Digimon was one of many “knockoffs” of Pokemon once the pocket monsters became popular. To be fair, the franchise was very different from its “source.” For example, the Digimon in the shows wouldn’t stay “evolved.” They would do a battle and then revert to their original forms up to a point. The games would take the Poke-route by making them more permanent. Also, trainers/tamers would only get one Digimon to have most times. That’s a stark contrast from the party of six you’d get in the other franchise. Finally, the series was never afraid to tell darker and more mature storylines, which was perfectly showcased in Digimon Survive.
Digimon Survive came out earlier this year, and many felt it would be “DOA” because Bandai Namco had promised the title for a while, then when it came, they barely promoted it when it arrived. Instead, word of mouth and positive reviews got gamers interested in it. Today, we got the sales numbers for how the game has done, and while it hasn’t “blown up the market,” it did better than most were likely expecting.
According to Bandai Namco, the title has sold over 500,000 units. Remember, the Digimon franchise was never Pokemon in terms of sales figures. What’s more, their titles don’t come out as frequently, so for them to be over 500K? That’s honestly impressive.
You also have to factor in how the game was supposed to be released in 2019 after being shown to the world in 2018. That’s four years of waiting for this title, and fans were up for waiting for it, apparently.
As for what the title is about, you’ll play Takuma Momozuka. He is a student who gets sucked into the digital world. After he gets a partner and meets other trainers/tamers, they must fight for their lives to make it home.
At first, that might sound like a “standard RPG adventure,” but trust us, it gets darker. The game mixes RPG elements and visual novels so players can truly connect with the characters and understand the weight of their choices. In addition, the game is upfront in saying that there are “grim choices” that you can make that’ll affect your party.
Minor spoiler, if you make the wrong choices in the story, you’ll get your allies killed.
With multiple possible endings, Digivolutions to undergo, and decisions to make, you can see why so many people wanted to try the game out. It’s available on multiple platforms if you want to give it a shot.
Source: Bandai Namco