Digimon Story Time Stranger – Return to the gaming world?
This review contains NO spoilers!
It is interesting how the Digimon series, despite its significant popularity, has never really found its place in the world of video games. Of course, there have been plenty of attempts to create a game that would stand shoulder to shoulder with a series featuring the famous yellow mascot, but it never really took off. For this reason, expectations for the new Digimon RPG title were not particularly high, but Bandai Namco promised us a long and elaborate JRPG experience that we haven't received until now. Did they succeed? Well, find out in the rest of the text.
Development studio: Media Vision
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, PC
Release date: October 3, 2025.
Platform on which the game was tested: PlayStation 5
Starting price: 69.99 euros
Presentation - It has style, but something is missing
Conveying the feeling and atmosphere of the anime series into a three-dimensional world of a video game is never an easy task, and as we had the opportunity to see this year with a certain Pokemon game, sometimes it really goes wrong. Fortunately, the presentation in the new Digimon is really not bad. The character design is diverse and consistently high-quality, which stands out in both human characters and our digital allies. The environments and levels are visually colorful, often very vibrant, and truly offer some beautiful sights. The animations of the characters and Digimons are also varied and impressively executed, and considering the number of Digimons, which we will discuss later, it is commendable that each has its own unique animations and movements. Unfortunately, Digimon Story Time Stranger simply suffers from technical underdevelopment.
Visually, the game is at the level of a PlayStation 3 game, and I would even say that some games from that era, like Persona 5, looked more impressive. Textures are often very low resolution, the lighting is very basic, and HDR support is not available. What also has no excuse is the fact that the game is locked at 30 frames per second on all consoles, which really makes no sense for a game like this. Fortunately, since it's a turn-based title, this limited framerate won't be a problem in the battles themselves, but it's still disappointing to see. On PC, the situation is somewhat better, as you at least have an unlocked framerate and quite decent optimization. All in all, the new Digimon don't look bad, far from it, but they could be much, much better, and we expect that from a high-budget game.
When it comes to sound, there really isn't anything that stands out as a flaw. The sound design itself is quite good, and the voice acting is decent, although I wouldn't call it fantastic. I am one of those people who plays Japanese games in English, so I can't comment on the quality of the Japanese voice acting. The music is also not bad, but I must admit that I expected more from a JRPG title, as no song stuck in my head after playing the game.
Gameplay – Digital Persona
Okay, realistically, no one plays Digimon to admire the graphics, and fortunately, it shows that the focus has gone exactly to the most important segment, which is gameplay. It's an RPG title, where battles function according to the well-known turn-based combat principle. From the start, the combat felt most similar to the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series, where the goal of the battle is to exploit enemy weaknesses and use various buffs and debuffs to deal maximum damage to the enemy. Essentially, I would describe the combat in Digimon as solid but also quite shallow. There aren't any very advanced or deep mechanics; battles boil down to a simple “rock-paper-scissors” rhythm, and the damage you deal is influenced by the opponent's weakness and the type of Digimon you use, so with enough planning and the right Digimon, you can deal up to 4 times more damage than with regular attacks. There is also a so-called “cross art” mechanic, which serves as a type of special attack that can deal special damage, heal you or your allies, or give you quite powerful buffs.
One thing that I particularly liked and something that will definitely save you a lot of time is the ability to speed up battles, which helps to avoid the feeling of boredom when you watch the same attack animation for the hundredth time. In addition to regular battles, you will also encounter boss fights, which are significantly more fun as they provide a much more interesting and greater challenge, while you will breeze through most regular battles using only the auto battle function. Of course, I am talking about playing on normal difficulty, and for you hardcore players, after finishing the game, you unlock Mega and Mega+ difficulties, which offer a significantly greater challenge. Upgrading your digital companions is done through the so-called Digivolution system, which works very well and offers solid variety to make your Digimon the best fighter. What might be the most impressive thing about all this is the number of Digimon present in the game. There are as many as 450 different digital monsters available, which is absurdly high, but also very commendable. It is also important to highlight that each Digimon has its so-called “signature” move with special animation and dialogue. The user interface and menus are generally also smartly and smoothly done, which will definitely come in handy since you will spend a lot of time there.
Story – A Return to the Past
I don't want to say much about the plot to avoid spoilers, but I have things to say about the overall experience. Before starting the game, you choose between a male and female character, but don't expect any differences in the story between these two protagonists, as you can change gender at any moment if you decide to. Speaking of the protagonist, I must say that I was particularly bothered by the fact that the main character is mute, and their dialogues are reduced to one sentence that you will choose. I know this is a normal and very common occurrence for JRPG titles, but I believe that in 2025 there is no reason for it to be this way. Because of this, I didn't feel a strong connection with the main character, and I found the supporting characters much more interesting. The introduction to the game is somewhat slow, and you will play for several hours before the plot actually starts to pick up pace. Fortunately, the game is long enough, and you will need at least 40-45 hours to finish it. The ensemble of characters is really interesting, and although the characters and personalities of the Digimon are more vivid and interesting than the human characters, all are interesting enough to hold your attention throughout the game. As is the norm for JRPGs, most of the story will be followed through dialogues in text boxes, which also do not always have voice acting, which, although not that terrible, should not be overlooked considering the price of the game.
Conclusion – Is it worth buying?
Digimon Story Time Stranger is undoubtedly the most complete Digimon game we've received, perhaps ever, and I believe that if you're a die-hard fan of the series, you'll definitely enjoy it. However, this is far from a perfect game, and if you're just looking for a good JRPG title, it might be smartest to wait for a discount, especially since the new Digimons have been released at the full price of 70 euros.
Rating: 3/5
A copy of the game for review purposes was provided by distributor Colby and publisher Bandai Namco
