oh boy i have a lot to say about this game... i might end up sounding like an entitled gamer who sucks lol
pros:
- two conceptually interesting stories that explore cyberspace in their own ways
- the digimon models are rendered wonderfully
- battle system is has slightly more nuance than its often compared to rival, pokemon
- both stories kept me intrigued the whole way
- funny localization moments (like bffr you've never heard someone say "oh snap! yo dawg let's bounce!")
- didn't experience any bugs as far as i noticed
cons (because i am a salty gamer):
- lack of essential quality of life things i've taken for granted in other jrpgs (skip cutscenes, skip text, battle fast forward, story recap)
- CHAPTER 16 HACKER'S MEMORY TERRITORY CAPTURE LEGEND ANGELS (they heal every other turn omfg)
- not really the most memorable ost, immersive for sure but not many bangers :(
- SILENT PROTAGONISTS (personally feel like this trope needs to die out)
- hacker's memory protag has a voice for like the very beginning and the very end, feels bad for the seiyuu tbh
- if you want decent digimon, you're kinda forced into grinding which is pretty sucky if you're just casually playing (constatnt digivolving and de-digivolving for ABI to go up by a mere 5)
- the voice acting is inconsistent. like you'd go from a voiced scene with the main cast to no voice right after. i get it but i personally thought the main cast should have had all their lines voiced
- random encounters felt a little dated tbh but i've just been spoiled by a lot of games today that have phased out the concept of random encounters
- dungeon design was lacking but it's nothing major to be upset at
- kinda surprised there was only two difficulties. normal and hard
i prefer cyber sleuth over hacker's memory in terms of story. given that cyber sleuth is kinda sorta the "main" story anyways, there's a noticable difference in regards to the writing quality between the two. hacker's memory kinda follows one driving plot point for most of it, resolves it SUPER quickly, and then moves onto another plot that's been building up in the background slowly.
i do like the mechanics in hacker's memory though. domination battles were neat (but ffs why can i not decide WHERE my characters start?)
so uhh long story short: neat stories locked behind some tedious gameplay if you're willing to endure it. i would say that cyber sleuth is the only one worth your time tbh
pros:
- two conceptually interesting stories that explore cyberspace in their own ways
- the digimon models are rendered wonderfully
- battle system is has slightly more nuance than its often compared to rival, pokemon
- both stories kept me intrigued the whole way
- funny localization moments (like bffr you've never heard someone say "oh snap! yo dawg let's bounce!")
- didn't experience any bugs as far as i noticed
cons (because i am a salty gamer):
- lack of essential quality of life things i've taken for granted in other jrpgs (skip cutscenes, skip text, battle fast forward, story recap)
- CHAPTER 16 HACKER'S MEMORY TERRITORY CAPTURE LEGEND ANGELS (they heal every other turn omfg)
- not really the most memorable ost, immersive for sure but not many bangers :(
- SILENT PROTAGONISTS (personally feel like this trope needs to die out)
- hacker's memory protag has a voice for like the very beginning and the very end, feels bad for the seiyuu tbh
- if you want decent digimon, you're kinda forced into grinding which is pretty sucky if you're just casually playing (constatnt digivolving and de-digivolving for ABI to go up by a mere 5)
- the voice acting is inconsistent. like you'd go from a voiced scene with the main cast to no voice right after. i get it but i personally thought the main cast should have had all their lines voiced
- random encounters felt a little dated tbh but i've just been spoiled by a lot of games today that have phased out the concept of random encounters
- dungeon design was lacking but it's nothing major to be upset at
- kinda surprised there was only two difficulties. normal and hard
i prefer cyber sleuth over hacker's memory in terms of story. given that cyber sleuth is kinda sorta the "main" story anyways, there's a noticable difference in regards to the writing quality between the two. hacker's memory kinda follows one driving plot point for most of it, resolves it SUPER quickly, and then moves onto another plot that's been building up in the background slowly.
i do like the mechanics in hacker's memory though. domination battles were neat (but ffs why can i not decide WHERE my characters start?)
so uhh long story short: neat stories locked behind some tedious gameplay if you're willing to endure it. i would say that cyber sleuth is the only one worth your time tbh