Many of you might still know Digimon as Anime on RTL2. Nowadays, there are countless games about the colorful monsters. MeinMMO editor Jasmin was able to test the latest installment, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, and even finds one thing better than in the Pokémon games.
Pokémon and Digimon have been competitors for decades, as both franchises feature colorful monsters that can battle each other. Ultimately, Pokémon has established itself as the more successful brand and is now the largest anime franchise in the world.
Who is writing this review? I am Jasmin, an anime editor at MeinMMO, and I spent many afternoons in front of the TV when many animes were airing on the RTL2 channel. Digimon stands out in my memory because the characters had to undertake an exciting journey. My favorite Digimon is Lilimon.
New video games are regularly released for both universes. Recently, this was the case for Pokémon with Scarlet and Violet, for Digimon it will be on October 3, 2025, with Digimon Story: Time Stranger.
As much as I loved the Pokémon games and they added a part of joy to my childhood: There is one thing that I found totally annoying even as a child – and tried to avoid as much as possible.
Digimon Story makes battles more bearable
Just like in Pokémon, battles are turn-based. You have a fixed team of 6 Digimon, of which only 3 are active in battle. The series also plays with elemental weaknesses and strengths, as well as types of Digimon that can perform more effective attacks in a rock-paper-scissors principle.
The battles in Pokémon have always bothered me on the different routes. You walk through tall grass, surf on the sea, or climb through a cave. Every few meters, you come to a halt because you either locked eyes with a trainer or triggered a random battle.
IMAGE
With a high frequency, this can become quite annoying over time. While there are items to keep the Pokémon at bay, you miss out on the experience points from the battles. Nowadays, in Scarlet and Violet, you can at least see where the wild pocket monsters are to avoid them – but the battles still drag on.
And that’s exactly what Digimon Story gets right in my opinion. Here, there’s even the option to speed up battles. In extreme cases, you can make the battles and Digimon animations run at five times the speed. Once you’ve seen the effects of the attacks a few times, you’ll tire of them anyway.
As a result, I was much more motivated to jump into the next battle. Additionally, some Digimon can even be defeated with a first strike from afar, without triggering a battle. This way, I moved through the game more easily than in Pokémon, as I never had to pause to grind for levels. Thus, I was never thrown out of the “game flow”.
Another plus point is the fact that using an item doesn’t cost a turn. In Pokémon, you often have to decide whether to heal your team or even perform revives and sacrifice a turn for that. In Digimon, attacking and healing can happen simultaneously.
This also made the battles much more bearable for me. Because I didn’t have to wait for another turn before I could attack again.
Story becomes a minor thing when collecting
Another great strength I discovered in Digimon is the digitization system. Unlike Pokémon, Digimon do not simply evolve by carrying certain items and leveling up. Instead, there is a sophisticated system where individual stats of Digimon must reach certain values.
Each Digimon also has the option to perform multiple digitizations. This makes it more complicated to decide on a specific digitization, because you either have to catch the base Digimon again or revert the current one. However, this usually lowers the stats so much that a re-digitization is not immediately possible.
It takes much more sweat and effort to collect all the Digimon. It escalated for me to the extent that the story became a mere side note, and I was just hunting for new Digimon.
To strengthen the Digimon in their stats, you can either use the skill tree of the respective being or send the Digimon to a “farm” for training. But don’t expect a farm like I imagined; instead, there’s a miniature view planet where the Digimon train and decoration items like toilets can be placed.
If you’re still interested in the story: As a time traveler, you must prevent a major catastrophe where humanity is destroyed by a Digimon. To do this, you visit both the human world and the Digimon’s home.
There are small surprises here and there in the story. However, they are introduced so clumsily that you usually already know what’s going on before the reveal.
Many similarities to Pokémon
Apart from that, the new Digimon game has quite a few similarities to the main series of Pokémon, aside from the battle setup and different elemental types:
- At the very beginning, 3 digital monsters are available as starters. This immediately reminded me of the most important choice in Pokémon games.
- The strengths in Digimon, as in Pokémon, are not exactly in the visuals. Overall, they fluctuate greatly in Digimon: Sometimes there’s a beautiful Tokyo that makes me emotional and reminds me of my last trip to Japan, but then there are uninspired housing blocks that could come from the PS3 era.
- There are hidden interactions and conversations in towns to obtain items. This motivates you to click on everything and everyone.
One thing makes Pokémon better for me: You can customize your character much more individually than in Digimon Story: Time Stranger. That’s also an important reason for me, to still play Pokémon Legends Z-A.
Additionally, the main character does not have his own voice acting. As a result, I felt an even lower attachment to him. Even the agent who keeps calling me in the game was totally irrelevant to me – he only gave the same instructions over and over: Watch for anomalies, keep a low profile, and report everything to me!
Conclusion: Digimon is essential for JRPG fans
Thanks to the comfort functions in battle, I am convinced that Digimon Story: Time Stranger can also win over fans who generally enjoy turn-based RPGs. Especially fans of Japan will be blown away by the metropolis of Tokyo, as there were many details that I could remember from my vacation.
Aside from that, Digimon is rather average in many respects. The story is a nice accessory to provide a red thread in the game. The textures also vary greatly in quality. Additionally, the main character cannot be customized.
Overall, I had the feeling that parts of the story series are very beginner-friendly. This is due to the comfort functions and the easy difficulty level. Even on normal, I had no trouble getting through the game.
Who is Digimon Story: Time Stranger suitable for?
You should play Digimon Story: Time Stranger if you …
- Hated the battles in Pokémon and need motivation to complete them faster
- Enjoy collecting monsters and completing collections
- Are a fan of Pokémon or Digimon – both are fine!
- Have experience with JRPGs
You should rather stay away if you …
- Need top-notch graphics that immerse you in the game
- Are a fashion diva and value many customization options
- Expect a grand story with many plot twists
Is Digimon Story: Time Stranger also suitable for newcomers? Don’t worry if you haven’t played the previous story parts; it’s not a problem. As mentioned, this installment of the series is particularly beginner-friendly. Furthermore, you don’t need to have played the predecessors, since each part essentially has its own, complete story.
MyMMO colleague Niko has already played the predecessor for an incredible number of hours. He describes what he likes about the Digimon story games and what weaknesses he sees: I played an alternative to Pokémon for over 200 hours, and after 8 years, the long-awaited sequel finally arrives
