Digimon World Retrospective Review
By: Nik S
Developers: Bandai, Flying Tiger Development (US reprogramming)
Publishers: Bandai
Platform: Playstation
Release: January 28, 1999 (Japan); May 23, 2000 (NA); July 6, 2001 (PAL region)
If you were growing up in the mid-to-late 1990's then you were around for the Japanese entertainment takeover. Anime was starting to air on American television, video games from overseas were seeing more frequent releases, and almost every child had a virtual pet to take care of. Tamagotchi quickly became one of the biggest toy fads of the 90's and 2000's and was distributed by Bandai.
If you're unaware of what a Tamagotchi was, it was a small electronic that could hook onto a keychain or backpack. The toy was essentially a small game in which you are given an egg to hatch a small creature. As you cared for the creature, by playing, washing, and picking up after it, it would eventually transform into a new larger form. Bandai wanted to cash in on both the boy and girl markets with their digital pet line. Even though Tamagotchi was unisex, it was primarily targeted towards young girls. So that's when the concept of Digimon was born. Where Tamagotchi was about fun and nurturing, Digimon was about training and battling.
The toy really caught on, and to really capitalize on the hype Bandai decided to branch off into other forms of entertainment like video games and an anime series. That's where Digimon World was born, trying to take the virtual pet concept and bring it to the original PlayStation, and try to cram in a plot about a place called the Digital World.
When the game was released it was received with less than warm reception. It got an average of 50% or 5/10 ratings all across the board; GamePro gave it a 2/5, and IGN a 5.8/10. The game wasn't for your casual gamer, as the most common thing said by all reviewers was that it was meant for only the most extreme Digimon fan.
When you start the game you're introduced to a nightmare fuel of late 90's graphics of a few kids playing with their Digimon virtual pets in the park, also introducing us to our nameless protagonist.
Once you start a new game you're given another cutscene of the protagonist being sucked into his virtual pet device. You're then greeted by Jijimon, an old man-looking Digimon, who asks you a couple of questions which determine whether you begin your journey with Agumon or Gabumon (two of the main-stay Digimon throughout the years).
Our protagonist wakes up in the middle of File City, a place that was abundant with Digimon but is now almost completely abandoned, surrounded by a group of In-Training level Digimon. Turns out the residents of File City have been turned feral and it's up to the protagonist to train his Digimon and help the tame the citizens through battle.
Every time you defeat a new type of Digimon, they will then become a citizen of File City and become a productive member of its society. The role varies depending on the Digimon, whether or not they will be a shopkeeper, be a meat farmer, or open up some kind of shortcut for you. Also, yes you read that right they do in fact farm meat in the Digital World.
The game is primarily a monster raising game, as the main focus (much like the toy) is to train your Digimon so it can take on the feral monsters. There is a lot of grinding (an RPG term for trying to level up your character through rigorous means), and for some this may be a buzzkill. Your Digimon's stats will help to determine what they will transform into next, similar to the virtual pets.
Though the toys were a little more straight forward on the Digivolutions (Digimon evolution), this game is extremely in-depth and overly complex on how your monster evolves to its next form. There are websites which focus on stringing together the evolutions, and it honestly just looks like a conspiracy theorist board.
Training and Digivolutions is where this game starts to show off its complexity. Every Digimon has their own type, special moves, strengths, and weaknesses, which offers a lot of variety. One Digimon can have multiple evolutions depending on what their stats are and if the right conditions are met (think Eevee from Pokémon). Even the time of day or your character's location can be the difference of getting a Greymon or a Sukamon, Learning all of this is basically trial and error, as neither the NPCs nor the manual help to provide you with any information. Even if you meet the majority of requirements for one certain evolution, if you have one stat that's a little higher than the rest it can turn into a completely different monster.
Much like the toys, you actually have to make sure your Digimon goes to the bathroom.
I wish I was making this up, but it can actually effect everything about your Digimon if you don't take it to the bathroom in time. If it poops too much outside of a toilet, sixteen times to be exact, it turns into a Sukamon regardless. It can also null your chances at getting the Digivolution you wanted, as not taking proper care of your Digimon is counted as a "mistake" which your's can only make so much of.
So a mistake is when you, or your Digimon, are unable to fulfill a certain function. This can range from losing a life in battle, not taking your digital monster to the bathroom, starving them, or scolding them too much. Certain Digivolutions, however, require that you make mistakes in order to meet their requirements for evolution.
So to level up your Digimon's stats you need to take it to File City's gym, Green's Gym, located just outside of town. You can raise stats through normal means like battles, but grinding at the gym is the only way to really boost up the stats you need. This is where the game can come to a halt for your average player, even making your hardcore fans wanting to give up (like myself when my Gabumon turned into Ogremon instead of Garurumon).
Your Digimon will evolve after a certain amount of in-game day, and will evolve to whatever monster is closest to its current stats. After a certain amount of days, your Digimon will "fade" and turn back into an egg. After hatching the egg, you start the whole process of training it over again.
If you can overlook the mechanical flaws of Digimon World, you can actually appreciate all the time and effort that actually went into making this game. The scenery is actually well put together for a PS1 title, and you can easily distinguish which Digimon you're about to go up against. All the backgrounds are pre-rendered, as was the standard back then, but it fits perfectly into the Digital World. The soundtrack fits every environment, whether it needs to be dark and dreary or upbeat and exciting.
Despite sounding negative throughout this entire retrospective, I have to say I really did enjoy my trip back into the Digital World. My brain felt like it was going to fry trying to figure out the mechanics and what my Digimon would turn into (I'm still salty about Gabumon turning into Ogremon). Though if you have a Digivolution guide handy, this game isn't actually all that bad. The battles can be pretty intense depending on how quick or smart your monster is. If you're a fan of the classic Digimon, or want to relieve your childhood nostalgia I say pick this one up if you have an entire day to focus on it.
Interested in more retrospective reviews? We got you covered.
The Adventures of Mighty Max
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Guardian's Crusade
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Developers: Bandai, Flying Tiger Development (US reprogramming)
Publishers: Bandai
Platform: Playstation
Release: January 28, 1999 (Japan); May 23, 2000 (NA); July 6, 2001 (PAL region)
If you were growing up in the mid-to-late 1990's then you were around for the Japanese entertainment takeover. Anime was starting to air on American television, video games from overseas were seeing more frequent releases, and almost every child had a virtual pet to take care of. Tamagotchi quickly became one of the biggest toy fads of the 90's and 2000's and was distributed by Bandai.
If you're unaware of what a Tamagotchi was, it was a small electronic that could hook onto a keychain or backpack. The toy was essentially a small game in which you are given an egg to hatch a small creature. As you cared for the creature, by playing, washing, and picking up after it, it would eventually transform into a new larger form. Bandai wanted to cash in on both the boy and girl markets with their digital pet line. Even though Tamagotchi was unisex, it was primarily targeted towards young girls. So that's when the concept of Digimon was born. Where Tamagotchi was about fun and nurturing, Digimon was about training and battling.
The toy really caught on, and to really capitalize on the hype Bandai decided to branch off into other forms of entertainment like video games and an anime series. That's where Digimon World was born, trying to take the virtual pet concept and bring it to the original PlayStation, and try to cram in a plot about a place called the Digital World.
When the game was released it was received with less than warm reception. It got an average of 50% or 5/10 ratings all across the board; GamePro gave it a 2/5, and IGN a 5.8/10. The game wasn't for your casual gamer, as the most common thing said by all reviewers was that it was meant for only the most extreme Digimon fan.
When you start the game you're introduced to a nightmare fuel of late 90's graphics of a few kids playing with their Digimon virtual pets in the park, also introducing us to our nameless protagonist.
Once you start a new game you're given another cutscene of the protagonist being sucked into his virtual pet device. You're then greeted by Jijimon, an old man-looking Digimon, who asks you a couple of questions which determine whether you begin your journey with Agumon or Gabumon (two of the main-stay Digimon throughout the years).
Our protagonist wakes up in the middle of File City, a place that was abundant with Digimon but is now almost completely abandoned, surrounded by a group of In-Training level Digimon. Turns out the residents of File City have been turned feral and it's up to the protagonist to train his Digimon and help the tame the citizens through battle.
Every time you defeat a new type of Digimon, they will then become a citizen of File City and become a productive member of its society. The role varies depending on the Digimon, whether or not they will be a shopkeeper, be a meat farmer, or open up some kind of shortcut for you. Also, yes you read that right they do in fact farm meat in the Digital World.
The game is primarily a monster raising game, as the main focus (much like the toy) is to train your Digimon so it can take on the feral monsters. There is a lot of grinding (an RPG term for trying to level up your character through rigorous means), and for some this may be a buzzkill. Your Digimon's stats will help to determine what they will transform into next, similar to the virtual pets.
Though the toys were a little more straight forward on the Digivolutions (Digimon evolution), this game is extremely in-depth and overly complex on how your monster evolves to its next form. There are websites which focus on stringing together the evolutions, and it honestly just looks like a conspiracy theorist board.
Training and Digivolutions is where this game starts to show off its complexity. Every Digimon has their own type, special moves, strengths, and weaknesses, which offers a lot of variety. One Digimon can have multiple evolutions depending on what their stats are and if the right conditions are met (think Eevee from Pokémon). Even the time of day or your character's location can be the difference of getting a Greymon or a Sukamon, Learning all of this is basically trial and error, as neither the NPCs nor the manual help to provide you with any information. Even if you meet the majority of requirements for one certain evolution, if you have one stat that's a little higher than the rest it can turn into a completely different monster.
So Digimon have basic stats of health (hp), MP, offense (strength), defense, speed, and brains (how much control you have over battles). There's an unlisted stat of hunger, but your Digimon warns you if it's getting hungry. On top of hunger, there are other stats known as conditions, like how happy your Digimon is with you (smiley face bar), how much discipline it has (glasses face bar), and disposing of a virus (which is... when it has to poop).
Much like the toys, you actually have to make sure your Digimon goes to the bathroom.
I wish I was making this up, but it can actually effect everything about your Digimon if you don't take it to the bathroom in time. If it poops too much outside of a toilet, sixteen times to be exact, it turns into a Sukamon regardless. It can also null your chances at getting the Digivolution you wanted, as not taking proper care of your Digimon is counted as a "mistake" which your's can only make so much of.
So a mistake is when you, or your Digimon, are unable to fulfill a certain function. This can range from losing a life in battle, not taking your digital monster to the bathroom, starving them, or scolding them too much. Certain Digivolutions, however, require that you make mistakes in order to meet their requirements for evolution.
So to level up your Digimon's stats you need to take it to File City's gym, Green's Gym, located just outside of town. You can raise stats through normal means like battles, but grinding at the gym is the only way to really boost up the stats you need. This is where the game can come to a halt for your average player, even making your hardcore fans wanting to give up (like myself when my Gabumon turned into Ogremon instead of Garurumon).
Your Digimon will evolve after a certain amount of in-game day, and will evolve to whatever monster is closest to its current stats. After a certain amount of days, your Digimon will "fade" and turn back into an egg. After hatching the egg, you start the whole process of training it over again.
If you can overlook the mechanical flaws of Digimon World, you can actually appreciate all the time and effort that actually went into making this game. The scenery is actually well put together for a PS1 title, and you can easily distinguish which Digimon you're about to go up against. All the backgrounds are pre-rendered, as was the standard back then, but it fits perfectly into the Digital World. The soundtrack fits every environment, whether it needs to be dark and dreary or upbeat and exciting.
Despite sounding negative throughout this entire retrospective, I have to say I really did enjoy my trip back into the Digital World. My brain felt like it was going to fry trying to figure out the mechanics and what my Digimon would turn into (I'm still salty about Gabumon turning into Ogremon). Though if you have a Digivolution guide handy, this game isn't actually all that bad. The battles can be pretty intense depending on how quick or smart your monster is. If you're a fan of the classic Digimon, or want to relieve your childhood nostalgia I say pick this one up if you have an entire day to focus on it.
Interested in more retrospective reviews? We got you covered.
The Adventures of Mighty Max
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Guardian's Crusade
We're on social media!
Twitch
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