Digimon, the monster-raising/battling franchise, is getting a re-release of Digimon World: Next Order on the Nintendo Switch. The game is the sixth entry in the Digimon World series and represents the beginning of a six-year drought of releases - until now.
The original Digimon World game for PS1 launched all the way back in 1999. In fact, it was actually released before the Digimon animated series, which aired later that year. Within 2 years, Digimon World 2 and Digimon World 3 would both come to fruition. Over the next decade and a half, the series would see sporadic releases of 3 more games, starting with Digimon World 4 then followed by Digimon World: Re-Digitize. Finally, in 2017, the year following its Japanese launch, Digimon World: Next Order got a North American release.
Now, fans of the long-running series are getting a new release of its most recent game, this time for the Nintendo Switch. Dubbed Digimon World: Next Order International Edition, Bandai Namco initially announced the re-release in the most recent issue of the weekly Famitsu Magazine. The game will see a Japanese release on February 22, 2023, and though a North American release date has not been revealed, an announcement is expected.
Details on the precise differences and improvements between the original release of Digimon World: Next Order and its international edition are sparse so far. But two new features have been divulged: A beginner mode will be included, offering players a more casual experience, and the ability to run, allowing for more convenient navigation. The latter seems like a no-brainer when it comes to lessons a modern RPG should already know, making it somewhat of a surprise it wasn't included in the game's original release.
Hopefully, this release injects some renewed interest in the west for Digimon games. Though it received fair reviews, fans were not pleased with Digimon Survive, and the last Digimon game the west got before that was the follow-up to Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth called Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory in 2017. And according to reports, that game was much closer to an expansion of its predecessor than it was a true sequel. What's more, there have been many Digimon games developed since the franchise's inception that never saw the light of day in the west, including several titles in the Story series.
Suffice it to say that western gamers have been going through a Digimon dry spell. But the original North American release of Digimon World: Next Order received fairly good reviews, and, with luck, the addition of new features and its release on such a widespread console will give the international edition the chance to shine.
Digimon World: Next Order International Edition will release on Nintendo Switch on February 22, 2023, in Japan. The western release date is TBD.
Source: Nintendo Everything