I grew up watching a lot of monster-taming TV series, including Digimon, like many other youngsters from the 1990s. Even though George, then eight years old, loved Digimon World 3 on the PlayStation 2, it was Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth (2015) and Hacker’s Memory (2017) that rekindled my interest in the series. Playing it brought back memories, and its distinct evolution mechanisms set it apart from Pokémon’s ubiquitous dominance in the genre. Ten years later, Digimon Story Time Stranger expands on a similar framework, but this time it features a much more daring plot that succeeds and a cast of largely captivating characters. Time Stranger stands out as one of the greatest Digimon RPGs to date when you combine that with captivating turn-based combat and monster-collecting features.
Time Stranger centers on an unnamed secret agent protagonist who, in an attempt to stop a cataclysmic battle with Digimon named Shinjuku Inferno, is sent back in time by eight years. The story has a thrilling beginning that immediately captures your interest. From then on, things become a little simpler as you soon meet Inori Misono, a normal girl who coincidentally ends up entangled with Aegiomon, a humanoid Digimon who luckily suffers from amnesia. From there, the three embark on a quest to learn more about his enigmatic beginnings. Despite the script’s corniness—both of them repeatedly promise to “protect each other no matter what”—Inori and Aegiomon’s relationship is put to the test in a way that eventually fails.
Our protagonist’s silence, which frequently causes the more emotionally charged sequences to fall a little flat, is one small letdown. The Public Safety squad, Shinjuku’s law enforcement unit, assists our trio frequently throughout the narrative, although their characters lack sufficient nuance to support discussions on their own, making them easily forgotten. Monica Simmons, the scientist, is the only one who stands out, primarily because she appears in cutscenes the most. I couldn’t really recall much about the others, such as Kodai Kuremi and Shota Kuroi, let alone how they looked.
But in this case, the Digimon characters carry out the majority of the work. Olympus XII, a team of twelve Mega-level deity Digimon who rule the Digital World, is the main character in the tale. Their exuberant personalities stand in sharp contrast to the dull people of Public Safety. Because Bacchusmon is based on the Roman deity of wine, I liked his slack-jawed and ravenous antics. Vulcanusmon, the group’s blacksmith and the Roman deity of fire, adores action figures. They are incredibly charming because of their hobbies and routines. They all feel realistic and approachable in some manner, even if they are literal gods.
Throughout its 30- to 40-hour campaign, Time Stranger does an excellent job of further developing these Digimon by utilizing its time travel features. For instance, when the protagonist eventually has to return to the present, the smaller Digimon you met earlier play crucial roles and develop both physically and mentally. As they tell you how much of an influence you had on their life, you watch them develop into their Digivolved forms.
Digimon Rumble Arena
Instead of having simultaneous choices like Pokémon, Time Stranger’s fighting follows a classic yet humorous turn-based RPG approach, resembling Shin Megami Tensei or Dragon Quest Monsters. In addition to up to three special guest Digimon that will battle alongside you for a limited time for different story reasons, you can have three Digimon go out on the field with Aegiomon at once. Three additional spaces contain your reserve options.
Although you can’t directly control those guest Digimon, managing a possible total of seven Digimon at once can be a bit of a bother. However, Time Stranger offers a number of quality-of-life features to make the process easier when you’re not participating in its more important battles. If you want to streamroll regular enemy encounters quickly, you can activate auto-combat and let your Digimon take care of itself. You can also speed up battles and their animations by 2x, 3x, and 5x.
Time Stranger’s multi-layered vulnerability mechanism is incredibly appealing to me. A rock-paper-scissors link exists between the three main qualities (data, virus, and vaccine): Virus defeats Data, Vaccine defeats Virus, and Data defeats Virus. Additionally, each Digimon has an elemental weakness, such as Water, Fire, Plant, and Earth. A Vaccine-type Digimon will deal 150% more damage if it strikes a Virus-type Digimon. However, given what I’ve seen so far, the multiplier can reach 400% if the attack is Light-elemental and the opponent is Dark-elemental. Utilizing these qualities and elemental systems to develop intricate plans and effectively eliminate adversaries is still an enjoyable puzzle, even though it isn’t really novel.
Thankfully, you won’t have to commit every attribute and elemental match to memory. Attacking a new Digimon will expose its weaknesses, which you can then confirm during battle before moving on. Initially, you are unaware of a Digimon’s flaws. It’s fair, yet it feels like a guessing game. To keep combat from becoming monotonous, it is common to encounter new Digimon with previously undiscovered combinations of vulnerabilities and resistances.
Each of the more than 450 Digimon that could join your squad has a few specific abilities that set them apart from the others. For instance, MegaKabuterimon’s Horn Buster is a Plant-elemental attack that also lowers the opponent’s speed stat, while IceDevimon’s Frost Claw is an Ice-elemental attack that can steal life. Each Digimon has an amazing personality because of its distinct attack animations.
Utilizing the attribute and elemental systems is an enjoyable puzzle.
Additionally, your Digimon can use Skill Discs, which work similarly to Pokémon TMs, to equip up to four attachment skills. You have complete control over how you wish to assemble your squad, though, as there are no limitations on the moves that a Digimon can learn. For instance, my Lilithmon is armed with Holy Light III, which allows her to deal significant damage to other Dark-elemental Digimon even though they are impervious to her unique ability, Phantom Pain. In this manner, you can set up your Digimon to be as specialized or as well-rounded as you like.
You will earn Cross Points, or CP, throughout the encounter. Your human agent can perform a strong move known as a Cross Art once your CP bar is full. These can include restoring your group completely, focusing a blast on a particular enemy, or dealing huge damage against all of them. You can only equip one Cross Art at a time, which is a perplexing restriction. If you enter combat with the incorrect Cross Art, you’re in serious trouble. Since the restriction meant that I only ever alternated between Strike for boss battles and Burst for normal enemy encounters, this could have simply been a dropdown menu during battle to choose whatever Cross Art you chose in a given situation.
Although side missions are typically fetch quests, they are worthwhile because of the rewards.
The Digifarm, a mainstay of the Digimon Story series, also makes a comeback to assist with this. Your Digimon can roam around and earn EXP by themselves if you put them here. Additionally, you have more direct control over how their personalities and characteristics change while they’re there. For instance, I had my Cyberdramon run on a treadmill in the Digifarm until its speed stat was high enough to Digivolve into its next form. By buying in-game yen rather than waiting out the 15-minute intervals, I even expedited the process. I was glad to be able to purchase my way out of it because leveling Cyberdramon organically would have taken too long, and waiting for it to finish on the treadmill was even slower.
(Don’t worry, there aren’t any microtransactions involving real money.) To strengthen your ties and offer your Digimon a better chance of carrying out follow-up attacks in combat—which might occasionally mean the difference between success and defeat—you can also feed them food here. There are also lots of side activities available in Time Stranger. Even if the side missions are primarily fetch quests, they at least provide a nice look at how Digimon act in their environment.
All of the Digimon’s character models appear crisp and immaculate, and the Digital World offers a variety of settings to explore, from the Gear Forest’s rustic natural design to the Abyss’s coastal beach and aquarium atmosphere. It’s a significant step forward from the earlier Digimon Story games, and I had fun roaming around and watching Digimon go about their daily lives. Hidden away are Outer Dungeons, which are tasks you may complete to gain reward money. Some of the most difficult ones are enjoyable opportunities to test out your end-game group.
Additionally, a significant benefit of many side quests is the opportunity to earn extra Anomaly points outside of plot missions. You use these points to give your protagonist new talents and abilities, like lowering some Digivolution requirements or unlocking more Cross Arts. Additionally, spending them raises your Agent Rank, which is frequently a prerequisite for Digivolution. You can begin Digivolving your Digimon into its Ultimate and Mega forms at higher Agent ranks, which is crucial for taking on the stronger bosses in the end. The fact that such a valuable resource was hidden behind side missions encouraged me to interact with non-main story stuff in a meaningful way.
If you truly want to find more Digimon and collect them all, the side missions are well worth doing. However, the Anomaly points you gain from finishing main missions are only sufficient to keep you up with the normal rate of difficulty.
Additionally, Time Stranger includes a card-based minigame that incorporates artwork from the genuine Digimon Card Game, since every RPG must have one. The number of cards from an opponent’s deck that you can take as prizes will depend on how many rounds you win against them. Surprisingly, the game is mostly meant to be played as a diversion because it offers no meaningful prizes, such as goods that may be used in combat or anything similar.
Verdict
Digimon Story: Time Stranger is one of the greatest Digimon role-playing games to date, building on its predecessors. Thanks to its creative time travel concept and a lively and endearing ensemble of Digimon characters, the plot is significantly more compelling this time around. I still wanted to watch this time-hopping journey through its roughly 30- to 40-hour campaign, although its human cast is nothing compared to it. Although the turn-based combat is rather simple, there is a lot of depth added by subtleties in type matchups and the customization of your party’s evolutions and movesets. Even though my adventure had a few small setbacks, I was nevertheless happy to be back in the Digital World.
