After years of waiting, Digimon Survive is about to come out. The troubles this game has gone through are well known at this point, and it has taken a long, meandering journey from what was originally supposed to be a 2019 release. Digimon Survive is ambitious, but it was never meant to have three extra years of announcements and fan discussions. Still, what it is doing is unique, and should serve as a novel experience for Digimon fans looking for a new RPG to plug away at.
Much of this comes from the mixture of genres Digimon Survive consists of. It is a visual novel first and foremost, and a strategy RPG with light monster-collecting elements after that. There are apparently some survival attributes involved in the visual novel segments that give the game its name. It’s not clear yet how these will manifest, but players ought to be on their toes when searching for resources and making decisions. Among Digimon Survive’s branching paths are the chances for main characters to die, which will likely have far-reaching consequences for the game’s varied outcomes.
Death Could Come in an Instant in Digimon Survive
Digimon Survive was always meant to take Digimon RPGs in an experimental new direction, and that isn’t limited to gameplay. A cast of human and Digimon partners are at the core of the story in a manner similar to the Digimon Story games, but the player will have more influence over this full group than in past games. Relationship values exist not only between humans and Digimon, but between the different humans as well. The player controls Takuma Momozuka and his partner Agumon, and players have the chance to spend time with other characters during visual novel segments. This is similar to free time sections in other visual novels like Danganronpa, and will reward players with more digivolutions.
Players will have to be picky about whom they get attached to, however, as some of those characters may not live to see the fruits of the player's efforts. Owing to Digimon Survive's darker storytelling, certain choices the player makes will lead to character deaths. At the moment, Bandai Namco is holding examples of this close to its chest, keeping such major spoilers away from players. Thus, they will end up going in blind, and could be surprised by what choices lead to deaths. Digimon Survive is meant to be played through several times to see the three different routes and unlock a final one, so the game could be willing to surprise players on their first run through.
Character Deaths in Digimon Survive Could Have Major Consequences
With many combinations and scenarios of protagonist deaths possible, Digimon Survive could grow to become quite a complicated title. The first and most obvious result of an ally's death is that their Digimon will no longer be a party member. It may die as well, or it could escape into the wild and return later as a powerful enemy. The player may also need to rely increasingly on their own stable of wild Digimon, which will likely be weaker than regular Digimon partners. Certain characters may be impacted more by certain characters' deaths, influencing their availability when it comes to scrounging for resources and building relationships.
The lack of certain characters could even cause scenes to play out differently as there is no opposing party to certain ideas or threats, creating a domino effect that pulls players into the Harmony, Morality, or Rage routes. Whatever the case, players will likely be motivated to keep their allies alive next time around — or sacrifice them, as powerful Dark Digivolution in the Rage route will most likely be prompted by untimely deaths. There’s a good chance that the final route will involve everyone, or at least the majority of the cast, surviving. The interplay of survival, strategy, and the familiar Digimon franchise gives Digimon Survive a unique identity that will hopefully make it worth waiting for.
Digimon Survive is scheduled to launch on July 29 for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.