Digimon Survive review: two genres, one pretty good package

digitaltrends.com:

What do you get when you mix Stranger Things, Shin Megami Tensei, and classic Digimon? Hyde and Bandai Namco’s Digimon Survive is here to answer the question. While playing through this dark and unique entry in the Digimon game pantheon, I went through flurries of excitement, sadness, and frustration. The extent to which you’ll experience those emotions may vary depending on whether you’re interested in and ready to play through a visual novel and strategy game hybrid that often slacks on the tactical front.

Digimon Survive tries to provide players with an excellent story and intense tactical RPG gameplay. While it succeeds as a narrative experience, those familiar with strategy games will find the game a bit lacking. To get the most out of Digimon Survive, players should focus on storytelling, know when to change their difficulty settings, and be ready to learn the rules of Digimon.

While many gamers are familiar with the extensive storytelling present in JRPGs, Japanese visual novels take things a step further as they require players to read through every line of dialogue to respond appropriately to each pivotal situation and conversation. While you might not guess it at first glance, visual novel-style gameplay is a big part of Digimon Survive. Players will have to make their way through many intricately written conversations that potentially lead to different endings, permanent character deaths, and different transformations for the Digimon partner Agumon.

“Series fans will find an exceptionally competent story worthy of the Digimon name.”

You play as Takuma, the soon-to-be leader of a group of students transported into a world of monsters called Kemonogami, which we know as Digimon. This new take on the Digimon