Digimon World 2 Retrospective Review
By: Nik S
Developer: BEC (Bandai Entertainment Company)
Publisher: Bandai
Platform: PlayStation
Release: July 27, 2000 (Japan); May 19, 2001 (NA)
Digimon World 2 was announced alongside the first Digimon World before either's release, back in 1997. The game was released first in Japan, then a year later for a North American audience; it never did receive a PAL region release. The game also saw a new batch of Digimon that were first shown in the second season of Digimon Adventure, like Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, as well as features like DNA and Armor Digivolving.
The sequel changes up a lot of things from the first game, from having Mega-level evolutions, gameplay mechanics, and overall world design. The game still takes place in a Digital World, in a new land called the "Directory Continent". Rather than being a general open world like its predecessor, the maps are divided out into labyrinths called "Domains".
The story follows Akira (whose name you can change), a young red-haired boy who lives in Digital City. Similar to the plot of the first game, all Digimon used to live peacefully alongside humans until something caused most of them to become feral.
A war started between the humans and the wild Digimon, creating three factions (Blue Falcon, Gold Hawks, and the Black Sword). The factions, known as Guard Teams, are meant to keep the peace and aim to end the war between humans and Digimon. The teams are comprised of Tamers, those tasked with taming wild Digimon, which use their tamed monsters to tackle "Boss Digimon" that seem to lead large feral groups. Akira, after finishing his last training mission, must choose between one of the teams to further his goal of becoming one of the best Digimon Tamers.
Digital City is comprised of seven locations to choose from, three of them being Guard Team locations. Your chosen team's base is where you can pick up items, presents for wild Digimon, and Digivolve/DNA Digivolve. Unlike the previous game, where your Digimon Digivolved after a certain period of time and meeting the right requirements, here your Digimon level up from meeting a certain level. Some Champions and Ultimates will not be able to evolve into a higher form, but most will. If a Digimon has branching evolutions, there is a point system that helps to determine which one yours will become.
The other four are a tamer's club, a Digimon center, coliseum, and the main gate. The tamer's club is "a place where Digimon and tamers can hang out," but it's nothing more than a place to put characters to help move the plot forward.
The Digimon center is nothing like a Pokémon's as your team will heal automatically when returning to the city, instead it's a place to trade Digimon for ones you won't encounter for some time (like a ToyAgumon for a SnowAgumon).
The coliseum is a test of strength you can enter once you've received permission from your team leader and can go up against other NPC tamers. The main entrance is one of the more vital areas, as it's where you deploy for your missions and can upgrade your Digi-Beetle.
To traverse a Domain you take control of a vehicle known as a Digi-Beetle (which you can name, the default is Gunner). The game lets you completely customize your Digi-Beetle, like your engine, frame, guns, etc. You can go into the garage section of the main gate and talk to three mechanics, one who sells Digi-Beetle parts, another for ammo, and lastly the person who can upgrade and install parts. Each upgradable part can be given a small boost for a certain amount of Bits (currency). In order to traverse the vast Domains and their traps, you'll be wanting to update and upgrade your vehicle as much as possible.
The game loses the monster raising formula the first was rooted in, and instead focuses on a dungeon crawling aspect, with turn-based combat and rogue-like elements. Each labyrinth, or Domain, are scattered throughout the continent as playable areas. Players will explore in a dungeon crawler fashion by moving their Digi-Beetle on a square grid.
Each dungeon is filled a various Digimon and traps, like landmines that can hinder exploration, energy fields, acidic floors, large pillars, and treasure chests. Each trap can be disarmed if your Digi-Beetle is installed with the right part or ammunition. If you run out of EP (Engine Power) in a Domain then you're sent back to the city, and lose 1,000 Bits; you can avoid this by selecting Auto-Pilot in the menu to return to the city. Every time you do return back to the city, you're greeted with the same exact cutscene every time.
The Digimon can be befriended if you fire a gift at them that meets their type (Virus, Vaccine, Data), which will show you your chances of receiving them as a teammate by a pink heart above their head; the larger the heart, the more likely they will join your team. If you have four Digimon in your Digi-Beetle, then any other Digimon you try to recruit will simply vanish after the battle. Any that you do recruit can be put into a cache for later use (only accessible in the city).
Battling is completely different this time around as it's non-random encounters that will lead into turn-based battles. Players are allowed a team of three Digimon to be put on the front line. Any Digimon on your team can only be the type associated with your Guard Team, later on you can recruit any kind. Your Digimon can guard, or battle using four types of moves: Attack, Counter Attack, Interrupt, and Assist. Attack is your basic move set, counter attack works only if that Digimon is targeted, Interrupt cancels out an opponents Attack move, and Assist heals and boosts teammates.
Players can assist their Digimon by using their Digi-Beetle's guns. Your main gun is used to shoot drives (health items) at your Digimon, which does not disrupt the flow of battle. The other guns can be used to hinder enemies or damage them in various ways.
The game isn't great, and it can be extremely redundant with battles after hearing the same attack voiced over and over. There is a lot of grinding in this game, but it's a grind to get money to upgrade your vehicle. If you're not up-to-date with the latest enhancements, then going through each Domain can be a rigorous task. Though if you can overlook all these small annoyances, then you can find yourself having a good time like I did. Just make sure that you have extra room in your party when you try to recruit MetalGreymon, and not have to restart everything like I had to.
Interested in more retrospective reviews? We got you covered.
The Adventures of Mighty Max
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Digimon World
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Developer: BEC (Bandai Entertainment Company)
Publisher: Bandai
Platform: PlayStation
Release: July 27, 2000 (Japan); May 19, 2001 (NA)
Digimon World 2 was announced alongside the first Digimon World before either's release, back in 1997. The game was released first in Japan, then a year later for a North American audience; it never did receive a PAL region release. The game also saw a new batch of Digimon that were first shown in the second season of Digimon Adventure, like Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, as well as features like DNA and Armor Digivolving.
The sequel changes up a lot of things from the first game, from having Mega-level evolutions, gameplay mechanics, and overall world design. The game still takes place in a Digital World, in a new land called the "Directory Continent". Rather than being a general open world like its predecessor, the maps are divided out into labyrinths called "Domains".
The story follows Akira (whose name you can change), a young red-haired boy who lives in Digital City. Similar to the plot of the first game, all Digimon used to live peacefully alongside humans until something caused most of them to become feral.
A war started between the humans and the wild Digimon, creating three factions (Blue Falcon, Gold Hawks, and the Black Sword). The factions, known as Guard Teams, are meant to keep the peace and aim to end the war between humans and Digimon. The teams are comprised of Tamers, those tasked with taming wild Digimon, which use their tamed monsters to tackle "Boss Digimon" that seem to lead large feral groups. Akira, after finishing his last training mission, must choose between one of the teams to further his goal of becoming one of the best Digimon Tamers.
Digital City is comprised of seven locations to choose from, three of them being Guard Team locations. Your chosen team's base is where you can pick up items, presents for wild Digimon, and Digivolve/DNA Digivolve. Unlike the previous game, where your Digimon Digivolved after a certain period of time and meeting the right requirements, here your Digimon level up from meeting a certain level. Some Champions and Ultimates will not be able to evolve into a higher form, but most will. If a Digimon has branching evolutions, there is a point system that helps to determine which one yours will become.
The other four are a tamer's club, a Digimon center, coliseum, and the main gate. The tamer's club is "a place where Digimon and tamers can hang out," but it's nothing more than a place to put characters to help move the plot forward.
The Digimon center is nothing like a Pokémon's as your team will heal automatically when returning to the city, instead it's a place to trade Digimon for ones you won't encounter for some time (like a ToyAgumon for a SnowAgumon).
The coliseum is a test of strength you can enter once you've received permission from your team leader and can go up against other NPC tamers. The main entrance is one of the more vital areas, as it's where you deploy for your missions and can upgrade your Digi-Beetle.
To traverse a Domain you take control of a vehicle known as a Digi-Beetle (which you can name, the default is Gunner). The game lets you completely customize your Digi-Beetle, like your engine, frame, guns, etc. You can go into the garage section of the main gate and talk to three mechanics, one who sells Digi-Beetle parts, another for ammo, and lastly the person who can upgrade and install parts. Each upgradable part can be given a small boost for a certain amount of Bits (currency). In order to traverse the vast Domains and their traps, you'll be wanting to update and upgrade your vehicle as much as possible.
The game loses the monster raising formula the first was rooted in, and instead focuses on a dungeon crawling aspect, with turn-based combat and rogue-like elements. Each labyrinth, or Domain, are scattered throughout the continent as playable areas. Players will explore in a dungeon crawler fashion by moving their Digi-Beetle on a square grid.
Each dungeon is filled a various Digimon and traps, like landmines that can hinder exploration, energy fields, acidic floors, large pillars, and treasure chests. Each trap can be disarmed if your Digi-Beetle is installed with the right part or ammunition. If you run out of EP (Engine Power) in a Domain then you're sent back to the city, and lose 1,000 Bits; you can avoid this by selecting Auto-Pilot in the menu to return to the city. Every time you do return back to the city, you're greeted with the same exact cutscene every time.
The Digimon can be befriended if you fire a gift at them that meets their type (Virus, Vaccine, Data), which will show you your chances of receiving them as a teammate by a pink heart above their head; the larger the heart, the more likely they will join your team. If you have four Digimon in your Digi-Beetle, then any other Digimon you try to recruit will simply vanish after the battle. Any that you do recruit can be put into a cache for later use (only accessible in the city).
Battling is completely different this time around as it's non-random encounters that will lead into turn-based battles. Players are allowed a team of three Digimon to be put on the front line. Any Digimon on your team can only be the type associated with your Guard Team, later on you can recruit any kind. Your Digimon can guard, or battle using four types of moves: Attack, Counter Attack, Interrupt, and Assist. Attack is your basic move set, counter attack works only if that Digimon is targeted, Interrupt cancels out an opponents Attack move, and Assist heals and boosts teammates.
Players can assist their Digimon by using their Digi-Beetle's guns. Your main gun is used to shoot drives (health items) at your Digimon, which does not disrupt the flow of battle. The other guns can be used to hinder enemies or damage them in various ways.
The game isn't great, and it can be extremely redundant with battles after hearing the same attack voiced over and over. There is a lot of grinding in this game, but it's a grind to get money to upgrade your vehicle. If you're not up-to-date with the latest enhancements, then going through each Domain can be a rigorous task. Though if you can overlook all these small annoyances, then you can find yourself having a good time like I did. Just make sure that you have extra room in your party when you try to recruit MetalGreymon, and not have to restart everything like I had to.
Interested in more retrospective reviews? We got you covered.
The Adventures of Mighty Max
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Digimon World
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Twitch
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