WhileDigimongames have typically focused on the monster collection elements of the original anime,Digimon Surviveinstead turns towards the storylines as players make difficult decisions and accept their consequences.
Though this emphasis on narrative choice is a departure forDigimongames, it’s not a foreign concept for the anime. Since its inception, theDigimonanime has explored mature themes which has made for many emotional and heartfelt moments over the years. AsDigimon Surviveshifts towards narrative-driven gameplay, it should attempt to live up to the anime’s most memorable moments.
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Digimon Survive’s New Direction
While theDigimonseries has been around for over 20 years, it wasn’t until recently that its video game adaptations begun to gain popularity. Despite its unique evolution styles and approach to monster collection, it often felt overshadowed by series like Pokemon that had much more refined mechanics. Nonetheless, over the years,Digimongames begun to shift towards what the anime series excelled at: storytelling.
While theDigimonseries has always been marketed towards children,it never hesitated to explore mature themes such as death, isolation, survivor’s guilt, and trauma. As a result, the anime series has its share of emotional and heartfelt moments through its storytelling. Over the years, the anime has slowly evolved alongside its primary audience to be marketed towards teenagers and adults. TheDigimonseries has focused on the pains of growing up, losing touch with old friends, relationships, and the complexities of adolescence in recent years. ThoughDigimon Surviveis a departure from previousDigimongames, its new direction is very much in line with the direction that the anime series has gone over the years.
The Digimon Anime’s Biggest Moments
Themost memorable moments in theDigimonanimehave always been centered around consequences and how the characters grow from them. In the originalDigimon Adventure,Leomon and Wizardmon’s sacrifices play an integral role in character development and how they learn to deal with grief. InDigimon Tamers,the series goes in a much darker direction as Digimon can no longer be reborn and one of the characters loses their partner Digimon permanently. In that sense, the biggest moments inDigimonare impactful because the characters learn to grow from their decisions and it often takes a bittersweet victory to triumph over their problems.
As a survival strategy RPG,Digimon Survivewill present players with difficult choicesthroughout the game with potentially disastrous consequences. Players who aren’t cautious about the choices they make will need to live with the consequences of characters dying or the narrative branching off.Digimon Surviveis a natural extension of the mature themes that the anime has explored over the years and in order for these choices to feel impactful, it needs to live up to the anime’s biggest moments. For the characters inDigimon,the choices they make aren’t always easy nor do they always know what the best choice is until they face the resulting consequences. With such a unique focus on the narrative experience,Digimon Surviveshould look to emulate these moments of character growth in the face of potential fallout.
Digimon Surviveis currently in development for PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.
