to relieve his childhood and make his dream of creating video gaming content come true. He chooses his absolute favourite, Digimon World for the original Sony PlayStation, thinking it'll be smooth sailing despite having no previous content creation experience. Hilarity, existential dread and depression ensues.”
This is my guide/walkthrough/let’s play/retrospective/review of Digimon World 1 (PS1). ...well… more like the first part of it - at first I really thought I could make a ~8-9h video in little over a month (because I wanted to have it done by the 6th of July - anniversary of Digimon World PAL release), even though I had over 100 hours of footage to go through, raw voice recordings, no visual assets, no soundtrack prepared and my experience of using video editing software came down to a total of 10 hours. And all of that with having to work 7-3 (+ commuting). If that doesn't sound like a recipe for disaster, I don't know what is.
English isn’t my native language (gee, could you tell?) and while my reading and hearing comprehension is superb, both my writing and speaking are… well, let’s say rusty. It's inexcusable, I know. Hope the subtitles will help.
Anyway… yeah, after more than 10 years, I finally managed to stop dreaming about making a video and actually start making it. The result is… what you’re watching right now: a prologue and the first chapter of my Magnum Opus.
Digimon World is probably the most influential video game I’ve played in my life. That’s why I wanted show everything there is to show about it and maybe, JUST MAYBE influence others to play it for the first time/give it another go. Also, there’s a lot of personal power leveling and possible cringe so… be wary of that.
I cannot thank enough everyone whose work I used in this project. I am especially grateful to those who took the game apart and passed on this knowledge in an understandable way, because without them I would still be in the dark about many of aspects of the game.
[www.]fliegenfuerst.github.io/dw1/
[www.]phoenix-staffel.de/digimon/DigimonWorld/
@Geta92 / geta92
@ginoshie / @ginoshie
...and let’s not forget many talented people whose music I used not only in this video but also as a recreation:
@GIROMONSJUKEBOX / @giromonsjukebox
@eluukkanen / @eluukkanen
@SadGatomon / @sadgatomon
@GoldRangerkicksass / @goldrangerkicksass
THIS TIME ON [NOSTALGIA]:
0:00 Prologue: A brief history...
1:54 Prologue: ...of Digimon
8:47 OPENING
10:37 Introduction + my story with Digimon World
23:07 Chapter 1 starts
30:24 Looking at the game's menu
37:23 Hitting the (Green) Gym
41:56 Agumon wants to (hear the) battle (infodump)
50:36 Early exploration
55:00 We get shot
58:07 Needs
1:02:15 More exploration
1:04:05 Drill Tunnel
1:08:10 The rest of Native Forest
1:10:33 Getting TECHnical
1:15:00 Introducing Digivolution
1:17:02 Finishing Drill Tunnel
1:21:17 The stage is set
It’s bit rough, especially the history segment. It’s a work in progress and I’m getting more experienced with each segment of the video, so it’s only going to be better from now on!
Hey. Thanks for watching, it means a lot to me.
NEXT TIME ON [NOSTALGIA]:
Circle of life™
Chodyna professes his love
Music aficionado corner
CAPITALISM HO!
Gravity always wins
It's all Ogre
Detailed look at Digivolution
We canonically switch between PAL and NTSC
Next chapter will be published around the end of July (because life and work is a beach). Hope to see you then!
#digimon #digimonworld1 #digimonworld #nostalgia

[@EtanRedKnight]

I actually had a similar situation with a pirate copy of Digimon World. During the high point of the console war i asked for a Game Boy for xmas, mostly because of Pokemon. Instead i received a PSOne. Arguably a better deal for me and my parents in retrospective, being from a LATAM country, where piracy, specially for PS and Xbox games, was stupidly common. I was fine with it, Crash Bandicoot was great, but i keeped an itch for Pokemon. So i fell on the same old trick of the Digimon game disguised as a Pokemon one. It even had an image of the art front of Pokemon Yellow. I did had somewhat notion that Pokemon games were a exclusive Nintendo affair and i already knew about digimon, thanks to the anime. So i mostly asked for the disk out of curiosity. When the reallity sinked, i just rolled with it. I was like: Agumon?? Even better!! My copy unfortunaly did have the Ogremon Fortress bug (a PAL version bug), so i never had the chance to finish it (in a proper console)

[@Hodyna]

I assume you had the spanish PAL version of the game? To this day I CAN'T believe how much they have BOTCHED the European release of the game. It is especially puzzling seeing that the UK version is perfectly fine (albeit running 20% slower than NTSC) - I just can't wrap my mind around it, it's one of the most botched game release and yet it isn't all that well known outside of the Digimon World 1 playerbase (probably because it's exclusive to non-English PAL release). I mean, it is a really interesting subject but sheesh. I was heartbroken when I discovered this bug when I finally got my hands on a legit copy of the game (which will be a talking point in Chapter 2). Piracy was WILD in Poland. It remained like that till the PS3 became popular. After all this years I still respect the hustle - selling a bootleg convincingly is an art of sorts to me. Personally, I think that PS1 has probably the greatest game library of all time (rivalied MAYBE by PS2?) and I'm so glad my dad chose it over the others (for pragmatic reason of easy access to cheap pirated copies). Piracy may be a horrible thing, but I really think that without it many games would be skipped over or forgotten and many people wouldn't discover the joys of gaming. Thanks for your time and your comment. I really appreciate it. Cheers, Chodyna

[@valkyrasonara1797]

Digimon World is my favorite videogame ❤

[@Hodyna]

Haha, we're on the same boat then! Thanks for watching!

[@Rooboid]

Thank you so much for this incredible, personal and in-depth look at one of the most OVERlooked PS1 games around, I feel really lucky to have found you just as I'm playing the game properly for the first time. As a fellow European who recieved good ol' pirated copies of games for my birthdays too, this was one of them. I remember being so frightened of it as a kid as my digimon always evolved into numemon or faded away. The vague memory of being beaten to a pulp by Drimogemon made me too scared to ever pick it up again. Until this year, and I'm currently trying to best Mt. Infinity with a Drimogemon of my own. So hard to believe that you say you have little video editing skills, your entire video is incredibly clean and well presented, and I'm so grateful it finally came to fruition after 10 years of you wanting to make it happen. Can't wait to dive into the rest. May you forever roll THREE ⭐GOLDEN ⭐POOPS ⭐ in your training Chodyna.

[@Hodyna]

Thank you for giving me your time! It still astounds me that so many people are actually enjoying my videos. I really expected them to completely crash and burn, especially because of me sharing the personal stuff. Yeah, the game (well, actually the whole franchise as a whole) is quite "mature" for a kids' media and I think it respects the intelligence of its audience (even if it can be quite harsh). I'm sure that NO ONE forget their first dead Digimon or Numemon Digivolution - guys at Bandai made the game so damn memorable. Haha, I remember lucking out with Drimogemon fight and stunlocking him with Spit Fire. It is a pretty scary fight for one of the first bosses, though! Drimogemon is, actually, quite decent Digimon! While I'm not a fan of Battle tech specialists, if you learn Green Trap (tech that Weedmon in Great Canyon use) with an Earth specialty Digimon, Drimogemon will also be able to use it - and Green Trap has the highest stun rate in the game (and is quite decent tech overall)! Green Trap users are pretty rare, which makes Drimogemon quite special. I wish you luck on your playthrough! Haha, well, I edited some autopsy videos as a part of my day job as a training, but I guess that's still quite different than putting out a gaming video (though I always try to hide a meme frame or something, haha). Once more! Thanks for stopping by! You have no idea how much your enjoyment matters to me

[@simplementelicha2127]

Not only is this an amazing tribute to my favorite game of all time, but an excellent guide. I wish I had something like this 20 years ago when I first played this masterpiece! There were some things in this video that I did not know of, such as the fact that raising the intelligence would eventually reduce the MP cost of techs while maxing the stat. Also, I never saw the glitch of the MP cost reduction freeze. Additionally, it took me by surprise the fact that the MP amount after a battle would increase the tiredness the lower the MP. So many details I did not know about and I've playing this for more than 20 years! I've always thought that was the reason I love this game so much. It has so many small details that are hard to see if you haven't heard about them. Back in the day, with the lack of information available, it was kind of magical and rad to figure things out on your own, which added up to the mistery of not knowing what was ahead, what digimon you were going to get, death digivolutions, the amazing soundtrack... Boy did this game have everything! I really appreciate all your efforts and share the passion. You've earned a new subscriber! PD: I think this game did not receive the recognition it deserved due to the little amount of tips it provided regarding its mechanics. However, after playing for so many years, I totally see this was intentional as the devs want the player to delve into the game with little knowledge to get the better experience out of it. It is truly a gem for the ones who take the time to learn it.

[@Hodyna]

Hello! Thanks for subscribing and spending your precious time on watching and commenting! Having to discover everything on your own, essentially becoming more adapt at surviving in the Digital World was (and still is,) DEFINITELY the high point of this game. I like how even the official guides miss out a lot of stuff, leaving it for the playes to discover. While far from perfect, this game is really something great and I'm happy to see so many people having such nice memories about it. And I agree, Digimon World got overlooked and critically panned thanks to barely telling anything to the player, leading to the frustration. That's why its spiritual (Re:Digitize) and direct (Next Order) successors provide plenty tips and information to the players. Once more, thank you for coming by!

[@CarelessDead]

Thanks for your hard work on these videos. I was actually working on a video essay on digimon in my native language while the algorithm suggested your video. I've actually learned few things that I didn't know, and that's one of the reasons I love this game it's always surprising me with something. I like how you mentioned your childhood experience with the game I too come from a country where piracy was rampant but they didn't do the pokemon trick I think it mid 2000s where they started to do that in here. I also see the effort you put into each scene and cutting down the UI for the video, using a font similar to in-game...etc I hope it get's the recognition it deserves.

[@Hodyna]

Hey! Thank you very much for your time watching my work! I'm happy that you discovered some new things about the game. While preparing this videos I did too. It's really amazing how many little, obscure things are in this game (and most of them are so cleverly hidden/masked that it's unlikely that one will notice it without being in the know). I was a bit scared about showing myself and telling my life stories associated with the game, but I realized how important this game is to me and my life and that it just has to be done. Since the "introspection". It's funny how games can influence our lives, no? I think that most people have very interesting stories associated with this game. I some in the comments and they make me smile each time. I tried my best and I know that the videos are quite rough in places. While there are things that I wish I did better, I'm still quite proud of them. I don't need recognition or anything, I'm just happy that people like you are finding my videos and enjoying them. That's the best I could ask for. Thanks for leaving a comment and please remember to share your essay with me once you're done with it!

[@allbl4ck616]

This is the first video on the game I've seen to go into all the details on the game's mechanics rather than just elude to them or mention a select few. Even learned 1-2 things I didn't know like brain and discipline effecting if your digimon will freeze mid-battle. Must've been a lot of work to go through recording reading them out + putting the info on screen, props for that.

[@Hodyna]

Honestly, that always frustrated me. There are many good videos about Digimon World but they always felt a bit... shallow. I mean, sure, being able to make your point with as few words as possible is a sign of good writing (something I have a COLOSSAL problem as you might have already notice from the lenght of this part), but I felt like SO MANY things got skipped over. My goal from the beginning (other than paying tribute to the game, of course) is to make a video that shows my friends WHY Digimon World is my favorite game, and goes into detail about the game so even if they don't really want to play it themselves, they'll see most of what the game has to offer. Glad I showed you something new! I sincerely hope Digimon World surprises you with a few more things while watching this series (I was definitely surprised by some of the things and mechanics I discovered while researching this video). It's a lot more work than I expected it to be! With over 90 hours of recorded footage sometimes it's really hard to find the exact moment I want to put on the screen (because I didn't make any notes thinking that "I'll find it easily" - if I could strangle my past self, I would just for that). It's fun though. I had the most fun while scripting the mechanics explanation bits but they are definitely the most challenging to actually put in the video (because of the sheer amount of information and the diffculty of doing so "in a fun way"). Thanks a lot for your comment!

[@allbl4ck616]

​@@Hodyna Yeah I understand they're different styles of videos (a lot shorter too) and that's fine, but I think you need some of the details to get a proper understanding of the game. The effort shows, it's a well structured and put together video.

[@Douglas628]

It's been a ride. Looking forward to see what they'll do with World games and how they'll improve it.

[@Hodyna]

We can only wish that folks at Bandai will do ANYTHING at all.

[@Douglas628]

Habu did state they have a hard time making these games friendly to newcomers while keeping them challenging to core players. They didn't seem like they were willing to give up yet, though.

[@Hodyna]

@@Douglas628 Yeah. I don't envy them. I'm sure they would want to change it to be even more "streamlined", but then again, the fanbase is so passionate about the series that changing to much would probably end... not that well. Yeah, making a new GOOD Digimon World could be tough. And I don't see Bandai giving the team too much of a budget. I'm sure that, as long as they don't do anything weird and keep to the core idea (as in - monster raising simulator) it will be good, or at least fun. I know that the guys making the newer Digimon games are really into it, so I don't worry. I just hope that they will have resources and won't be too overworked.

[@AB1138-]

I am suprised and excited about how many people are talking about Digimon World 1. So many long videos. I dont have the chance to start the video now, but i did want to thank you for putting this together & let you know i subscribed. There is a partial decompilation & an on-hold/semi-cancelled fan remake that got pretty far. But to be honest, all this game really needs is some rebalancing. Have a good day, American Fan

[@Hodyna]

Oh. Wow. Jeez, sorry if I'm going to be a little bit emotional over your comment but... I guess I can't really help it. This project is something that I wanted to do for a very, very long time. I postponed it constantly because I was too scared to actually start it. When I finally got around to it (in January this year), I realized how many people had already done it. I was... sad to say the least. I knew that I couldn't really compete because I'm not skilled enough, nor am I all that funny, I look like crap, my voice is grating and my language skills are rusty as hell. There were many points where I really wanted to give up. But I didn't. I realised that I simply want to pay tribute to my favorite game and its wonderful community, and to make a video that I would happily watch in my free time (and that would be amusing to my friends). That's all that really matters to me. So please, don't say that it's too late to start a video of your own. If someone like me can do it, then really anyone can. I would watch it for sure, so you would have at least one view! I agree. The game is good for what it is. I still think that it was an outstanding achievement for the time it was released. Gamers just weren't ready for it. Rebalancing the use of items in battle would do WONDERS for gameplay IMO - you can cheese nearly every encounter if you have enough resources, which kind of ruins the fun. Making some things more clear to the players would do fine too! Your comment really made my day. I hope you don't consider the time spent watching this overly long video to be wasted and that you had at least a little bit of fun watching it. Chapter 2 will be out soon and so far I really like it. Hope you'll like it too! Once more - thanks for your comment. I really expected nothing when I posted this video and got such a marvelous response. Cheers and take care of yourself. Sincerly, Your pal - Chodyna

[@Hodyna]

Welp, I misread your comment (thinking you're talking about starting your own video), that's awkward! Feel free to unsubcribe and dislike if my video will fail to reach your standards! Sorry for misunderstanding. Cheers!

[@AB1138-]

@@Hodyna oops, I tried to be clear. But I should have said "start your video." That's on me too, not your English skills. I understand why you felt discouraged but those other videos approach DW1 from different angles. There are some that relate the videos to their personal stories, but Id argue that you being Central European would provide a different expectations than what were used to hearing. Whenever I finish the video I'll try to remember to leave a separate comment. I saw you didn't have anyone share yet and you clearly did a lot of hard work just from the chapter titled alone. Keep it up man, I wish I could put myself out there creatively like you are. Respect

[@SadGatomon]

Just finished the video, couldnt stop even for a second after I started, this game its still so alive in my memory. It was my first PSX game. My cousin got a PSX with this game and we started to play it non stop, the only detail is that he didn't had a memory card, so we just played full day, and then had to turn off the PSX and start from scratch next morning hahaha one day we deicided to not turn down the PSX so we could continue the next day (we were excited we got an angemon) and then, during the night, my grandma woke up, saw that the lights were on, and plug out the PSX 🤣 I think I can say we didnt got an angemon again for years. This game had a really special place in my heart, I started learning english with it after I got my own PSX, I used to play with a dictionary by my side so I could translate everything. I unfortunaly got the european version, so I had to deal with all the bugs and glitchs and, I still believe that the questions at the start makes digivolution harder. I still can remember how it was so easy to get an numemon and how hard it was to get an ultimate, even after I met all requisites and had high tamer level. I wish I had a machine that could erase all my memories of this game so I could enjoy it again. It was a journey of years playing this game to finally understand all mechanics and secrets, all bugs, all digimon locations, every detail single detail. Man, I love this game so much. Thanks for this video and I'm looking forward for part 2.

[@Hodyna]

Haha, what a game to start your PS1 journey! I feel for you guys, I remember when my Memory Cardgot fried so I basically had to speedrun every game from start to finish for like a month. ...never thought about leaving the console on for the night though (my parents would probably kill me if they found out)! I would say that it motivated me a lot to learn languages. First with the English version (I have a very basic knowledge of the language thanks to the Disney "Magic English" VHS tapes my parents used to buy for me, so I could understand the basics and then figure out the rest from the context) and then with the German PAL version (I studied the language in school, so playing it wasn't too bad, and I expanded my vocabulary a lot while playing it). Yeah, it's definitely quite a journey! But I don't know if I had enough time to discover/re-examine everything, haha. As much as I'd love to relive the game from scratch... I think it would be hard (...what if I don't like it for some reason?). ...but hey... Bandai if you're listening... please make us another Digimon World game so we can experience the same magic again. Please? Many thanks for your comment! I am very happy that I could put your works in my project!

[@MrTheChrisi]

Wow, that's among the best videos about one of my favorite games of all time. Amazing work!

[@Hodyna]

Awww! Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! It means a lot to me to hear words of praise like that.

[@AB1138-]

Great history lesson. I never bothered learning that stuff before. Those pokemon date comparisons are interesting, it launched early & underbaked but got outpaced by the additional media (anime, etc) of it's competition. This game is filled with the secrets we pretended pokemon had during those playground rumors. Some guy made a remix of the game's OST if you search "yoshi lo fi digimon world ost remix" you should find it. I've listened to it a couple times at work, awesome stuff. Also interesting that Poland was the piracy capital of Europe. At least you guys got to join in the gaming fun, 1/3 a check for a disc is robbery itself! I got stuck years ago as a KID and couldn't progress, but it was due to a disc scratch. On the saberdramon path near gray lords mansion. I definitely need to play it again. Matter fact I will do it ASAP. THANK YOU for making this video! Your English skills are excellent, I had not a single issue understanding your points. Ps at 1:16:20 there is a text mistake

[@Hodyna]

I am very glad that you liked my video. When I realized that you wrote your initial comment before watching the video, I was really scared that you wouldn't like it in the end. Unfortunately, Digimon didn't stand a chance against Pokemon, but I think if Bandai had released Digimon World 1 worldwide MUCH EARLIER (~6 months after its release in Japan) and had done a better marketing campaign, Digimon might have been much bigger than it was. But that's just pointless wondering. Huh, to be honest, I've never listened to that remix. I've included a lot of remixes from many different creators (some of which are really underrated with only ~100-200 views), but for some reason I missed Yoshi_UMR. I'll give it a spin, maybe I'll find something I like and ask the guy for the permission to use it from Chapter 3 onwards. Yes, piracy was WILD. I am very sorry for the Polish branch of Sony - I am glad that they somehow survived that period. I highly recommend trying it again! The game is really fun, especially the first 10-15 hours where you just TRY to learn and survive. Even though I've played over 1000 hours over the years, I still sometimes underestimate the game and GET SMASHED when trying to rush through the game with the first-gen Digimon. Shoot! Thanks for noticing this! I've watched this episode so many times, but somehow I missed it. For now, I'll probably leave it and fix it for a big complete release. Thanks again for noticing this! I'm really grateful for your time (watching the video and bothering to leave such a long comment). Chapter 2 will be released on 28 July (I took a vacation from work so I'll be able to make it in time). ...I had to rewrite parts of Digivolution segment and commence further research, because I got Priority Score mechanic wrong. OOPS. Chapter 2 shapes up to be pretty good though. Have a great day!

[@AB1138-]

@@Hodyna DW1 has a more compelling world and interesting recruiting quests. Besides an open world, current pokemon doesn't offer anything all that more than DW1/DW3. Grey Lord's Mansion is my favorite track from that remix album. I'll have to beat the game before I come back for part 2, but I will be coming back for sure. There were a couple other small mistakes I think as well, but I didn't keep track. I hope you find this creative journey to be everything you hope it to be. Thanks again

[@kleefirestar]

pokemon vs digimon argument was from people who didnt understand the series at all and just say mon in both titles and got mad

[@Hodyna]

You're absolutely right. It's one of things that annoy me the most - there's one little similiarity between two things (be it genre, name or using a certain element) and people start calling the less popular thing a copycat. As if one couldn't judge thing on their own merits, huh.

[@silverwings9276]

What version are you actually playing on ? I see there's footage of both ENG versions, but the one with the more stylized font has a ton of issues, so I thought it was weird to show it at all? No one wants to play that specific version : / Great video btw, will most likely do a meaningful comment at the end.

[@Hodyna]

Hello! Thanks a lot for checking out my video and leaving a comment! To answer your question... I played both versions (PAL English - footage with Agumon/Greymon, NTSC English - footage with Gabumon/Garurumon), mainly to show the differences between them. As for main version... I picked PAL, mostly because of my personal sentiment to it (it's the version I spent the most time with after all)... and, as I later ramble on in Chapter 2 - I KINDA really regretted this decision? While PAL version is... less glitchy (no "MP consumption reduction" glitch, Giromon's jukebox works as it should, no "incomplete" dialogues), the fact that the game runs in 25 FPS instead of 30 (meaning that you waste 20% MORE of your time than you would in the NTSC version - something that cost me probably 10-15 hours of my life while recording everything) and the horrid aspect ratio (which makes PAL uglier than NTSC) are quite of game changers (and if not for my late realisation of that fact, I would switch to the NTSC version). [COPIUM ACTIVATED] BUT! There IS a REALLY nice boon to playing the PAL version. That 20% speed debuff allows for easier power gauge charging during the Finishing attacks AND make fishing and curling easier. While I'm sure that I would sooner or later get the Perfect Curling medal in the NTSC, I think it would take me a lot more time than it did in the PAL version. I'll be waiting for that comment then! Cheers.

[@silverwings9276]

@@Hodyna Yeah, in the end the NTSC version with the "correct" font is the best. Honestly I never had the "no MP consumption reduction" glitch ever and I have hundreds of hours on this game since I was a kid, now with emulation, it literally came as a thing I never seen before which is pretty rare, so... not sure which specific version you're on at this point, it's pretty weird. The other stuff you said it yourself, game is just too slow, and Digimon is an already pretty slow game in the first place so yeah... I'd just play it on emulator at all times.

[@Hodyna]

​@@silverwings9276 "MP consumption reduction" happens only when your Digimon passes the Brains stat threshold of 700, 800, 900, 999 at the end of the battle, so it's a pretty uncommon sight, indeed. It's pretty frightening when you get it for the first time. It's NTSC exclusive - if you want to see it yourself, just get your Digimon's Brains near the threshold (like 698 or 699) and fight till you get enough stat gains. Yeah. As I said: PAL was a mistake. My mental health would be much better if I played NTSC from the start. After playing PAL so much, NTSC was too fast for me, haha.