Digimon Survive is a game produced by Bandai Namco and published by Witchcraft. It was released on July 28, 2022 for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows. This article is about the Nintendo Switch version. I watched Digimon a lot when I was younger. I can even say without hesitation that I preferred them to Pokémon. And then Pokémon completely eclipsed Digimon who returns here with Digimon Survive, a mix of tactical RPG and visual novel. The choice puzzled me at first. Having played a lot of Digimon World on PS1, I was of course hoping to come back to this type of game. But did I have a good time on this game? Answer at the end of this article!
The game begins with Takuma and his class leaving for green class. You arrive in the mountains and you have to go to a temple. But not everything goes as planned and you are transported to the world of Digimon. The world is the same as ours...well, almost. You get attacked by Digimon and only then do you meet Agumon, the main Digimon. It's your Pikachu for those who don't know Digimon!
The game is a visual novel, so all scenes are still images. The dialogues are done via bubbles. The dubbing is in Japanese. Logic for an anime. There is no VF. You will have to move to different places and each of them allows you to interact with characters as well as with the place itself. Indeed, with the help of your camera, you will be able to see artifacts. These will give you items such as bandages that will allow you to heal your Digimon. In each place also, you will find a place to fight Digimon, in a free fight, but I will come back to this a little later. At this point in the game, I arrive at the temple and my first fight will soon take place. I'm telling you right away, you need patience in this game because the story is a big part of it!
And so here I am off to my first fight. In Tactical RPG mode, you will first need to position your Digimon on the board. Then you will have to use your skills and the environment to defeat your enemies. As in all tactical RPGs, attacking from the side or from behind deals more damage. On the other hand, two functionalities differ. First of all, being able to talk to your allies but also to your opponents. For allies, this will result in buffs. For your opponents, this will allow you to capture them and therefore use them in combat. This feature is only available in Free Battle mode. This translates into a quiz, you will have three questions and depending on your answers, a bar will fill up. If you reach the gauge, the Digimon joins you. Otherwise it will have a buff. The free fight mode is also used to train your Digimon.
Who says Digimon necessarily says evolution. Evolutions work on feelings with Digimon and they always revert to their base form. You will therefore be able to select the Digivolution that will be the best in combat. So we have a good strategic side, in addition to the choice of Digimon that make up your team. You can go up to 5! You can also add items to your Digimon to increase their characteristics.
Conclusion
So did I like this mix of visual novel and tactical role-playing game? I admit that at first no! It was a little too long for my taste before having my first fight. But when it happened and the first evolutions appeared, then I was in a hurry: to relaunch the Switch again. I even wanted to bring out Digimon World on PS1!
So, if reading doesn't scare you and you're a fan of Digimon, run to the game. Of course, the action is less present than in its direct competitor, Pokémon, but these are two games and two universes. different. The AD and the VO are also very good. Come on, it's time for me to leave you and go back to my Digimon! 😀
Nintendo Store - €49,99
