In a few more months,Digimon Survivewill finally be out. This visual novel-cross-tactical RPG has been suffering delays for years, but it finally has a global release date that is fast approaching. Even if itshares a release date withXenoblade Chronicles 3,Digimonfans everywhere are looking forward to finally closing the door on this chapter of the franchise’s gaming side. Sporting traditional visual novel elements infused with survival tropes, multiple story paths, and a tactical grid-based combat system that promises to deliver serious endgame challenges, there’s a lot to look forward to.
As it stands,Digimon Survivehas one of the most unique meta stories in theDigimonfranchise. Initially aiming for a 2019 release date, it quickly slid into delay after delay. These bizarre circumstances have done a lot to bring attention to the game, and the directions its dark storytelling could go are promising for theDigimonfranchise. Even after decades ofDigimon WorldandDigimon Storytitles, no game has ever been released that will play quite likeSurvivedoes. It’s a strange yet exciting time, although fans reading into a recent developer breakdown of the gameplay have noticed something odd. It seems that inSurvive’s efforts to break away from the typical format ofDigimon, it has also meddled with the series core mechanic of digivolution.
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How Digimon Survive Has Altered Digivolution
Digivolution is handled differently from evolution inPokemonand demon fusion inShin Megami Tensei. Digimon are portrayed as being able to move up and down their evolutionary lines with some degree of freedom, rather than just evolving upwards linearly. Adding on to that, aDigimon can take different evolutionary routesfor different results. There are six main digivolution stages as well as fusions and other special evolutionary methods. Depending on the species of Digimon, just about every step of this process could have a choice between different resulting forms. Getting new Digimon types and powering up basic forms is encouraged, so de-digivolving Digimon is a common practice in some video games.
This is all explained by the amount of data a Digimon has absorbed. When evolution is triggered by a human ally, less data is absorbed than if the process had occurred over time. This can leave the Digimon unable to retain its new form even if it’s just as strong as it would be naturally. That was how the anime treated digivolution, though other media tended to ignore this in favor of letting playerskeep their evolved Digimon. De-digivolution was left in the player’s hands, if there even is an option in the first place.Digimon Survivegamifies the anime’s formula by placing a time limit on digivolution with dwindling SP, forcing Digimon to evolve and devolve over the course of a single battle. Thanks to this, it may be the firstDigimontitle to accurately reproduce the anime’s dynamic transformations and the portrayal of Digimon partners defaulting to their Rookie forms.
The Impact of Digimon Survive’s Changes to Digivolution
InDigimon Survive, Digimon can only evolve if they have unlocked a digivolution, andSurviveborrows any evolution type it needs to reach a desired form. On the right route, Agumon may beable to Dark Digivolve straight to SkullGreymon, but he would only be able to hold this monstrous form for a short time. SP drains every turn a player Digimon has digivolved, forcing them to return to their base forms eventually. There are many ways to restore SP, so players will need to manage their resources and movement carefully to ensure evolved Digimon are in the thick of things and no base-form allies are surrounded. This also has the nice side effect of ensuring that partner Digimon are all in their more personable Rookie forms during most visual novel segments.
The methods of gaining evolutions are also more varied than normal. Human allies can gain digivolutions for their partners through relationship values and story events, whichbrings to mindPersona’s Social Links. There are three main routes as well as a secret route, and different digivolutions are unlocked on each path. Things are simpler for recruited wild Digimon as they simply require items to digivolve, though this method isn’t seen much in the games.
It appears thatDigimon Surviveis trying to replicate some older anime seasons' different digivolution methods, which could give major story moments more impact via unlocking a new form. This choice to pursue a new take on digivolution should serveDigimon Survivewell, and could make it all the more memorable once it’s finally out.
Digimon Survivewill be released on July 29th for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
