While oft dismissed as Pokémon’s younger brother, Bandai Namco will be celebrating Digimon’s 20th anniversary in 2019, headlined by a new survival-simulation RPG called Digimon Survive. It doesn’t have a firm release date but it’s coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
Digimon Survive stars teenager Takuma and the Dinosaur-like Digimon Agumon as they become trapped in a dangerous world. The gameplay combines tactical turn-based combat (a la Fire Emblem) with visual novel-like storytelling. Takuma’s choices will impact his Digimon’s evolutions as well as the ending of the game.
Judging by the tone of the trailer it looks to be a serious, dramatic adventure, with a much bigger focus on story than previous Digimon games. The game will feature characters designed by Uichi Ukumo and music by Tomoki Miyoshi.
Digimon began life as little digital pets, similar to Tamagotchi in the mid to late 90s. Digmon’s popularity lead to a big-screen film, anime series, and video game debut in 1999. The latest video game release, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory, released in North America earlier this year. It’s a sequel to 2016’s Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. Both games are more traditional Japanese RPGs.
Digimon never reached the heights of Pokémon outside of Japan but enjoys a niche following for fans of collect-em-all genres.
Digimon Survive is coming in 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
