While Pokémon continues to appeal to younger players, Digimon has long taken a darker path. Digimon Story Time Stranger on Steam will be no exception, and there’s a good reason for that.
What kind of game is Digimon Story Time Stranger? Digimon Story Time Stranger is a turn-based role-playing game where you can collect, train, and strategically battle with over 450 Digimon. You travel between the real world and the digital world Iliad to stop a threat that endangers both worlds. Your choices impact the course of the story and the bonds with your Digimon.
In contrast to Pokémon, which Digimon is often compared to, the franchise surprisingly takes a darker turn with games like Cyber Sleuth or Hacker’s Memory. Themes such as loss, loneliness, and death are often explored more deeply, and the franchise is more aligned with our ‘real world’. Therefore, many view Digimon as the better alternative.
In an interview with Game Spark, producer Ryosuke Hara confirmed that Digimon Story Time Stranger will also be no exception and explained that there’s a good reason for this.
A Dark Atmosphere for Longtime Fans
Why is the new Digimon RPG also dark? In the interview with Game Spark, producer Ryosuke Hara explains that there were several reasons for the decision to focus on adults and older teens as the target audience.
On one hand, it’s increasingly difficult nowadays to target children and teenagers specifically. Young people are becoming interested at an early age in games that are actually aimed at older players. On the other hand, the target audience that is interested in Digimon today consists of those who grew up with it:
First of all, we believe that the generation that should be most enthusiastic about the Digimon IP is the one that liked Digimon back in the day. With everyone’s help, we want to make Digimon more exciting together and expand it to a wide range of age groups.
They want to work with the “more adult” direction of the game to ensure that it appeals to as many different age groups as possible, but at the same time, it should not be too mature for young people to play.
The primary target group is also the longtime fans, but the game should also be made interesting for newcomers, for example, by having the world of Digimon be completely new for the protagonist.
The first insights into Digimon Story Time Stranger are well received by fans. MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes is also very excited to finally dive back into the world of Digimon after 8 years. In his article, he explains why he is particularly excited: I’ve played over 200 hours of an alternative to Pokémon, and after 8 years, the successor I’ve been waiting for is finally coming out
