I don’t know man, I just struggle to enjoy Digimon games and this one isn’t really different. The game looks nice, I like the style the characters are drawn in and that’s about it. I don’t mind visual novels when the story interests me or when the gameplay that accompanies it is great, but I get neither with Survive. The story doesn’t interest me at all and the gameplay is just average for a trpg.

And while not particularly Survive’s fault, I really don’t care about Digimon creature designs besides the handful of popular ones.

I wanted this to be the Digimon game I finally enjoyed, but I didn’t get that this time.

Dejando de lado lo "caótico" de su desarrollo, Survive termino siendo una experiencia solida que cumple con lo que prometía su propuesta inicial.
Desde un principio el foco estaba puesto en los elementos de novela visual y puedo decir sin miedo que es el apartado mejor logrado en la experiencia como un todo. Sinceramente, si bien siento que ciertos personajes flaquean en comparación a otros viéndolos individualmente, el cast y su dinámica como grupo es lo que carga con gran parte de la experiencia para mi y lo que mas disfrute al final del día.
Si bien no comparto la mayoria de las criticas hechas al apartado TRPG del juego, si tengo que concordar en que la verdadera profundidad del sistema no se llega a ver en todo su esplendor en las batallas de la historia principal salvo por secciones concretas del juego. y en la sección "Recuerdos de Mugen" Dicho eso, el juego no es un paseo, y llegar hasta ciertas batallas finales puede llegar a tomarte tiempo, sobre todo en difícil.
En general, se nota que aun se puede hacer mas con esto, y espero que el review bombing no desanime a Bandai de seguir explorando con una secuela a este concepto en algún futuro.

Only played through the Moral route, though I'll likely tackle the other three at some point. The battles are the game's weakest point, honestly. By the midpoint of the game, I was just autobattling my way through most battles, and even without grinding, I was able to two shot basically all late game bosses. The final boss was actually a challenge, it took three hits.

The story was honestly the main draw, and the best part of the game. I very nearly dropped the game a few times, but around the halfway point, the plot picks up, things finally actually start happening, and the plot was interesting enough that once I got to that point, I finished in less than a week (after taking nearly three months to get to that point). Overall, if you want a game that plays like an interactive Digimon anime season, play this.

Once you get past the somewhat boring opening half, this darker take on the classic Digimon Adventure story can be pretty tense and occasionally lives up to the hype of a horror genre Digimon story.

The visual novel sections are pleasant and are charming and thankfully interactive, but the brilliant combat rarely gets a chance to shine and neither really amaze more than in brief flashes.

This is a game for Digimon fans first and foremost, and probably shouldn't be on top of the "to play" lists for either SRPG fans or Visual Novel enthusiasts.

I don't really think a game that is 70% a visual novel, or more accurately an ADV game, and 30% a TRPG, is what you'd exactly expect from a Digimon game, with the last few entries leaning more to traditional JRPG mechanics and huge casts. As a big fan of the series and its world since the original Adventure anime, Survive feels like a love letter to the first few entries of the franchise, with a smaller assemble of fan favorite Digimon, emphasis on the characters and their struggles, and a story that hits familiar beats. The game actually doesn't really mention Digimon for the most part, it establishes its own lore about what these creatures are and it feels like a story that works whether you have prior knowledge of the series, or this is the very first Digimon work you're engaging with. Nevertheless, as I said, it's a love letter to the earlier parts of the series, and it indulges a lot in nostalgia and references that fans are sure to notice. Even the vast majority of the Digimon you encounter are from the original series, with Agumon of course playing a vital role in the story.

The human characters are the most important part of the narrative and the focus of everything that happens. It's a cast of teens, each one with their own issues, and they might feel a bit simple at first, some of them even annoying, but as the story progresses you get to know them more, and see them grow past of their initial template. The game is less about them being the chosen kids or heroes, and more about them tackling their own insecurities, through conflicts, fears and loss. The story certainly complements that and the dynamics among them, having a more dark tone than what most people might expect. The game is called Survive because the world these characters are transported to is a hostile environment and survival becomes their utmost priority. The Digimon they first encounter are portrayed as ruthless wild monsters and are an actual threat to them. And even beyond the Digimon, the harsh reality of being trapped to another world is a danger by itself and acts as a major psychological fear throughout the story. I wouldn't really say it's nothing we haven't seen before, Digimon was always a series with more mature themes compared to something like Pokemon, but I'm regardless happy to see such a story again, and it's certainly the main reason you should try this game.

Structure wise, Digimon Survive consists of several chapters, and at some point, there are three branching paths to take. Two of them are sort of bad endings, though they contain character moments that the main route doesn't delve into too much. The third path is basically an incomplete ending, and to uncover the true ending of the game, you need to start NG+ and complete a certain requirement while at it. Essentially, there are four different routes, and while there are certainly a lot of parts that repeat, especially at the start, the last few chapters are unique to each of them. I'm not sure if I'd suggest going through all of them, the Bad Endings have some really cool stuff though, but at the very least I'd recommend going for the True Ending, as it resolves the main conflict in a very satisfactory way.

As for the chapters themselves, they usually follow the same structure of interacting with the characters in a VN format, exploring a new area and then fighting a boss. The game gives you several options as an answer to your interactions with the other characters, and you usually have to choose the most appropriate one to further bond with them. Sometimes though, the options you choose have to do with the main character's beliefs, which is something that plays a role in their own development and how some stuff will progress. The exploration parts are quite basic, you investigate scenes and interact with the environment or talk to characters, for the most part it's just a more gamified version of the previously mentioned interactions, and even though there are some short quests, I wouldn't say it's anything really interesting. While this structure is fine for the most part, I actually found it a bit tedious at times, especially the exploration sections. The game has a tendency of having some scenes overstay their welcome, with added "padding" that artificially lengthens them, like having to go and explore several different areas despite the objective being clear. Also, while it's an important part of the game, you're usually required to talk to to all the characters each time something happens, several times too, and considering the size of the cast, that also becomes quite tedious, especially when you're going for different endings.

Lastly, an important part of the game is the combat and the battles. While I assume a lot of people are disappointed with the VN format and wanted more of a proper gameplay, I actually found the ratio between them really good, I wouldn't even mind less combat parts. I don't really want to call those sections bad, because they aren't, but they're certainly underbaked. They interact well with the story parts, as your choices often determine what your Digimon will evolve to and you get several benefits from characters that you have a high bond with, but for the most part the Tactics part is rather simple. The Digimon don't really have a ton of options and while when they reach the Mega stage of evolution there's a lot more freedom on the attacks and the movement, on a core level, the combat and the encounters remain very basic. It's also not particularly challenging in a meaningful way, and even in higher difficulties, it becomes more of a slog rather than a fun challenge. True route has some more interesting encounters, but overall, probably nothing to write home about. Worth noting though, thankfully, the game has a lot of QoL features for these parts, like increased speed or skipping animations, or options to restart the battle at a whim, so they're certainly bearable and I appreciate that. Finally, there's sort of a "Pokedex" to fill through interactions with wild Digimon, which while is a fun side activity, as you try to figure out how to get a certain Digimon or what to evolve it into, the small number of Digimon and the structure of the game don't really allow for much discovery, and the process to acquire them ends up quite inorganic as a result.

Overall, it's a game that I really enjoyed for its characters and its story, and as a fan of Digimon, I couldn't really rank it lower. Without that element, it'd probably be a 6, because some aspects of it seriously need more work, unfortunately the game's budget really limits it, even if it's part of a niche genre. The game could be a more fun experience with less repetition, less padding and more variety in areas, Digimon and scenes, though regardless, I really appreciated its minimal tone at times and still had fun with it. For Digimon fans or people interested in the series, I honestly think it's a must though.

I will be going back to do additional endings and other experimentation with the relationship level with each character, but I’d call this the most fascinating Digimon game in years. The VN parts are great. The tactical wasn’t really that complex or great but it didn’t damper it too much for me personally.

I was getting a bit tired of the TRPG stuff by the end honestly. The only complaint I have with the story is it felt like the ending was coming then it just didn’t lmao but at least it o my lasted 30 hours and not at all any longer.

Anyways, the story fascinated me more than anything. I have too many games to play at the moment but when I break through some of my backlog, I’ll be coming back for the rest of the content.

Having now beat the Wrathful route and the True Ending, I'm calling my time with Digimon Survive done for now, and overall, I'm quite happy with it.

With such a troubled development cycle, I wasn't entirely sure Digimon Survive would ever come out, and if it did, how it would end up. I'm glad that it ended up a lot better than I would've expected.

Fundamentally, it's a solid 7-7.5/10 game (and I mean this in the most affectionate way, no less) filled with a ton of heart. The lack of a budget, especially for QA and Localization shows, with various spelling and grammar mistakes, and even some instances of characters speaking when other characters were meant to speak. There's no doubt large swaths of it are pretty messy and the game ultimately does suffer a fair bit of it, especially considering this is a Visual Novel.

However, I think that as a Digimon game, when the series has mostly been monster raising sims and classic, turn-based RPGs, I think this game really does thrive as a visual novel. It allows for a lot of focus on character moments in a franchise that ultimately does its best when it focuses on the characters, their relationships with each other, and their relationships with their Digimon partners. And honestly, I'd love to see something attempted in this VN style vein again for the franchise!

As for the tactics RPG part, it's... there. It's very basic, and can be satisfying at times, but ultimately never shines. In the True Ending there are a fair amount of fun fights-- albeit paired up with some fights where enemies feel a bit ridiculously strong, even on normal. But the Digimon variety is good, and the partners chosen for the characters feel varied and interesting. I would hope in a future game that follows the same vein they would take the time to really expand on and improve the combat.

The important part: the characters. I think they're all really good. They're all pretty varied, they have great designs, and good dynamics with their partners, which especially get expanded upon in the True Ending route. Even the characters who, in my first playthrough i wasn't as much a fan of, I cam to really enjoy in the True Ending. My favorites in particular were Saki, Aoi, and Minoru.

As for the routes, I think Wrathfulness is one of the best stories Digimon, as a franchise, has seen (albeit with some... iffy metaphors in the epilogue), and the dark tones that the developers talked about as a big point for Digimon Survive, they hit incredibly well. I was tearing up by the end, and I loved it. It was painful and emotional and strong and it was great for the core characters focused on, and after the first 8 chapters, which were a bit up and down (the prologue and the first half of chapter 1 in particular), it finished incredibly strong.

In my True Ending route, I thought it did a lot for some of the characters who weren't focused on, and really improved the characters I wasn't as big of a fan of initially. However, because of, presumably budgets and limitations, some things don't make as much sense, and part of the True Ending route suffers because of it. But in the chapters where things diverge? I think it's great, and feels like a really solid classic Digimon story with a pretty bombastic final ending sequence.

Digimon Survive really evokes classic Digimon in a lot of ways, but even with the older characters and the darker tone, it doesn't try and poke fun at how young or silly some of the original stuff like in Adventure was. Just like the shows themselves, Digimon Survive is filled with earnestness and sincerity in how it presents itself and how it plays out, even if it can be cheesy, and even if it falls a bit flat at times. It is Digimon through and through.

Ultimately, I could only really recommend this for fans of Digimon, but if you are a fan of Digimon, I definitely recommend checking this out. I had a really good time between both playthroughs, even with the slower parts or having to redo some battles over and over. It may not be the strongest game with parts of its design, but it has a lot of heart and love put into it that really does shine through, especially in the best moments.

It's finally out and it's a bit of a mixed bag.
For those unaware, this is largely a Visual Novel with the occasional SRPG segments, so get ready to read a lot of text before you're allowed to fight things. Because of that, I'm going to split this review in two segments, one for the story (no spoilers) and one for the gameplay.

Story:
It's pretty good. I haven't really played most Digimon games to comment on what the average story for those is, but I like what they've written in this game. The developers cited Utawarerumono as an inspiration, but I sadly also have not played that. However what this game did remind me of, were the SMT games, Devil Survivor in particular (ironic, given the name).
Survive has a common route that lasts about 7-8 chapters, which then splits into three endings depending on the choices you took when talking to characters. There's no way to mess what route you want because route options are always on the same side of the dialogue box and the character screen always shows your "flags" for each route. Meaning you can easily get all three base endings by simply balancing your choices and then leaning into one route during the split point. Hate to be that guy, but they're pretty much SMT "Law-Neutral-Chaos" endings. I enjoyed all of them.
Upon clearing any of the three endings, you unlock NG+ and the True Ending, which requires you to take certain choices regarding certain characters. I also really enjoyed this one. They're not mind-blowing, but they're good endings and the events that happen as well as the character development (at least for some of them) is really interesting to see.

Gameplay:
Here's the bad part. If you've seen other reviews you know what to expect. It's just not very good. The spritework is great, the way they handled evolution is nice, and the endgame Digimon have great animations.
But it's extremely tedious to play.
If you're playing for the story, the gameplay is a chore.
If you're playing for the gameplay, the little you get is disappointing and frustrating.
Not because it's hard, but because it's ridiculously boring. Lategame enemies become sponges, weaknesses and positioning make most battles a game of "who can get behind the unit faster", and if God forbid you want to get all evo lines, you need to spam the same dialogue options on the same map dozens of times on a very specific chapter. Or just wait until the end of the game to do the same thing in a different map.

In conclusion, the game is simply not fun to play and by the time I was done the only thing I could think of was that they should've kept this a simple VN. I love the characters, I really enjoyed the NG endings, and the NG+ ending answered all my questions and left me satisfied. But I could not recommend this game to anyone in good faith unless they're willing to save themselves the headache and put all battles on Easy so they can simply enjoy the VN story without long tedious fights.

have just finished chapter 10 and figured i have my thoughts about summed up already. a really interesting approach to monster collecting franchises paired with a not-so-interesting take on SRPG mechanics. level design is incredibly simple and instead, skills, stats, and attributes have some depth but can mostly be ignored with grinding and basic knowledge of skills and equipment. a good SRPG, i think, as a seasoned Fire Emblem fan, is one that can be enjoyed without really getting a grip on every layer of it, but is most satisfying when you bother to pay attention to everything, and Digimon Survive is very much in there with the rest of them. the only other thing is that it’s not the most polished game, and the localization has a lot of weird errors that i wouldn’t think would pass QA in any other studio but i’m sure this game’s development was weird. oh, and the UI is not great and the fact that the camera is fixed to isometric POVs makes me lose my shit, especially since even in older SRPGs you can freely move the camera. all in all, it met my expectations of “Fire Emblem but with Digimon” and the story surpassed my expectations enough where i’d be happy to trudge through the slowest start to a game ever in order to play it again.