Not So Strange The latest entry in Bandai Namco’s Digimon Story franchise, Digimon Story: Time Stranger offers plenty of familiar elements. Catching monsters, training them, and using them in turn-based battles has long been a core feature of it and other franchises. Early into the game, however, the game reveals its true colors. It takes far more from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise than the Pokémon series that many more might be familiar with in its handling of monster raising, combat design, and even the execution of the narrative. Digimon Story: Time Stranger begins with the player-named character as an agent on a mission from ADAMAS, a secret organization created to investigate “anomalies.” What exactly constitutes an anomaly is left intentionally vague as the player investigates one that leads ADAMAS introduces the player to “phase electron lifeforms,” better known as Digimon. ADAMAS then gives them one of three Digimon to choose from before setting off to investigate the anomaly. On their way, they meet up with an unfamiliar character who clearly knows the Agent and thinks they have a mutual understanding, which comes as a surprise to the Agent. The two make their way to the top of a government building before witnessing a massive explosion that is later explained to be the trigger of a world-ending event. The player wakes up in the past and is given the directive from ADAMAS, who can somehow communicate to them across time, to change the future, and so the journey begins. The game’s plot has a solid hook, and though it takes a while to get going, the time travel elements are utilized excellently by the narrative to explore its themes, and some of the plot twists are incredibly satisfying. Unfortunately, the way the player interfaces with the narrative leaves a lot to be desired. Time travel is often presented as a way to alter decisions, but the player never gets to meaningfully choose anything. Digimon Story: Time Stranger's narrative is a straight shot beginning to end, with only minor dialogue options to choose from. In a game that goes out of its way to explore the ramifications of messing with cause and effect, it is disappointing that the player is effectively just along for the ride. [caption id="attachment_176815" align="alignnone" width="640"] Digimon all have unique personalities.[/caption] Characters are another massive stumbling block for the game. Voice acting and dialogue are, at best, stiff and unnatural, and most characters are extremely one-note, which makes it difficult to be invested in their development. Time Stranger does do a good job of showing character progression, as the player meets several humans and Digimon at different points in their lives, and gets to see how their lives have changed over time. Seeing some Digimon undergo Digivolution between appearances is a particularly effective example of this. But the characters themselves are so uninteresting that this quickly becomes formulaic. Even the game’s darkest moments err from being dark for shock value. All of this undercuts some genuinely clever mysteries and concepts that are explored in the later parts of the game. Combat itself is fairly standard turn-based RPG fare. Digimon all have access to a standard attack, up to four skills unique to that specific Digimon, and up to four skills that can be equipped before battle. Digimon have two different weakness charts: Attributes and Elements. Attributes are inherent to each Digimon, while Elements are determined by skills. This results in a massive number of different type combinations and compatibilities, that leads into many opportunities to inflict massive amounts of damage, as weaknesses and resistances compound on each other. Players are also given access to a variety of Cross Arts, abilities unique to the player character which can be activated periodically in battle. They can have a variety of effects such as buffing and debuffing allies and enemies respectively, healing HP and status effects, or just really big hits. Unfortunately, the battle system never really gets a chance to flex these features, and its attempts to do so fall flat on their face. It becomes clear early on that most regular encounters are extremely easy and simply a means to get new Digimon, as the only way to obtain new Digimon is to fight the same one multiple times. The auto-battle and speed up features make this a breeze, but it certainly doesn’t stop this from being extremely grindy and repetitive, although most bosses are balanced well enough to avoid the game from becoming more tedious and lengthy. There are a few difficulty spikes, however, as some bosses will either merit lowering the difficulty or spending hours to grind the perfect Digimon. [caption id="attachment_174221" align="alignnone" width="640"] Players can even ride their Digimon![/caption] Raising Digimon is the most fleshed-out aspect of Time Stranger, and it certainly shows. The game has a wide range of features to customize Digimon’s stats and abilities, some of which players will find themselves referencing tutorials to understand. Digivolution is easily the most novel element, with Digimon able to go both forward and backwards in their Digivolution trees. It is truly an endless rabbit hole of combinations, and there’s even a compendium of over 450 Digimon that players can complete if so desired. However, therein lies the core of the issue with Time Stranger’s approach to combat. The balancing to the fusion system and dungeon design is so open that there is little in the way of planning ahead that players can do to prepare for tough boss fights. The fusion system allows for so many options that it feels like a dice roll on whether the player has the exact setup for the situation. Most of the time this is fine, as most regular encounters can be adapted to, but the game’s more difficult bosses unfortunately encourage grinding more than anything else. [caption id="attachment_173390" align="alignnone" width="640"] Some Digimon have special moves with excellent animations.[/caption] Presentation is hit-or-miss. The artstyle is gorgeous, and every locale, especially in the Digimon’s home world of Iliad, has a unique flair. Combat animations are fun, with some special moves being great spectacles. Unfortunately, much of the game’s presentation outside of combat and art style leaves a lot to be desired. Most cutscenes consist of characters standing around and talking. The pacing of the cutscenes gets destroyed by the few canned animations for the player character when they choose a dialogue option, which, due to not being coupled with a relevant voice line, makes the animation feel incredibly awkward and unnecessary. One saving grace of the game’s presentation is the music. Time Stranger's soundtrack is always a hit, from invigorating combat tracks to boss themes that do an amazing job of hyping the fight there's always a song that fits the situation perfectly. Ultimately, Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a mixed bag. An excellent Digimon raising and customization system is held back by a shaky combat core, and the game’s interesting yet linear plotline is severely hampered by awkward voice acting and dialogue. There's parts of the game that are enjoyable, but its flaws hold it back from being truly memorable.   Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher. The post Digimon Story: Time Stranger Review appeared first on RPGamer.

On February 1, 1862, in the early days of the Civil War, the Atlantic Monthly published Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic,” summing up the cause of freedom for which the United States tro...