6 Digimon Games To Play While Waiting For Digimon Survive

While Digimon Survive doesn’t have a confirmed release date, there are plenty of other Digimon games in the franchise to check out before it arrives.

Digimon Survive is the upcoming survival RPG that promises to take the Digimon franchise in a darker direction than previous installments. Featuring a unique blend of tactical RPG elements with a visual novel styled narrative, Digimon Survive looks set to offer a unique experience compared to the rest of the games in the series.

Over the years, Digimon has become known for its versatile game adaptations as it spans numerous genres like RPGs, dungeon crawlers, racing games, fighters and more. Though Digimon Survive will explore a new style of gameplay, there are plenty of other Digimon games that showcase the franchise at its best and fans won’t want to miss these titles.

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Updated April 3, 2022 by Mark Sammut: Digimon Survive still does not have a release date, although the game’s development seems to be moving forward steadily. Still, more than four years have passed since the last Digimon game was released in Western countries, so the wait has been quite a long one for fans of the franchise. While maybe not as acclaimed as some other RPG licenses, Digimon has produced plenty of stellar games over the years, some of which can help pass the time until Survive hits the market.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition

Release Date

October 18, 2019

Studio

Media.Vision

Platforms

• Nintendo Switch
• Microsoft Windows
• PlayStation 4 (Cyber Sleuth & Hacker’s Memory are available separately)
• PlayStation Vita (Cyber Sleuth & Hacker’s Memory are available separately)

While Digimon has constantly evolved over the years, it wasn’t until Digimon Story that the franchise decided to place more emphasis on the narrative together with the monster-collection mechanics. The Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth duology has players assume the role of a cyber detective or hacker as they navigate the digital world to uncover a mystery.

The turn-based battle system is one of the most refined in the Digimon franchise and there are hundreds of Digimon to train and collect. Fans waiting for Digimon Survive should try the Cyber Sleuth games to see how the franchise has shifted its focus towards narrative-driven titles.

Digimon World 3

Release Date

June 5, 2002

Studio

Boom

Platform

PlayStation 1

Despite its initial lukewarm reviews, Digimon World 3 has retained a dedicated fanbase over the years and remains a classic RPG for the original PlayStation. Digimon World 3 took a different direction from both of its predecessors by shifting towards a JRPG style of gameplay that does not heavily revolve around catching new Digimon.

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Players navigate an overworld while randomly battling against wild Digimon as the main character becomes trapped in an online MMORPG when terrorists attack. Digimon World 3 greatly refined the mechanics of the earlier games and remains a testament to how well the digivolution mechanics could be developed.

Digimon World: Re:Digitize & Decode

Release Date

July 19, 2012 (Japan Only)

Studio

tri-Crescendo

Platforms

• PlayStation Portable (Digimon World Re:Digitize)
• Nintendo 3DS (Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode)

Digmon World: Re:Digitize is easily one of the best games in the franchise due to the way it modernized many of the mechanics and paved the way for the success of the Digimon Story series. Based on the mechanics of the original Digmon World game, there is an emphasis on real-time combat as well modernizing the virtual pet mechanics of training, raising, and feeding. Unfortunately, the game has never seen a release outside of Japan despite a massive online campaign for its localization. As a result, players will need to use a fan-made translation patch to experience the game.

Nonetheless, Digmon World: Re:Digitize stands out from its predecessors and is a fundamental reason that the Digimon series has experienced a resurgence in the past few years. In 2013, an enhanced version of the game called Re:Digitize Decode was released on the Nintendo 3DS.

Digimon World: Next Order

Release Date

January 30, 2017

Studio

B.B. Studio

Platforms

• PlayStation 4 (International Edition)
• PlayStation Vita

Digimon World: Next Order builds off the success of Japanese-exclusive Digimon World: Re:Digitize by incorporating open-world mechanics together with standard RPG elements. Similar to previous games such as Digimon World, Next Order mostly comprises of raising Digimon through battles or interactions, and it features two partners instead of one. It also featured an interesting AI battle system where Digimon mostly fought in real-time on their own while players could issue commands or give them items.

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Though Next Order’s story is weaker than other games, Digimon Survive fans will find the strategic combat system quite interesting. As it does not seem like the upcoming title focuses on raising Digimon, fans can turn to Next Order to experience this side of the franchise.

Digimon World Dawn/Dusk

Release Date

September 18, 2007

Studio

Namco Bandai Games

Platform

Nintendo DS

Digmon World Dawn and Digimon World Dusk are beloved by fans for its additions to the monster-collecting mechanics as well as the introduction of brand new Digimon. While its story was lackluster and the localization could be hit or miss, Digimon World Dawn/Dusk brought exciting new changes to the DigiFarm, digivolutions, and multiplayer mode. Though many of the mechanics weren’t revolutionary by any means, Digimon World Dawn/Dusk helped streamline them for a more modernized approach.

Digimon World Dawn/Dusk laid the foundation for the digivolution system seen in Cyber Sleuth, and the earlier version of this mechanic was already deep and addictive. Although they did not set the world on fire, these titles were bright spots during an era when Digimon was struggling to hit the mark when it came to games.

Digimon Adventure

Release Date

January 17, 2013 (Japan Only)

Studio

Prope

Platform

PlayStation Portable

In March 2022, Bandai Namco released a teaser trailer highlighting Digimon Survive’s main characters and their partners. The video’s somber music reinforces that the upcoming game will likely have a mature and dark tone, two things the franchise has sporadically explored throughout its history. In fact, the original Digimon Adventure anime has its share of intense moments, and the same can be said for its sequel, Digimon Adventure Tri.

Despite the anime’s popularity, it has rarely served as direct inspiration for the games. The one proper adaptation, 2013’s Digimon Adventure, never made its way out of Japan, which is a shame as it one of the better turn-based RPGs in the series. Combining a streamlined version of the anime’s story with original character-driven short episodes, Digimon Adventure is a treat for fans who grew up with the show that helped put the franchise on the map.

Digimon Survive is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One.

MORE: Games You Can Play While You Wait For Digimon Survive