Digimon Survive
Digimon Survive (デジモンサヴァイブ, Dejimon Savaibu) is a video game.
It is a visual novel with elements of a survival strategy role-playing game (SRPG).[1]
Digimon Survive was released on July 28th 2022 on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Steam in Japan and July 29 for the rest of the world.
Development[edit]
Digimon Survive was originally supposed to release in 2019 but was delayed. According to Toei Animation Europe, Survive would release in Europe in January 2021.[2] This was removed a week later, however. On October 8, 2020, Habu Kazumasa stated Survive was delayed again as the game system was being reviewed and they had to redo their schedule from scratch.[3] Bandai confirmed on October 15 that it had been delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic[4] as well as having changed the game's engine during summer 2020 meaning they needed more time to work on the game.[5] Bandai promised an update on the game's status in Spring 2021[4] however this update never came with Bandai remaining silent. On July 28, 2021 Toei Animation stated the game would release in their fiscal Q3 2022 (which is between October and December 2021).[6] On October 28, 2021 however, Bandai announced the game had been delayed to 2022 and apologized for not providing an update in Spring 2021 like they'd promised. [7][8]
At Digimon Con, on February 27, 2022, it was confirmed that the developers had been changed at some point from Witchcraft. The official Digimon Survive website then changed the developers listed on the website to Hyde. On April 18, 2022, the game's Japanese release date was finally revealed as July 28, 2022.[9] Two days later, it was announced the localized versions would release on July 29.[10]
In July 2022, shortly before the release of the game, Habu stated that they had changed the development studio as his original intention was to create the game with a small team on an indie game budget, rather than the budget a Digimon game would usually get, but as the project went on he realized this wasn't possible and had to switch to a bigger studio with a bigger budget to be able to achieve his vision for the game. He also stated he was lucky that the smaller studio (Witchcraft) hadn't used much budget as it allowed him to convince Bandai's stakeholders not to cancel the game.[11] As Witchcraft were using a custom-made engine that Hyde could not access, development of the game had to be restarted from scratch which caused the game's development time to double from two years to four years, with development switching from the custom engine to Unity.[12]
Habu also stated that he used his prior work on the Summon Night franchise as inspiration for the game, as well as taking inspiration from the Utawarerumono franchise.[11]
Story[edit]
Many elements of the story and characters are directly inspired by Digimon Adventure, as detailed in a Dev Diary.[13]
Official Synopsis[edit]
While taking part in an extracurricular, history studies camping trip, Momotsuka Takuma visited a shrine that performed rituals surrounding the "Kemonogami" from a local belief that was passed down in the region, along with his friend, Hinata Minoru, and Shibuya Aoi, who is a year older than them and from a different school.
The legend of the Kemonogami dates back to the Kamakura period. It is said that a powerful clan from that period borrowed the power of a beast-like god that resided in the mountains, and although they became prosperous, they incurred its wrath and were wiped out. The locals who feared the wrath of the "Kemonogami" used to offer their children as sacrifices to it. Although that tale was from long ago, the shrine is still used for rituals in the region, and it is said that when children enter it, they end up being "spirited away".
The shrine was shrouded in fog, and an eerie presence drifted about as if it were otherworldly. The group split up to investigate the shrine, and a creature appeared before Takuma from out of the grass.
The creature introduced itself as "Koromon", and said that it felt like it knew Takuma from the past. Although he was confused by Koromon, a scream from his friends caused him to come back to his senses.
As Takuma rushed ahead, they were attacked by a monster different from Koromon. And then, the youths were engulfed by the fog around them as they ran about desperately trying to escape.
They went astray in the world of this fading legend...
Having strayed off into another world, the youths were faced with new encounters and an imminent crisis!
While driving back the monster that chased after him with the help of Agumon, who evolved from Koromon, Takuma, who was surrounded by fog and had been separated from his friends, joined back up with Minoru, Aoi and they arrived at a school building that was somehow the camp's lodging facility.
However, they were surprised to see the school building. It was covered with vegetation, and looked worn down and dilapidated, as if several decades had passed. Was this really the school building where they were staying at? Maybe they time traveled? Or, did they stray off into another world?
Such questions come to mind.
Then... "Ugyaaaaaah"
Ryo's yelling was heard from the school building. The youths were hit with a new crisis...!
"Where the hell am I?"
Having gone astray in another world, the youths were puzzled...!
Gameplay[edit]
The game itself is a visual novel mixed with tile-based strategy elements. It is played entirely in Momotsuka Takuma's viewpoint.
The player is allowed to save during any time in the game out of combat.
Battle[edit]
At the start of each battle, the player has to choose 6 monsters and field them. The player and enemy monsters take turns until one side defeats each other. Certain battles might feature alternate loss conditions and most boss battles have partner monsters or non-hostile CPU-controlled units already deployed into the field, usually reducing the available space for free units.
Every monster has a movement range (the number of squares they can move in a turn). For a vast majority of monsters, the movement range is three squares front and back. Some monsters only have two squares of movement or have 4 or more squares (mobility-types tend to have 5). Some monsters have the "flying" movement type, which allows them to cross chasms that most Kemonogami cannot go through.
If a monster goes near attacking range, they can either use a normal attack and one special attack. Attachment skills can be equipped onto monsters for extra options. There are no attachment skill ranks. Each attack has a range where it can be activated and some attacks are area-of-effect. When using an attack, if there are any viable targets, the game will display the amount of damage the attack deals to the target and the chance that the attack lands, displayed in percentage. While not directly stated, if a monster attacks a foe that is at least one Generation higher than it, there seems to be a significantly higher chance of the attack missing outright, with the chances of missing an attack increasing drastically the lower the attacker's evolution stage is compared to the target.
A monster that has not attacked in their own turn yet ends their own turn by guarding. While guarding, the damage of all frontal attacks are reduced. This can be bypassed by attacking the monster's sides, which does increased damage to the enemy. Attacking an enemy monster from behind causes further increased damage. The CPU has a very high odd of attacking the player's monsters from behind if possible. so avoid ending turns in a position that can cause a monster from being attacked from behind, especially in harder battles.
There are three monster types; Moral (Vaccine), Wrathful (Virus) and Harmonious (Data), and there are 6 elemental affinities (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, Dark). The Vaccine > Virus > Data paradigm is used for damage calculation, in addition to any elemental affinities the monster has. Traditionally, the higher a monster's Evolution stage is, the more extreme its elemental affinities become. Type alignment does not affect damage dealt/taken as much as in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (or similar games).
There is no way to recover a monster that has already died in-battle.
Talk[edit]
Once per battle, during a partner monster's turn, the partner can speak to their own monster or those of another partner's to grant them a powerful buff or recovery effect. The effects available are of the following:
- Takuma: Raises all stats
- Minoru: Increases movement range
- Aoi: Fully recovers HP
- Saki: Increases Special Defense
- Kaito: Increases Attack
- Miu: Increases defense
- Ryo: Increases critical hit rate
- Shuuji: Recovers SP
- Professor: Casts Restore
- Miyuki: Increases Special Attack
For some of these characters, the Talk option might be sealed at the start or during or after certain story events.
It is also possible to negotiate with an enemy monster by talking to them. When doing so, the monster will provide a questionnaire of three questions and there are 6 bars above it. If the party responds to the monster correctly, they might get 1 or 2 bars in the gauge filled. If they respond incorrectly, one point from the bar will be deducted. If at least 3 bars are filled at the end of the quiz, the player might ask the monster for an item or recruit it. Asking the monster to gift an item is always successful and will remove the monster from combat. Asking a monster to join however, is not guaranteed to succeed; if recruitment fails, the monster will have a spoken squiggle on their head and they will leave. The higher the monster's evolutionary stage, the lower the chances of recruitment it becomes. If there are less than three bars filled at the end of the quiz, the Digimon will become enraged and gain a massive stat buff; it also cannot be spoken to for the rest of the battle and must be slain in combat. Note that Plesiomon and Anubimon might provide questions with no correct answers.
Stats[edit]
- HP: The amount of damage a monster can take before it is slain. HP can be recovered through various items taking the form of medicine.
- SP: SP is consumed when a monster uses a special move or whenever a partner monster evolves. SP can be recovered by items taking the form of meat or by remaining idle for a turn.
- Attack: How much damage a monster's physical attack does. Most unnamed attacks are physical.
- Defense: Reduces physical damage dealt to a monster.
- Special Attack: How much damage a monster's special attack does. Most named attacks are Special.
- Special Defense: Reduces special damage dealt to a monster.
- Speed: Affects turn order and evasion rate.
Status Conditions[edit]
All status conditions can be cured by items taking the form of seeds.
- Sleep/Freeze: Target is unable to move until it is hit.
- Paralysis: Target is unable to move.
- Poison: Decreases HP over time.
- Seal: Target cannot use skills (equivalent of Crystalization from other games).
- Confusion: Target will attack itself or allies, wears out after being hit. Warning: unlike in similar games such as Cyber Sleuth, confused monsters can use skills to attack your allies in this game!
Visual Novel[edit]
The Visual Novel sections of the game allow the player to speak to certain characters, interact with the scenery, pick up stat-increasing food items, or recruit monsters through Free Battles.
Takuma might interact with party members. When speaking to a party member, Takuma is provided with two to four possible responses. One of them is a "correct" response that grants one or more affinity point(s). The game gives no indications on the right response, so be sure to save the game before choosing a dialogue option in a conversation. If enough affinity points for a character is gathered and the story goes past a certain point, a Deep Woods event is unlocked, which allows the character's partner monster to evolve to their Perfect or Ultimate forms. This event only triggers once per session. Affinity points also affect certain other events in the story.
Takuma might also interact with the party's own monsters. Speaking to a monster tends to alter Takuma's Karma value.
The player might also choose to participate in a Free Battle. In a Free Battle, the player is pitted against a set of enemy monsters which are displayed before entering the battle. If the player does not like the monster selection, they can reshuffle it by placing a random monster and giving up the battle. The player might use Free Battles to grind for resources and experience, test out their own Digimon, or recruit new Digimon.
It is strongly recommended to recruit a variety of Free Digimon and raise them while playing through the game, as they gain experience faster and can be used to make up for sections where frequently used partner Digimon are unavailable or become extremely awkward to use.
Takuma might also scan empty fields using the camera. This usually results in an item or a special Free battle known as a Shadow Battle. Shadows might contain free Digimon that are otherwise difficult to recruit. To reset a Shadow Battle, simply return to the map before re-entering the area again. He might also scan certain maps for a Perceived Memory; unlike items or Shadow Battles, Perceived Memories do not provide any cues through the camera and must be scanned manually. When collected, they form a story about somebody who has entered the Kemonogami World ages past and died there. The endings of each Perceived Memory are hidden inside the Moral, Wrathful and Harmonious Routes. Collecting one set rewards the player with a powerful attachment skill.
There are two types of Visual Novel sections; Exploration or Free Action. In an Exploration section, Takuma has as much freedom as possible to explore his surroundings and speak to his allies, and the section will only end after triggering a certain event. In a Free Action section, Takuma only has a limited amount of actions available. Actions that consume a "turn" are marked with a hourglass icon, and usually include speaking to other characters. Once Takuma runs out of available actions, the section ends instantly. It is possible that Takuma might not be able to interact with every element available in the section, and there are events that trigger other events which also consume an extra action slot. There are also certain Free Action sections where the contents of the events shuffle or change completely after a certain amount of actions remain. Participating in a Free Battle, investigating the map or challenging Mugen Recollection does not spend an action slot.
After the player has cleared the game once, a challenge zone known as Mugen Recollection will appear on the map and can be accessed at nearly any time. The challenge pits the player against 30 waves of increasingly difficult enemies before resetting back to the first battle after the 30th. A powerful item is yielded once every 10 levels cleared.
Death[edit]
Human characters can die in this game, usually following a lengthy breakdown. If any party member dies in the game, their Kemonogami partner will be deleted for the rest of the playthrough, and any equipment the partner has will be returned to the player's inventory.
Partner monsters (and evolution)[edit]
Partner monsters are special monsters that accompany the survivors in their journey. These monsters are marked with their human partner's icon on the top right corner of their own icon. These Digimon have higher than average base stats compared to Free Monsters and are unique that they are always fielded in their Child forms but can be evolved into their higher forms in-battle.
To evolve a partner monster, go to the evolve tab and move all the way to the monster on the evolution tree that you want it to evolve into.
Evolving a Partner monster consumes a small amount of SP; the higher the evolution phase, the more SP it consumes. The same amount of SP used to evolve the Kemonogami will be consumed at the end of each turn. If an evolved partner runs out of SP, it will automatically revert back to its Child form.
To evolve a Free Monster, the player must spend an Evolution Slab item; Mature Enlightenment Slabs for Adult-levels, Perfect Enlightenment Slabs for Perfect-levels and Ultimate Enlightenment Slabs for Ultimate-levels. Slabs can be obtained through events or negotiating with monsters in Free Battles. Monsters that can be negotiated for Mature Evolution Slabs appear in Part 6 but do not become common until the Part 11 of the three common routes, although Takuma can get a free one in Part 2 through an event with Agumon and possibly more by driving away Fangmon encounters in the same chapter whenever they appear, and a couple free ones appear in Part 5 and Part 6. Monsters that can be negotiated for Perfect Enlightenment Slabs appear as soon as in Part 5 and becomes common at Part 6. Monsters that can be negotiated for Ultimate Enlightenment Slabs appear starting from the Part 11 of the three common routes, although a handful can be found slightly earlier on.
Only partner monsters can devolve; the player cannot reverse a free monster's evolution. Evolution also does not reset a free monster's level.
Karma[edit]
The Karma system is a major system in the game. Sometimes, a certain Karma point is given by speaking to other characters or responding to certain story events. Hovering onto a specific talk option with a Karma value inside it displays color cues on what Karma the dialogue choice is; red for Moral; yellow for Wrathful; and green for Harmonious.
If there is a tie in Karma, the order of dominance is Harmony > Wrathful > Moral.
Karma affects the following events:
- Agumon's Adult evolution during the boss fight in Part 1. The Evolution chosen is based on the highest Karma value Takuma has; highest Moral Karma yields Greymon, highest Wrathful Karma yields Tuskmon and highest Harmonious Karma yields Tyranomon.
- Agumon's Perfect evolution during the boss fight in Part 5. The Evolution chosen is based on the highest Karma value Takuma has; highest Moral Karma yields Metal Greymon, highest Wrathful Karma yields Megadramon and highest Harmonious Karma yields Triceramon.
- The recruitment rate of Free Digimon. When trying to recruit a Digimon, Takuma's dominant Karma increases its recruitment rate if it matches their type.
Save for the bad ending, the player can only choose the routes corresponding to the two most dominant Karma Takuma has. Each Route has its own items, unique Free Digimon, areas and story events. If the player enters the Wrathful and Harmonious routes, major characters will die and it will trigger another character to go completely insane, which causes a series of negative effects for that character, eventually resulting in their partner Digimon being deleted. Clearing the game in the Wrathful Route allows Aoi's Labramon to evolve into Plutomon and clearing the game in the Harmonious Route allows Kaito's Dracumon to evolve into Voltobautamon.
Truthful Route[edit]
During a New Game Plus, if Tominaga Ryo's affinity is the highest amongst all party members before the end of Part 3, Ryo, and later Shuuji, will survive the sections of the story where they usually die, and the game will follow a very different story path where all of the survivors are alive and usable. This route contains 13 chapters rather than the usual 12.
In the Truthful Route, "choosing routes" only affect Agumon's Perfect evolution during the boss fight at the end of Part 9. Choosing the option to enter the Moral route yields War Greymon, choosing the option to enter the Wrathful route yields Mugendramon, and choosing the option to enter the Harmonious route yields Dinorexmon.
All enemies in the Truthful Route have significantly higher levels compared to their common route counterparts; while enemies from other routes cap levels at around 40 to 50, the Truthful Route starts with enemies at around level 43 during Part 9 and quickly skyrocket all the way to level 83 to 99 at Part 12 and Part 13.
The Truthful Route unlocks the Four Holy Beasts as it progresses and allows Takuma's Agumon to evolve into Fanglongmon upon completion.
Characters[edit]
Main Characters[edit]
- Momotsuka Takuma
- Shibuya Aoi
- Hinata Minoru
- Tominaga Ryo
- Kimishima Saki
- Kayama Shuuji
- Shinonome Kaito
- Shinonome Miu
- Minase Akiharu
- Minase Miyuki
Other Characters[edit]
Antagonists[edit]
- Dokugumon
- Fangmon
- Archnemon
- Cyclomon
- Monzaemon
- Mega Seadramon
- Pinochimon
- Plutomon
- Piemon (+ Vamdemon > Voltobautamon)
- Minase Haruchika
- Kenzoku
Monsters[edit]
Obtainable Monsters[edit]
- Andiramon (Deva)
- Andromon
- Angewomon
- Archnemon
- Atlur Kabuterimon (Red)
- Blossomon
- Blue Meramon
- Cerberumon
- Delumon
- Etemon
- Garudamon
- Gigadramon
- Holy Angemon
- Jewelbeemon
- Lilimon
- Marin Devimon
- Megadramon
- Megalo Growmon1
- Mega Seadramon
- Mermaimon
- Metal Greymon
- Monzaemon
- Okuwamon
- Panjyamon
- Skull Greymon
- Taomon
- Triceramon
- Vamdemon
- Were Garurumon
- Yatagaramon
- Zudomon
- Anubimon
- Baihumon2 3
- Bancho Stingmon
- Beelzebumon
- Ceresmon
- Ceresmon Medium2
- Cherubimon (Virtue)
- Dinorexmon
- Dukemon1
- Gran Kuwagamon
- Herakle Kabuterimon
- Holydramon
- Huanglongmon2 3
- Hououmon
- Marin Angemon
- Metal Garurumon
- Metal Seadramon
- Mugendramon
- Piemon
- Pinochimon
- Plesiomon
- Plutomon
- Qinglongmon2 3
- Rosemon
- Saber Leomon
- Sakuyamon
- Sakuyamon: Miko Mode
- Seraphimon
- Spinomon
- War Greymon
- Valdurmon
- Voltobautamon
- Xuanwumon2 3
- Zhuqiaomon2 3
- Available as pre-order DLC bonus. Also available in the digital Month 1 Edition.
- Only available as a partner Monster.
- Only available in New Game+.
Unobtainable Monsters[edit]
Bosses[edit]
Bosses that unlock new party members and/or new evolutions are marked with an asterisk.
Most bosses are programmed to wait for the player's monsters to approach them before attacking and will not actively go after them. If there is an event cutscene during the boss battle, then the boss also likely cannot be killed before the cutscene is triggered.
- The following appears in all common routes:
- The following appears in the Moral route:
- Amusement Park Kenzoku* (castle rooftop)
- Library Kenzoku*
- Pinocchimon*
- Miyuki (Kenzoku)*
- Master
- The following appears in the Wrathful route:
- Amusement Park Kenzoku* (ground floor)
- Library Kenzoku*
- Piemon (Third Encounter)
- Plutomon (first encounter)
- Plutomon (second encounter)
- Plutomon (Fusion) > Plutomon (third encounter)
- The following appears in the Harmonious route:
- Amusement Park Kenzoku* (ground floor)
- Library Kenzoku*
- Voltobautamon
- Voltobautamon (second encounter)
Master> Voltobautamon (Fusion)
- The following appears in the Truthful Route:
- Mega Seadramon*
- Baihumon*
- Taomon & Second Island shrine Kenzoku
- Xuanwumon
- Qinglongmon*
- Zhuqiaomon
- Master, Super Ultimate Kenzoku 3rd Rank (Plutomon) & Super Ultimate Kenzoku 3rd Rank (Voltobautamon) > Huanglongmon: Ruin Mode
Image Gallery[edit]
Promo[edit]
Staff[edit]
| Position | Name | Kanji/Kana |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Hyde | 株式会社ハイド |
| Producer(s) | Habu Kazumasa | 羽生 和正 |
| Character Design | Ukumo Uiti | 浮雲宇一 |
| Music | Miyoshi Tomoki | 三好智己 |
Theme Song[edit]
- Title: Kizuna (絆)
- Artist: Tanimura Nana (谷村奈南)
Reception[edit]
Famitsu gave Digimon Survive a good Score of 8/8/9/7 [32/40]
Trivia[edit]
- Digimon Survive is the first Digimon game to be released on Xbox One.
- This is the first ever Digimon game to get a simultaneous Worldwide release (with only a one day difference).
- This is the final Digimon Game directly supervised by Habu Kazumasa prior to his retirement from producing Digimon games in April, 2023.
- With the exception of Tominaga Ryo and Minase Akiharu, the main characters in the game seems to be based on the Digimon Adventure Chosen Children, many of them even being similar in terms of appearance or attire.
External Links[edit]
Additional Information[edit]
| Digimon Survive | |
| Main Characters | Momotsuka Takuma • Shibuya Aoi • Hinata Minoru • Tominaga Ryo • Kimishima Saki • Kayama Shuuji • Shinonome Kaito • Shinonome Miu |
| Partner Kemonogami | Agumon • Labramon • Falcomon • Kunemon • Floramon • Lopmon • Dracumon • Shakomon |
| Supporting Characters | Minase Akiharu • Garurumon • Minase Miyuki • Renamon • Jijimon • Minase Yukiha |
| Antagonists | Archnemon • Piemon • Master • Minase Haruchika |
| Terms | Kemonogami • Kenzoku |
| Related | List of Characters • Kizuna (song) |