I recently watched a video by Jaiden Animations where she gave a very accurate description of what it's like to be a Digimon fan; in that they come across as a fandom that's been hurt one too many times but are still clinging on to hope that there will one day be a great Digimon game that will give them a reason to be a proud fan of this franchise.

The biggest problem with Digimon games is that they are designed to be enjoyed almost exclusively by Digimon fans. Each game is different than the last. Each game feels like an experiment that tries (halfheartedly) to tackle a particular genre that has always been done far better in other games. Only a Digimon fan could possibly get enjoyment out of them, which is why it's difficult to get newcomers into the series and Digimon Survive is no exception.

This is a visual novel/tactical RPG, with it being maybe 80% visual novel and 20% tactical RPG. The RPG stuff is... fine, I guess? It's certainly the most enjoyable aspect of the game, even if the style of combat does get a bit repetitive. The visual novel stuff on the other hand... I'm sorry, but I just found it an absolute chore to get through.
I've never played a visual novel before, so wasn't sure what to expect going in. It turns out a visual novel is a point-and-click game with endless text and dialogue boxes to read through, like the sort of point-and-click adventure games I used to play on PC as a kid; 'Jar Jar's Journey' and 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Spellbound’. If this is what visual novels are usually like, then I'm not surprised I've somehow avoided playing one until now. I often found myself spamming the ‘A’ button just to get to the next playable segment quickly. Maybe it's the story, characters and the dialogue but I thought it's a pretty boring way to tell a story in a video game.

Story-wise, it's essentially a greatest hits compilation of Digimon Adventure and (in certain aspects) Tamers, with similar character archetypes, similar plot beats and similar villains. They don't even have the pretence to change up the roster of Digimon you encounter throughout the story; it's all villains you've seen before. I will say, though, there were definitely some surprises that I did not see coming. The backstory involving Haru and Miyuki is actually quite interesting. Then there's actual character deaths that happen, that genuinely shocked me and are easily the highlights of the story and I really wish the game had kept with this darker tone all throughout as it really gives a sense of genuine jeopardy. However, this game falls for the same problems as previous Digimon stories, where it creates conflict that feels heavily contrived and it's attempts at creating emotional and even nuanced character growth feel half-baked. Because of it’s heavy adherence to previously told stories, I felt like I didn’t need to pay attention to the story all that much. The story beats where so predictable, I ended up skimming through most of the dialogue a lot of the time. It even does the annoying thing where only a couple of the character's Digimon reach Mega level while everyone stays at a lower level.

It's not the best Digimon game, and it's far from the worst. But is this really the best we can do?