Welcome to our review of the new RPG in the Digimon franchise on Playstation 4, Digimon Story – Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory.
Digimon games are all around us, I think this iteration of the series might actually be the twenty-fifth game in the franchise. A very popular franchise with tons of games, manga iterations and even several anime series, the Digital Monsters, Digimon for short, is a big part of the Japanese culture, often compared to Pokemon and other greats.
The games usually have their own storylines that rarely mix into the anime series, this one is no exception. From a franchise that was originally built around the virtual pets like Tamagotchis, this game is a Role Playing Game. A third person RPG that is strongly tied into its predecessor Cyber Sleuth, though the Hacker’s memory game has a lot more stuff to do and monsters to capture.
Originally released back in 2017 in Japan, it now sees a release in Europe and well, this game is an RPG in every sense of the word. All classical elements of the genre are held true and while the original franchise was more kid oriented, I can not help shake the feeling that Digimon Story – Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory is oriented towards a more mature audience. It can be complicated at times, which I do think is a plus, but when I think about my 14-year-old nephew, I doubt he would fully enjoy this game!
Bandai Namco brings us a great game where you play as Keisuke Amazawa, a young trainer or should I say tamer, who fights with his Digimon on a possible 3 by 3 system. You start off without any Digimon at all, you need to befriend your first Digimon, which you will obviously do early on in the story.
It all starts with Keisuke’s Eden account being hacked and stolen in a phishing attack. After the identity theft leaves him suspicious towards his friends, he sets out to join the hacker collective called Hudie in order to reclaim his identity.
His initial investigation brings him hot on the trail of a hacker that has a reputation for these kinds of phishing attacks! Will you be able to track down your identity? As the story progresses, the basic premise of similar games comes into play, you gather allies and tame Digimon in order to beat stronger opponents!
The graphics of the game are rather special, the Eden world is very surreal, very futuristic. I was in love with the overall feeling of how well balanced this RPG felt. In the beginning, my gameplay felt smooth, I was easily winning my battles and as time progressed, they did slowly but surely get harder. Without feeling impossible!
In conclusion, this game is beautiful. It is well balanced but a little heavy on the controls and information that you get early on in the game. It might even scare away some of the more seasoned RPG lovers or Digimon aficionado. I had a lot of fun and not once did I feel like this game was boring.
For my rating, however, I am sticking to only 80% and not more. This franchise is oriented at a younger age and it does come into play that the game is maybe too complex for the younger gamers among us.
My rating stands at 80%
