The WORST Digimon Survive Review EVER!

[@GymLeaderEd]

As stated in the video my point isn't that the review came to the wrong conclusion, but rather the reasoning and assertions are off. If you don't like the game and find it boring, that's fine, but my issue is with how the reviewer came to the conclusion not their opinion.

[@Larudantex1991]

I can understand most of the complaints, but for me this game was a huge disappointment after I realized how much scripted it is and that our choices almost made no difference… only one important person you can save and it is only possible in a ng+ run, it was nice to see the truth route but after that I was done

[@MrNegative101]

It’s ok to say they are wrong. This is all opinions especially since it IS basically a story you control. I guarantee this person didn’t like The Outer Worlds as well because…… wait for it….. they didn’t pay attention to the STORY. So don’t waste your breath on them. They get all the punishment they need for pathetic opinions from people like me 😐

[@myrrmi]

The (un)educated ignorance at its finest. Also "mommy, this game hurt me, it makes me REAAAAD~!!" /whiny dork noises shit for dissing it just for being a visual novel. Well I'ms sure tha game is sorry for being of the genre it says it is, and not the one you'd want, but the game says it isn't/has only elements of. I'm a fan of the SMT Devil Survivor series, which has simmilar structure, but the novel/tactics gameplay balance is more on the tactics side (still the novel elements are those that determine how the plot goes, so it's more impactful), but I think Survive is great, too :)

[@SeraidenAF]

@@Larudantex1991 visual novels in general have set paths. Your choices aren't gonna branch off the story fully with each, it's usually branching bits that convene back in, your choices do matter though because a mix of changing your points, some of your responses/theirs(I've had different dialogues from different affections etc). This is a pretty normal thing with visual novels. Sure some I know after a common route slit off in to unique routes, but even those follow an overarching plot with your choices affecting a few things alog the way and/or if you get a bad end. ALso, each of the karma paths in Digimon survive had some pretty unique variations, final bosses, and epilogues're all very different. If you only did moral and true end you're missing out greatly. Harmony was my first path/end and who else I lost (not saying how many peeps) because of it hurt greatly.

[@lonniethewaffle]

I bet they rush threw the game most people don't like reading. I don't like reading but for Digimon games I read cause I'm interested in it. Also cybersulth had alot of text talk /reading to do.. yea your right press L and R to look around I do it as well. Also I feel like these people who do these reviews horrible.

[@pieboygames]

"Digimon is a Pokemon clone" is such a tired argument. The only similarity between the two is the mon in their names. Hell if you look into the production of the anime they were in development at the same time.

[@coolbone6177]

If someone says it to me i just say it a tamagotchi boy version actauly

[@uwuowo1773]

@@coolbone6177 it IS tamagotchi actually its literally "tamagotchi for boys" and nanimon is actually a tamagotchi that got converted into a digimon by extended time in the digital world

[@coolbone6177]

@@uwuowo1773 yea i guess it like calling pepsi and rip off off Coca-Cola l

[@NoraNoita]

Pokemon stands for Poket Monsters, which evolved from the idea of Bug Catching everywhere and on the go. And Digimon stands for Digital Monsters, which originally was a tamagotchi game, since Bandai Namco is in fact, the biggest and I think also the first Tamagotchi maker.

[@NovaIV]

How does the guy explain the story about teens being transported to a different world which is usually always the start of any Digimon season and end up saying that it sounds like a Pokémon plot? I’m utterly confused here.. Never seen that happen in any Pokémon story but okay lol

[@buckluck7030]

The nearest of something like that happened in Pokemon mystery dungeon series . So Pokemon kinda copied digimon here

[@johnbuscher]

Technically, PLA starts that way, it’s just the past instead of a different world. But more painfully, how do you look at a tactical RPG and think “yeah, that’s a pokemon clone”?

[@DaSheepKiller]

@@johnbuscher yeah. Both series have monsters and end in "mon", but that's pretty much where the similarities end yet it's a "Pokémon clone".

[@demonic_myst4503]

only “clone “ part would be that digimon was told to make an anime to capitalise on the sucess of pokemon anime. Digimon as a brand was not a clone Pokemon did try rip off digimon tho in 1998 barely a year after digimon came out and tamagachi also owned by bandai was getting very populer pokemon made a pickachu virtual pet to cash on on tamagachi andndigimons market hype

[@GaiaLegend]

@@buckluck7030 To be very real here, Digimon World 2, acts like a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game. So you are right. And to make it even funnier, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon starts with these questions at the beginning of the game and then you enter your player name....Digimon World 1 did the exact same thing, which determined your Rookie Starter Digimon in that game. So, now that I pointed that out, why would I now all of a sudden cry wolf about this? Games steal ideas from each other, that's just the way it is. So when a Pokemon person suddenly says ''a clone this clone that'', it's just unreal and unfair.

[@Demedich1]

To no one’s surprise, this trash tier review comes from Kotaku.

[@ashishgeorgechandy8501]

Why does these sites call digimon a pokemon clone when pokemon itself could be considered a child friendly SMT clone.

[@34autobot]

cloneception

[@ParadoX-os]

Because they are stupid. I mean Digimon Survive did get inspiration from SMT more than Pokemon, that's for sure. I just wish Digimon Survive had improvements to the SMT formula, but sadly that wasn't the case.

[@rafalb692]

@@ParadoX-os it did improve to the SMT formula, digimon capturing in this game is way better, less annoying, less time consuming than smt. If we are talking about this game gameplay/combat also takes inspiration from Pokemon Conquest a 2012 tactical role-playing video game (trpg) developed by Tecmo Koei, it feels more or less the same too. There were lack of unit customizing, your mon only have very few attacks and don't learn new one when level up. I can even say that Survive has more depth than Conquest even though both are equally simple, good games.

[@uwuowo1773]

because they grew up with pokemon and think its ALL there is

[@uwuowo1773]

also technically digimon had a "capture" mechanic before pokemon cause the very first digimon game digital monster version s used it as a means to get your partner digimon onto your pc

[@wanderernick8813]

That's a big problem with a lot of these "full game reviews" that come out a few days after the games release. A lot of the journalist care more about having the first review rather than a complete review because they want the most clicks and it actively hurts most of these games. Luckily, sales for the game have been pretty good and peoples opinion on it have been mostly positive so overall I think this will really help newer Digimon games that release in the west which I am super excited for.

[@jamalhartley5863]

Thankfully gamers have begun taking reviews and gaming journalist with a grain of salt. Half the time it's just to drive up engagement or a rushed review by someone who doesn't even like the series. I miss the old days with G4...they weren't perfect but they were honest.

[@JadoDog]

Usually these type of titles are pretty hyperbolic, but in this case, it's pretty spot-on. Why did they get someone who clearly isn't into Digimon to review this game? Or at least get someone whos open to it. I KIND OF get not being into the visual novel aspect, but citing Digimon as a Pokemon clone? Come on dude. Even just playing a few minutes of the game should debunk that notion.

[@GymLeaderEd]

Yea haha I felt like the title was fitting 😅

[@diegonunez4953]

Even watching both animes debunk any resemblance... Clearly you don't see a Dual Gatling-like energy cannon wielding giant metal dragon killing little inoffensive creatures on Pokemon. Not mentioning destroying a giant metal snake's vital points drilling from its inside.

[@J-manli]

Many of the bigger game journalist companies are indirectly pressured by the larger publishing companies to push down competition. If said journalist companies want early and or sponsored access to the latest and greatest games, they sadly need to appeal to the corporate ego by overstating how "good" a AAA game is. Look at the whole Battelborne vs Overwatch situation where there was more positive journalistic coverage for OW and much more negative coverage for Battleborne. Granted Battleborne was a bit of a mess in its own regard, corporate sabotage did have a hand to play in it's lackluster release.

[@LucRio448]

Hooooly shit. I thought the whole "Digimon is just a Pokemon Rip-Off"-stuff was something that existed during Digimon Adventures/Pokemon Kanto anime times and maybe the first game each. So I consider that whole point - now, over a decade after the first game of each series - to be an answer to "Tell me you are stupid without telling me you are stupid" when prompted to a game journalist. I mean that was a valid discussion point (both ways) when these franchises started but... I wonder if these people also nowadays still would write bad reviews about Magic the Gathering/Yugioh and start their review of the newest booster set or structure deck with "it's just a rip-off of Yugioh/Magic", I can't even take ANYONE seriously who is writing PROFESSIONAL reviews and starts them like that... So they use a comparison for the battle system, fine, what are they gonna choose? Difficult one, there are so many great options. You cold use Breath of Fire. Or Fire Emblem. Or Final Fantasy Tactics. Or Triangle Strategy. Or loosely compare it to Mario & Rabbits or Advance Wars or... wait...LIVE A LIVE? Yeah sure, there are plenty of super well known tactical rpgs with a system of flanking and stuff but let's use an example that I never even heard of, sure, why not. Don't use Final Fantasy Tactics which (afaik) all fans of that kinda games love. Or Breath of Fire, Fire Emblem or Advance Wars, all of which had great success. Or Triangle Strategy which was a huge success as well. Better use a game that was released in 1994 for the super Famicom and never even got another game.

[@uwuowo1773]

most people think pokemon created the genre

[@Audieon]

As for the Live a Live point, the game got a remaster/remake/localization literally a week before the release of Digimon Survive. So the reviewer probably only played the demo or the game itself and used that as a comparison instead of a more well known strategy RPG. Which does not help my point in the fact that Kotaku Australia got this guy to review this Digimon Visual Novel because he likes anime and not because he actually likes and or understands this genre.

[@rafalb692]

@@Audieon If they wanted they could have compared this game to it nearest comparison, like Pokemon Conquest, it feels more or less the same too. There were lack of unit customizing, your mon only have very few attacks and don't learn new one when level up. I can say that Survive has more depth than Conquest even though both are equally simple, good games.

[@Audieon]

@@rafalb692 That is a really good point but Conquest is more of a niche Pokemon game compared to main series so the guy probably didn't know.

[@LucRio448]

@@uwuowo1773 yeah I know, but that was a valid topic - over a decade agoo. Bringing it up again today's just stupid.

[@Zanji1234]

it should be known that game journalists, streamer, youtuber and otherh "reviews" of newly released games are either TOO positive (because we want money) or TOO negative (because we want clicks and engagement from fans... and money). The "true" reviews come way later when the game is already "out" and not the newest shit anymore

[@jamalhartley5863]

Facts

[@grimjack9139]

Oh no, it's Kotaku.💀

[@AuraLeafstorm]

People who say Digimon is a Pokemon clone are clearly unfamiliar with the monster taming genre.

[@uwuowo1773]

so like 80% of casuals

[@GaiaLegend]

Might as well say that Prince of Persia is a clone of The Legend of Zelda, because it has some climbing and jumping in it while the guy has a sword in his hand.

[@Shoyro]

Reviews like that are best ignored for the fact it's biased of someone who didn't know what to expect going in and they rushed it. This is the main reason I ignore these "professional" reviews.

[@Schlumpsha]

Wouldn't surprise me if a certain reviewer toggled Skip All text in order to go straight to the "gameplay". Only to completely miss out on the actual gameplay of this visual novel. Don't believe he did complete more than one route either. If at all.

[@ironwiredglasses]

it's only for hardcore digimon fans then. i haven't bought it yet because from youtube videos i watch, this game as a visual novel doesn't suit me at all well yea i bought digimon story cyber sleuth for full price because it's a game that suits me. but not this one i guess. hope they release online client for digimon card game then lol. for this visual novel, i can save some bucks by watching content creators then. thanks for the testimony

[@SeraidenAF]

@@ironwiredglasses watching a visual novel being played is also a very different feeling from playing it yourself. I also know a lot of people who weren't in to Digimon who've started Survive because they like visual novels who are enjoying it a lot, and some hardcore Digimon fans who can't stand visual novels. I also know some people who were hesitant because they've either not liked, or not played VNs before who ended up in love with the game, too.

[@ironwiredglasses]

@@SeraidenAF yea people are different and i am thankful for the tesimonies. i can be sure to skip this game even more

[@SeraidenAF]

@@ironwiredglasses nothing wrong with that. Like I know it doesn't matter how great Halo is, I know I'd not enjoy it personally.

[@chr1s415]

I haven't even started the video I knew it's probably by kotaku lol

[@ShirokumaSama]

the review already not worth reading when you see Pokemon clone comment

[@littleseed01]

Ok but can we admire the ads here. 4:23 "How to Befriend Crows and Turn Them Against Your Enemies" is probably my favorite.

[@L0GANTP]

I like Digimon, I like tactical rpgs, and I like anime and manga, but I was apprehensive because I didn't think the combat would have enough variation compared to other tactical rpgs, and I've never played a visual novel. So I waited a week after release to see what the game would be like, watched some of your play throughs and tips vids. I got it this weekend and I'm enjoying it a lot. I don't mind the reading, but I'm a fast reader. Its one of the better Digimon games in my opinion, its like your playing a Digimon anime that you get to make choices in, I'm only on part 2 but the story is better than Digimon Ghost Games lack thereof...

[@viruschris3160]

Indeed it's a good game and reminds me of the anime. That said, while I like the story I generally prefer the Season 1 - 5 stories more. Just me. But it's a great Digimon game nonetheless. Though I can't wait for the next Digimon Story game.

[@Matiasfv]

You can't complaing about ghost game's "plot", because there's no plot, the show was announced as an episodic anime with the "resolved in one episode" structure. But about survive, yeah, the story is good. I hope we get a similar game in the future.

[@L0GANTP]

@@Matiasfv Damn I didnt know they intended to make Ghost Game episodic in nature. In a sense my complaint is about as relevant as people who didn't know survive was going to be a visual novel. I take back what I said, it does what it attempted to do.

[@lilymoncat]

I've gotta agree with you Ed, it sounds like this person just rushed through and ignored anything and everything that wasn't story related. While I agree that healing items weren't much use until the final couple of battles for me, that was because I majorly overleveled my 'mons trying to get as much of the library entries as I could. There's also little subplots that you can miss if you ignore them or run out of free actions that add rewards as well. Honestly, my biggest gripe with Survive is that they could have added a line or two more that fit the 'ancient spirits/low level gods' style they wanted, like Wizardmon or Meicoomon. Other then that, Survive's a wonderfully solid and fun game imo.

[@kAzinGaming]

I really don't understand the stigma around monster tamer games. According to their logic, every game is a clone of another previous game. Every FPS comes from one game, down to the WASD control to the crosshair, etc. When I see reviews from people from the "mainstream gaming" channels, they usually say something like "X seems like a good game too bad it's just a copy of pokemon". You never really hear that from other genres. People will say "Y is a great Souls-like" or "Z is an inspired Rogue-like". All those comparisons being complimentary. I don't understand why only monster taming games get painted that way. Also I personally don't like the recent pokemon games, so it reinforces my point : why not encourage competition and let some competent people try to make alternative games. Temtem and Coromon are both great, much superior to modern pokemon games in my eyes.

[@DarkestVoid]

Monster taming games aren’t the only ones subject to that. And it makes sense if you think about why it’s like that. Pokémon was the first BIG monster taming game and there still isn’t another game actually like Pokémon. They’re all different but the closest thing to reach Pokémon is in fact Digimon. I grew up with both franchises but always gravitated towards Pokémon more. And my opinion on Nexomon Temtem and all the other monster taming games can’t even hold a candle to Pokémon. Digimon World Dawn and Dusk and Digimon Cyber Sleuth/Hacker’s Memory we’re awesome games and if they continued with that style then I’d buy them every time. Modern Pokémon is still great and I’ll never understand the people that claim Pokémon sucks now. Pokémon has gotten better EVERY new generation of games that comes out. People that say they’re worse typically just nitpick and that’s extremely annoying.

[@bunisaurus]

Reviewception. I agree I am playing Digimon Survive too. I like Visual Novels and it drives me nuts that this happens all the time to monster taming games. I notice that if it’s a battle game it’s a “Pokémon clone” if it’s anything else that isn’t action it’s “boring and a waste of time.” The monster taming genre cannot catch a break. No matter how good the game is there will always be a group of people who dismiss it because apparently the only monster taming game that’s allowed to exist is Pokémon. These are the same types of people who will 180 and tell Pokémon fans to stop complaining and that they’re whining when they have valid criticism to recent Pokémon games.

[@GenbuTatsumoto]

This is same company who made about the game called Stray is problematic for some people but it was backfired.

[@notscorchingsands9718]

Reviews as a job isn't a good thing, especially when they get a non-gamer or a deadline. Honestly game reviews are dead.

[@GymLeaderEd]

yea it's hard too cuz everyone has their biases. I think personally, I try my best to be neutral, but I'm not SUPER hard to please, so a lot of my reviews come off as positive. If i don't like a game, i won't play all the way through, hence I don't play enough to make a review in the first place lmfao

[@jsol_03]

A lot of the big “Pokémon clone” arguments is the similarity between Pokémon and Digimon in design but that’s very unfair because so many creatures in video games from Japan are inspired by the same yokai or Cryptids. I’m sure Pokemon had copied some of its predecessors too

[@uwuowo1773]

dragon quest

[@jsol_03]

@@uwuowo1773 yes thank you unless you’re an OG like dragon quest and even then you’re almost always gonna find the copycat syndrome in any game

[@42Caio]

Megami Tensei predates Pokémon by a decade. But of course to these clowns SMT probably started with Persona 4.

[@championkg9965]

How much text creates a border between a game being a visual novel or RPG? Seriously if we had a world in Digimon Survive that we can explore using for instance the tactical battle view but changed to exploration where we can have the protag move/explore without battle (like in Disgaea series hub and battle arenas/events using the same assets) than probably most people wouldn't say a word about game being a visual novel though it still would have same amount of text as it does now, at least imo.

[@nathancarmen1685]

I hate it when reviewers crap on a game because of its genre. If you don’t like the genre cool, acknowledge that and do your best to explain the pros and cons objectively. Saying things like “visual novels aren’t really for me but if you enjoy them here are some highlights to this game.” Goes a long way. Choosing to play a visual novel when you don’t like the genre, and then complaining that the game is within the genre is like ordering a cheeseburger and fries and then whining that you didn’t get chicken nuggets. You know what you got into, you chose this for yourself.

[@Leondragon06]

As ya address the exploration side I have been happy have to learn from ya recently the L1/R1 when having phone after thx =) I have to wonder how many items I missed from the slight glance without L1/R1. It is nice to be able to explore without just the red ! The characters are so not bland they each have their own personality and drama that comes with them. I am not usually one for visual novel but having tactics combat splashed in got me to be willing to try the game and I have really enjoyed it.

[@Seisgea]

It is an excellent visual novel. But a bad tactical rpg, and a horrible monster taming game. The balance between the three genres is missing, not enough time and effort was put into making it shine as anything else than a visual novel. I didn't dislike the game, but this is how it is.

[@renaldisaputra91]

It's not a bad tactical RPG if it's treated as secondary genre. Heck it still has better depth rather than Pokemon Conquest

[@Seisgea]

@@renaldisaputra91 If you want to make a video game, you don't designate one genre to be secondary. If it contains three genres, all three need to have the same level of work and care, otherwise what you have is a trap for people to buy something that only has value as a visual novel. When they say that it is 70-30 they refer to the game time of each genre, they are not telling the truth: that one of them has been treated as filler, that it was only included to sell more and even so it was done without effort or talent. Why is it necessary to say the same thing in two ways? I don't know, I guess I get the feeling that there are people who don't want to admit that this is the case.

[@markuswithak5084]

DUDE! They make a Pokémon AND Persona reference in this one article?! *SIGH* ...peak game journalism moment™

[@viruschris3160]

I've been busy today so I haven't gotten around to this video until now. Seriously? Sure, Digimon might've come after Pokémon but Digimon was based off the Tamagotchi V-Pet toys. And airing on Fox Kids around the same time Kids WB aired Pokémon so I kinda saw them as "rivals" in a way, but loved them both. Plus the plot is not that too dissimilar to Isekai stories where the MC or group is transport into another world. It's really annoying when EVERYONE calls another Monster Tamer a "Pokémon Clone" when Pokémon copied Dragon Quest Monsters and SMT first! Yo-kai Watch got called that and then there's Coromon. It takes some inspirations but its their own things. It's people like this that makes making one's own Monster Tamer game gets slapped down. Some of the game's battle system could use some improvements. The Difficulty setting tied to BEFORE the battle starts and AFTER you place your units... is a little annoying. And I wish they added like Enemy A and Enemy B on the list, because when I use the Talk to talk to enemy Digimon to recruit or get items from I can never tell which foe is which if there's multiple of the same creature. And I hear this is this development team's first time making a SRPG which feels a little sluggish in a few areas. But, still pretty solid. The limited "touch screen" on the Switch is jarring as you can click on attacks and dialogue options, but you can't move the team around or other basic stuff which is baffling that only half of the touch screen functions are in. Not to mention this is a VISUAL NOVEL game! The devs mentioned this from the start and it's a Point and Click Adventure. Looking around to find items is fun which is why I found a lot of the stuff I was. I do wish the camera was faster or when you go into the Map you could back out to the current map you're on instead of selecting it on. I love this game. On my second run and on True Ending route. I love your choices effect your Digimon's evolution path. There's a reason why Floramon evolves into those line as it ties with Saki's "ugly truth" as the partner is a reflection of their hearts. PS: I thought Saki was 14... not 12. Imagine my shock when her bio listed her as 12. I thought Miu was 12, but she's 11. And seeing how close Ryo and Saki are I thought he was 14 or the same age as her.

[@jdp3578]

Digimon is also not about forcibly capturing creatures in tiny spherical prisons, only releasing them to fight in arena battles for sport. Anyone else realize just how twisted Pokémon actually is? 🤔

[@uwuowo1773]

literal god will obey a child cause he has enough boy scout badges

[@Zanji1234]

well.... depending on the way you think: you "force" them into your digivice and if you forget them they live in a small room full of poop and you force them to battle xD

[@jdp3578]

@@Zanji1234 um the digimon aren't "in" the digivice, in most iterations it's just a tool to communicate and help them evolve. Or if you mean the digipet versions from way back, it's interpreted that your just seeing your monster within their world through your device. So theoretically they aren't "inside" anything like pokemon.

[@Zanji1234]

@@jdp3578 not exactly true for the EVERY Digimon story. One Manga with AeroVdramon clearly states that he had to sleep in his own poop because his tamer didn't clean it up

[@jdp3578]

@@Zanji1234 I did say "most iterations" not all....

[@kfk4441]

This freaking game had so much depth on the story I had to replay certain parts to confirm stuff I tought about the story, took me some weeks to finish it 100%. It IS a VN with tactical rpg, so story and reading is king here, if you don't read or explore it will be really hard to be liked, the beauty of vn stories is exploring most if not every option, a bad character can be a good character and viceversa depending if you got the whole picture. These aren't surface level games to rush through

[@SaintWiccan]

I’m enjoying the game. There will always be haters, but I don’t usually play a game based on someone else opinion. I hope we will get more Digimon games. 👍🏼

[@charmishing]

I’m not a fan of people being rude, and that includes reviews. I do think the tone of the article comes across much stronger than the points they’re trying to make. While hey have a few points I agree with, it just feels like they just judged a game that might not necessarily be for them rather than try and see the value and strengths it might have for someone else.

[@AlonzoTompkins]

It’s Kotaku. That’s reason enough to understand it was a bad review.

[@VoidReplicant]

This is why your a Gym Leader mate. Boss at destroying weak kotaku trainers.

[@DrCoeloCephalo]

Kotaku being stupid. Water is wet. The floor is made of floor.

[@1Hol1Tiger]

I was so confused when they claimed kids on a camping trip going to another world wqs "straight out of Pokemon" when the whole "Other World" aspect is.. literally mostly associated with Persona and Digimon....of which the latter predates the former

[@leannetanaquin1175]

Do they get more DLC contents in the near future of digimon survive game!?

[@Someguyhere111]

The game can be pretty hard if you play on the highest difficulty. Some battles in particular are brutal, but generally it never feels so harsh that you NEED to grind, and the ability to switch difficulty whenever you want offers plenty of leniency. I just finished my first play of this game today (Moral ending), playing through the entire game on the highest difficulty, and I gotta say, it was incredible. The battles were so much fun, exploring for items was so rewarding and satisfying, the story and soundtrack were amazing. The only issue I really had was how the capture system works - the answers are just trial-and-error, the %s lie (25% should NOT fail twenty times in a row!), and the fact you only get ONE chance per Digimon, and it takes so long to get another chance, is so needlessly punishing. And there's an achievement to collect every single Digimon, so it's not like the game's telling you not to worry about it if you don't catch that many. Outside of the game, I'm really upset by how many people make comments like "Man this kid is annoying, I cheered for his death!" I basically immersed myself into it, putting myself as Takuma and playing as if I was actually there, so my mindset was "These are all people, I don't want to see ANY of them get hurt or die".

[@Iceadded1]

People only think this game suck because they don't like reading this game is super fun... it's an whole story

[@NoraNoita]

For being a Visual Novel, the actual story impacting choices for me came WAAAAY too late into it, and that you can only really impact the story via NG+ also feels whack, but I don't really know many other VNs who actually aren't just a flow-chart of choices that lock you into a path when you make a wrong decision. I personally feel like they could've focused more on the combat and how well you performed during the combat section would've influenced how the story goes. That would've required them to actually make the game even harder than already(am playing on Hard setting and there wasn't really a single boss battle that was 'difficult' most of them just had a few cheese mechanics and super buffed enemies, that you had to evade for a few turns then you get your next evo and then you can beat it in a few hits, those were the difficult moments really)

[@jordenelston2146]

"It's not challenging." I mean I just finished my second playthrough and I was getting one shotted in chapter 7 while on normal difficulty. Honestly just sounds like they played it on Very Easy to get through the game faster.

[@mthompson3509]

Pokemon and Digimon are nothing alike both very different the only thing they have in common is they are both monster tamers

[@Matiasfv]

Man I hate mario kart, too much racing, and the game doesn't offer anything else, that means it has to be a bad game.

[@alphawolf927]

This is why no one should ever trust kotaku on anything. and i fucking mean ANYTHING.

[@zerokura]

Man these type of videos with the Nintendo download music playing. I can just picture the coins poping or colorful goo going into a box. Such a nice toon...hm oh ya the video itself is great. Now to cha-cha away.

[@OceanCreates]

Yah got to say reviews like this disappoint me. Not to be mean towards the person who wrote the review article but you need to use constructive criticism and I think you need to address the points that you may have liked too. Also I am kind of tired of the reviews of this being bad simply because they don't like the visual novel type games. Yes this is a game not made for everyone to enjoy but there are people who think this is a great game like me.

[@SeraidenAF]

Same, as a Digimon fan, a visual novel fan, and a fan of gut punch feels in general this game's been my lifeblood since it came out.

[@Digital-Wave]

If anything Digimon Survive is more Shin Megami Tensei (since Digimon World Re Digitize) and it makes me love the games even more as it shows how the series has grown with the audience.

[@SmoketySm0ke]

I appreciate the review review, these are fun to listen to and a nice way to spice the usual content up. That said, in the sake of fairness, I do want to point out one thing. "This game is easy" is not the same as "I didn't know there were difficulty sliders". It's certainly not fair to imply that the reviewer lied about getting 100% completion based on that. You make good points that definitely suggest the reviewer is being unfair, but this one isn't one of them. Please forgive me, but this point can come off as a little hypocritical, when you consider that your review recommending Monster Harvest is still up, when very clearly anyone who put more than 5 hours in that game would recognize that it's little more than a tech demo and caution others away from it. I love your channel, and hope this comment is received in the constructive way it was intended. Keep up the great work!

[@Raidenze]

I think one of the greatest failings of the Digimon franchise in general is that they try to combine children protagonists with very adult Digimon (in both ways - violence and sex - honestly), and that they should've just gone for mature/adult protagonists like Shin Megami Tensei. Digimon World 2 got it right in my opinion, but unfortunately that's not the case for the animations (the movie will forever remain my childhood favorite though. One of the best localizations results I've seen). Even so, I think Digimon Survive is truly legit in terms of storytelling. You're basically playing a classic Digimon anime but with far less cringe, a lot more stakes, and a surprising amount of maturity consider how ridiculously young the kids are. Like have you seen kids? I wouldn't be surprised if half of them died within the HOUR they awoken in the Digimon World. I personally think the storytelling is absolutely better than Cybersleuth, which lost my interest near the end game to the point where I can't be bothered to finish it. As for the age-old argument regarding visual novels, any guy or girl who doesn't like reading in general will basically hate it, which is to say, the large majority of gamers be it casual or otherwise. It's hard enough to convince people to read web novels, and we live in an era where most people are glued to their screen. Reading just isn't popular, hence VNs are unpopular. Some people straight up do not even consider VNs a type of game. It's just an unfortunate fact of life.

[@WeFightForever]

I glanced through that review and instantly could tell it was garbage. The dude hates digimon and hates visual novels. He had no business playing that game in the first place.

[@Douglas628]

I don't think game is particularly hard in Normal Mode, which is the one I played (especially early on), but later in the game, even though I was pretty overleveled, there was a boss that almost oneshot my MetalGreymon that was Blocking, with a frontal attack and dodged A LOT, so the game does get harder and it becomes much more noticeble if you have a bunch units you didn't get to the final form, which are pretty much rewards for exploring. The harder battles are in the Post Game Dungeon though. Also, considering that they're treating this game as a potential new series and haven't released a TRPG in over 20 years, it's pretty easy to see why they wouldn't wanna make the game too difficult as it's serving as an entry point to the genre, and for VNs as well. And yeah, according to Habu, the recruiting mechanic was added into the game because you could end up with a pretty unbalanced team or too few units depending on your experience with the game, it's never mentioned in the story. While I think it's likely that Digimon took some inspiration on Pokémon over the years, in the early years around the time the francise was created, they went out of their way to remove or change stuff that could draw comparisons that it and other franchises. The Persona argument is pretty stupid though. This is a japanes game. They had entire games revolving around a Affinity System since the 80's and this is not even close to being the first Digimon game to have one of those. Even Pokémon have one of those, but for the monster rather than the people.

[@신-r2r]

I don't think that article is a case of people disliking the game because it's a visual novel o other stuff. But knowing it's from kotaku, it's most likely a clickbait to make people angrily click on their link for the ad revenue. I personally see kotaku or other type of link website and simply ignore it or check if there's a way to ban those sites.

[@bivcbmtgstgtssscqcrddgtrsm2257]

Wait, a game journalist thinking a game is too EASY!?! What alternate universe is this guy from?

[@osiahene]

I don't think there's anything wrong with reviewing a game from a genre you dislike. A positive or negative review from that perspective can be helpful to readers with similar tastes in games.

[@GymLeaderEd]

I think its fine if you acknowledge that bias right away but this review doesn't really do that if I remember correctly

[@Sipondo]

Relic Castle game jam 8 just finished, you should check them out there is some awesome stuff in there!

[@ookamithefangjoker]

Number 1 rule: If it came from Kotaku, it's automatically shit! That's no longer an opinion, it's a fact!

[@phyxia4357]

Note I played and watched digimon story cyberslueth and only watched hackers memory and do not own this game but seen people play it So can’t comment on gameplay really But like My knowledge of digimon is not nearly as extreme as other fans and personally feel that when survive got announced it just wasn’t a cyber sleuth or like the two world games I seen people love and hate but hate to love. And all I think to myself is like when it came to og digimon I remember digimon not being super aware of them being digimon but relatively as well as a mystery on if they can get back home or not and the danger was trying to find they way back with other hostile as digimon around etc. but like digimon flat out being gods or spirits was bizarre to me . Like I know Megas and shit were godly by default but them being damn near gots felt weird to me and it’s not that I didn’t mind the change there’s nothing wrong with different just that - the change or this story telling felt so much more like a Pokémon story considering a lot of Pokémons backstories on legendaries basically like created life and shit. As well as the stroies characters contradicting themselves every once and a while based on the route you take Oh and another issue I have with this game is like the routes and or the idea your team can die for what looks like on the surface random especially if you have no real knowledge of the game. And I don’t remember if there was a survive mode but that could have been cool where you have your set of characters build shelters to survive the hostile world and you can go for however long you can . And recruiting digimon could benefit depending on the type they are or make matters worse like recruiting a virus could have a negative impact such as infecting other digimon on your team and making them lash out etc. where you can send team members out to go hunt for food etc. idk if something like this exists in the game but a pikmin like game mode would have been cool

[@notscorchingsands9718]

Funny enough the "monster catching" part (SMT talking) i absolutely hated. I only really used the party members and guilmon who is very op at mega level.

[@packers12to80]

Tbf....as far as how long the played it. They prob got it early before release. Most journalists do. But...that being said....there are many journalists they do the bare minimum on game reviews or let their personal favorite type of game effect their reviews.

[@GymLeaderEd]

No they didnt get it early actually. I spoke to bandai namco directly and they told me they gave out no early copies to anyone haha

[@packers12to80]

@@GymLeaderEd yeah well that makes it even worse. I wasn't taking their side. I agree now it seems like alot of journalis reviews for games are never put together well or with any thought...it's just get the view/click and move on.

[@GymLeaderEd]

@@packers12to80 yea I didnt think u were haha I just wanted to point that out 😂

[@jesserivera2043]

Actually, what sold it for me is the fact that it's a grittier and more adult take on the digimon adventure series. The fact that this person eviscerated this game actually makes me want to play it more. I just got to get through a couple of games in my backlog first

[@wowgek7]

I hope this game gets a reprint sold out everywhere didnt expect that and I realy want this game

[@MikeRedead333]

Some people find it boring, but is more of a chill kinda slow pace game, this game is meant to be enyoyed in small chunks and not to be speedrunned.

[@sarasaland4709]

I mean. There is a clear distinction between taking inspiration and blatantly ripping off.

[@shadowremorse]

honestly the reviewer has his points, though like you said, not professionally reviewed. he doesnt like visual novel, so he trash on it. honestly the tactical aspect of the game has hardly anything to praise, no depth of combat system, doesnt offer much options in terms of digivolution, "equipped" skills most of the time is pretty trash for the point of the game you get them in, really has nothing to offer for a game that release in 2022. one would question whats the delay for? not happy with storylines? cause in 2020 we all saw the tactical system that hardly got any improvement since. yes its a visual novel. i enjoy the aspect of that. but i am a big tactics fan and nothing good came out of survive. felt like bandai wanted to release a visual novel and used an IP that was due, and since digimon is meant to be battle based, they slap on a budget tactic system just to justify using the IP

[@SeraidenAF]

As I like to say, the meat of theg ame is the VN and they did it well. If the worst thing baout the combat is it's basically innofensive at worst and passable? Then it being 20%ish of the game isn't bad at all.

[@shadowremorse]

@@SeraidenAF if its a phone game yeah not bad at all. at 60bucks, no sorry, visual novels doesnt cost 60 bucks

[@SeraidenAF]

@@shadowremorse Actually, look up most otome releases, they're often $50-60. Some of the collectors editions are often $90-100 even. Hell, one of the OG PC ones Yo-Jin-Bo's physicals sell for up to $800 now and one of my Vita ones with soundtrack can go over $250 now.

[@shadowremorse]

@@SeraidenAF you know that those game are designed to be visual novel, plot, characters and all. honestly i have no idea why you are trying to tell me the price of a out of print game anyways. from my minimal experience with visual novels, your choices actually matters compare to whatever digimon has it storyline to be. at a much lower price, the ones i had played has better character designs, more detail. and without playing otome, i am sure otome has better narratives. yes, survive's plot did suck me in but bandai had to cater to the IP so they added grade schoolers and try to imitate their thought process which is interesting, despite it being an utter drag of "repetitive" dialog that reflects the personality of the character you already know and can predict what they are gonna say. these dialog doesnt add to the story and again your choices doesnt matter. so i dont know why you are comparing otome to an IP that doesnt have experience with visual novel. its like me comparing some indie tactics game like fae tactics to octopath which is by square enix. even though decent its never gonna be the same price range, same amount of story nor design. and as a visual novel, survive is just passable, not even decent like i mentioned digimon still require a battle system to make it digimon, which probably takes up resources to make it "gel" with the novel aspect. and that is part of what we end up paying for, but for a poorly designed one. and again, like i mentioned, the game didnt had to be digimon. you can easily make a new series of charaters, without the battle aspect, and release it as a visual novel with the same storyline. but that means bandai gets less targeted audience shifting from digimon fans to visual novel gamers that probably doesnt follow digimon or bandai, which would affect sales. and you need to design from scratch rather than following the style of digimon, which would affect cost. everything is money, and survive shows the worst of it. again, like i mentioned, bandai is just using a long due IP to make a game, for 4 years no less, to create hype and anticipation. yeah covid happened, but they still managed to make a mess outta it and sell it for what most people consider a hefty price to pay. honestly i could pay 40bucks for survive and still think i am not getting my money's worth

[@VentusFlame]

Let's Take a look at garurumon, patamon, gomamon and greymon, yup definitely anthropomorphic

[@chittoujay1744]

Those people need to stop using the word Clone or Copy, if a game using a same Pikachu that's is what Clone or Copy should be, not like Digimon the Agumon isn't a copy or clone of a Pikachu... They need to just stop just like the Zelda Clone or Copy BS

[@mermidion7552]

I dont think anyone needs to worry over that Review. Its kotaku after all and no one in there right mind would take them seriously,less consider them gamers.

[@garra123454]

Hoping gamestop has copies on the 30th

[@wattlemur]

Digimon came first. Pokemon just came to America first

[@Skyshadow733]

Overall had a good time with it. 2 things I did not like; difficulty choices in fights, 0 incentive to have it at harder. no extra exp/drops is just bad. Also the cutscenes that play during fights are so jank and out of place. kicking boss' ass for the game to stop you to play a cutscene showing that you are struggling for plot reasons is dumb.

[@vasiliualexandru4725]

I'll say do your researching better dude as Digimon keeps it real yo it core while PokéMon it's lossing it in gotta catch them all, but yeah you have your right to complain.

[@uwuowo1773]

game journalists are the covid 19 of gaming

[@megabyte5726]

anthropomorphic means human like. on 2 legs

[@leemotosuwa]

You are the best game journalist EVER 😍 (and im not even mentioning the cute/sexy voice)

[@jasdeepsingh1168]

Ahhhh Kotaku the most credible source on the Internet............

[@Gamer4ever1982]

This game suck... to much bla bla and i hate tactical rpg 🤢🤮, big deception for me... no thanks 😔

[@GymLeaderEd]

where's the deception?

[@Ourico.Pistola]

Digimon Survive is just an overpriced VN. The first playthrough is an slog, slow dialog, boring characters and shit combat.

[@Anon9729X]

Bruh, the fact that the guy literally compared Digimon Survive to Live a Live basically proves that he never played a tactical rpg in his life. Live a Live is a turn base Jrpg btw. Now that being said, my issue with Digimon Survive is that it wasn’t marketed right, or at least that’s how I felt, watching those trailers, I knew their were cutscenes in them, I just didn’t know those cutscenes would take over 80% of the game. Now If they had come out and stated that this game would be mostly a visual novel with 20% of it being the tactical rpg battles, I don’t think anyone would be complaining about it and the game wouldn’t be getting flak for it.

[@leoil01]

They did at digmon con and the anime convention the head developer said mulitple times 80% VN 30% gameplay but people didnt listen and were disappointed when they got exactly what the developer told them

[@Micromation]

Ehhh the only Digimon game worth playing seemingly always will be Cyber Sleuth - mainly because it not only has a good story but a lot in common with Shin Megami Tensei...

[@jdoggydogg]

LOLtaku strikes again

[@chrisvogt8010]

let them say that they want I love it

[@Ghostfggg]

Epic video

[@sagaspectro2861]

Damn the hate on Digimon

[@Cain1134]

No surprise there wasn't much substance in that review, Kotaku loves dumping on games just to get clicks.

[@sethtone8634]

Full reiview I think was looking at the cover of the game and saying its Pokemon ........

[@DanteCrowlley]

I'm triggered now

[@Forsoothious]

And yet Digimon has somewhat of a loyal fan base but not as big as Pokemon.

[@diegonunez4953]

I don't think it surpases the infamous 'Too Much Water' Pokemon RS/ORAS IGN reviews (seriously? they are probably the best games after B2W2 and HGSS) and certain Nexomon Extinction reviews i've read (even if it bases too much in Pokemon games it's superior in many ways and it needs to be told). Giving 9-10 reviews to vanilla SwSh was a crime for itself, i can understand after both dlcs (which added A LOT and are totally worth the extra dollars) but originally was lackluster as hell.

[@DjKirbzy]

I think the first floramon is bad because well let just face it veggiemon is the badest care digimon in the vpet series an saki isn't exactly ya know very good at first but learn later on to be good

[@DjKirbzy]

But I love digimon survive don't get me wrong I love the game I just think people don't get why some digimons are well yeah

[@osmangaming4307]

Very cool

[@Bruh-hx5gs]

We all know Conquest was better xD

[@InTheHoose]

The fact that you had to um and ah your way through explaining why this review is “wrong” whilst “agreeing with some aspects” and “weak points” really just cements the idea that this is overall a weak Digimon game in the context of its canon. The “it’s a visual novel” defence is incredibly poor when you consider that the overwhelming reaction seems to sit in a place of expectation versus delivery aka poor comms, marketing and giving fans what they want.

[@Twilord_]

Pokémon had a massive influence on Digimon... specifically forcing Digimon to change from its original vision which - based off the same cultural influences of Sentai and Gachapon which Bandai has closer ties to - would have been a lot more like what Pokémon became. If Pokémon didn't exist then Digimon would have been a lot more like Pokémon. We live in the good time where we got both instead of some sad hybrid.

[@wilkinlow]

Pokemon should actually learn from Digimon nowadays. Pokemon SS and SH is actual turd.

[@RescueSquadCulp]

Morning👋

[@zanzazaar]

No, review guy isnt wrong here. Thats what you get for mixing to much different genres. It is Digimon. Apart from japanese otaku, western fans of Digimon mostly doesnt like vn. Only hope for that game is to be good enough in the tactical jrpg part. Last one that was good enough in that mix of a genre was ZOE, but bullshit talks in that game from GBA wasnt important it was short enough to click through that without reading.

[@powderkegs983]

Yeah the reviewer is not entirely wrong but he did not provide constructive arguments and resorted to lame ones like using the Pokemon clone arguments etc. And even though Digimon Survive may be a decent visual novel game, it would be much better if it is a full fledged 3D/2D game. I think the VN style doesn't suit this game. There's a lot of action and characters reactions but it is not getting translated properly. For example they have the same set of expressions for different reactions which is jarring at times. Just imagine if for exploration instead of checking a static screen you can control the protagonist and explore the area, it would be a much better experience. The only VN style game I played is the Ace Attorney series and I think it suits that genre since it is a courtroom drama. And also IMO it has a lot more animation variety than Digimon Survive.

[@MrNegative101]

I mean…. Maybe the person didn’t feel like listening to hyper pitched anime girls explaining how they feel for hours and hours. Especially since they couldn’t even be f’d to dub the game unlike literally every other Asian game worth a crap. So I get it. If I wasn’t a Digimon fan from my childhood then I’d hard pass on this laziness too.

[@ozzie1250]

I don't agree with the author on everything, but digimon survive made this "game" on the wrong platform. If the ratings and profit are low that just another reason for them to stop bringing digimon to north America. If they wanted to succeed this was not the game to bring to the U.S market. And this is from some one who wishes they just remake Digimon World 3.

[@PomuLeafEveryday]

Digimon fans were begging for this game to come to the US, so they would've been criticized for not localizing it. Sure, visual novels are a niche genre that only reaches mass success in Japan, but that's not an excuse to not bring it over to the US. Look at successful visual novels like Fate Stay Night, Clannad, or Steins;Gate, all successful in the US too. The thing is, people know those are visual novels, so people who don't like visual novels avoid them. With Digimon Survive, people assumed it was more tactical RPG akin to Fire Emblem because it was heavily shown in marketing. They should've been more clear it was a visual novel and appeal to people who like visual novels instead of hiding it and trying to gain a mass audience.

[@FerreusSoul]

digimon survive is very boring