Unveiling Digimon Survive's Game-Changing Influences: A Year Like No Other

Highlights

The production of Digimon Survive faced several challenges, including budget limitations and changes in the game engine, which caused a considerable delay for fans. Although the game didn't meet the expectations, its release has been regarded as a beneficial contribution to the Digimon franchise.

The potential for further exploration in future Digimon games lies within the tactical battles and mid-battle evolution mechanics. By developing a more intricate combat system, these ideas could be successfully reintroduced.

In a positive turn of events, Bandai Namco has officially confirmed that they are currently working on multiple Digimon projects. This announcement signifies a promising outlook for the future of the franchise's games.

The production history of Digimon Survive is undoubtedly the most peculiar within the franchise. Since its announcement in 2018, the game faced numerous challenges. It encountered financial and size limitations, underwent developer transitions, changed engines, and was additionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Despite experiencing multiple delays, the game eventually achieved a global release on July 29, 2022. However, it did not meet fan expectations. Initially marketed as a fusion of visual novel, strategy, and survival elements, Digimon Survive primarily delivered a visual novel experience with secondary turn-based strategy gameplay and only minimal survival themes. While some players still found enjoyment, the prolonged anticipation resulted in disappointment, even among dedicated genre enthusiasts.

With Digimon Survive's first anniversary upon us, the Digimon franchise currently finds itself amid longer-term projects. The Digimon Ghost Game anime concluded several months ago, and the next significant venture is a theatrical film. While it is clear that Survive may not have been the ideal addition to the Digimon series at this time, its release holds greater value than no release at all. Digimon Survive possesses certain merits and has laid the groundwork for an outstanding future title. This future endeavor could either incorporate and refine its successful elements or reintroduce past strengths of the Digimon gaming legacy.

Digimon Survive Has Many Elements A Future Title Could Build On

The content of Digimon Survive had some potential but fell short in fully realizing its ideas. The tactical battles, though present, were limited in the game's runtime, leaving room for further exploration and development. Unlike other monster-collecting games, Digimon's mid-battle evolution offers unique opportunities. However, Digimon Survive succumbs to the common pitfall of higher Digimon evolutions being superior. A different Digimon title with a more elaborate combat system could successfully revisit and enhance the tactical battles.

Furthermore, Survive's story contains several promising concepts that lacked proper emphasis. The multiple routes in Digimon Survive serve as both a strength and a weakness. They introduce intriguing ideas for exclusive scenarios and Digivolutions, but the limited time and resources hindered their full realization. Removing the multiple routes would alleviate concerns of repetitive content on New Game+ or the need to work around deceased characters. Additionally, the introduction of a dark-world state at the end of a specific route presents an exciting and unexplored aspect of the Digimon universe, potentially setting the stage for an authentic Digimon strategy game.

Other Digimon Games Aren't Waiting Behind Survive Anymore

The lengthy development of Digimon Survive had the peculiar consequence of seemingly delaying the release of other console Digimon games. Only one title, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition, was released during that period, and the only console game launched after Survive was the Switch and PC ports of Digimon World: Next Order International Edition. Although there is no solid evidence, it is possible that Survive's delay and the impact of COVID-19 affected other projects. Thankfully, a new Digimon Story game centered around the Olympos XII Digimon group was hinted at in 2022, and if things go according to plan, fans can expect more information within the next year or two.

Furthermore, Bandai Namco has confirmed that multiple Digimon projects are currently in development at different stages of completion after Survive's launch. Many of the obstacles that hindered the progress of Digimon Survive seem to have been overcome, and soon enough, there will be a continuous flow of Digimon titles. This is excellent news for all the subseries of Digimon games and any upcoming spin-offs. While Digimon Survive may not have provided many reasons to celebrate its first anniversary, its release had significant implications for the overall Digimon game franchise, making it worthwhile.

Digimon Survive is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.