This isn’t a game this is just REAL life!
As a kid I can very fondly remember Tamagotchis. Some of you that are a bit younger may be confused af, but it was this little LCD screen shaped egg that had a virtual pet. You would feed it, play with it, clean up its poop and everything you would do with a real pet. They would clip onto keychains and respond to the steps you take with them which would be ‘walking’ them. Ok yea, that was cool but it got old so enter Digimon. Same thing, only now you aren’t just ‘playing’ you are ‘training’ them because you can battle other people’s Digimon. So as a kid we had an underground Digimon fighting ring that I ran with a few friends, I say underground because it was literally under an underpass because we were nerds and didn’t want girls to see us, but I digress.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Switch (reviewed), PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
So after Pokémon games blew up soon after there was a Digimon game that was released on the original PlayStation entitled Digimon World. Back in 99 this was cool because it took that little LCD screen experience and made it in living color and in 3D. Sure there was a story, but the real joy was being able to see that modeled Digimon while still cleaning up its poop and training it for battles. It was a good game back then, fast forward to 2023 and it sees the remaster in Digimon World: Next Order released for the Nintendo Switch and I honestly don’t think this was the best idea.
Again, as I said above I have fond memories of the old game but in today’s world when this equates to being basically a Tamagotchi video game when there are better Digimon games out there I just have to wonder who was this for? In Digimon World players will choose from a few starter Digimon (which stands for Digital Monster, think Pokémon and you got it) after that they will be tasked with training them before they can venture into the real world. This is done all by menu, so by selecting the chosen monster and what stat players want to increase be it strength, speed etc. players select yes and it’s done. Once they can get into the open world and actually fight a monster, players need to not expect this game to behave like Pokémon.
You see, in Digimon World: New Order (who picked that name btw) players won’t issue direct orders to their monsters. No, instead the Digimon act on their own and players can ‘suggest’ when they utilize a special move. The game turns into a fight simulator, where players can pan the camera for better views but that’s pretty much it. After a battle XP is earned and items which will help to rebuild the town that players are tasked with completing. This new version of the game adds this mostly useless open world and a lot of filler which comes way of requiring tons and tons of grinding. Players will constantly have to put their Digimon in the gym to level them up, which can lead to them getting sick, which then leads to downtime because players have to give them a break… at some point this stops being a game and just becomes REAL LIFE!! Especially for me as I have 5 kids, all of whom at this point don’t require any of these things.
I can’t recommend Digimon World: Next Order and honestly I have begun to question why I liked it as a kid. I am sure it had to do with the later cool evolutions that happen but there are better games and even anime’s that showcase this better than having suffered through this game. While seeing some of the old faces brought back some nostalgia in the end it was just that, and the game was just a chore to play… literally.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
