Sometimes a game takes you by surprise. I mean, I’m not of the generation that waged the battle of choice between Pokémon and Digimon. If you’d asked me two years ago if I was a Pokémon fan or a Digimon fan I wouldn’t even have hesitated to answer. It was Pokémon for me, all the way. I knew all about Pokémon; not from watching the television show myself, but by catching bits and pieces of it while my daughter watched the series when she was young.
Digimon wasn’t a series that my daughter watched, maybe because it wasn’t girly enough for her at the time. The monsters looked more dinosaur-like, more menacing, and in many cases less cutesy, which would have been enough for her to flip over to another channel. When I played Pokémon Platinum and met the little monsters for the first time, it wasn’t weird to me. Before I knew it I was able to use Poké-Speak like a pro. Digimon though, was very alien to me.
Over the years there have been a variety of Digimon games spanning many genres, varying from RPGs to card games to MMOs. But fans were eagerly awaiting the release of the new generation of Digimon games and in February 2016 their patience was rewarded: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth was released for the PS4 and PS Vita in America and Europe.
I had seen it announced, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. That is, until some of my gaming friends bought it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a high regard for their gaming opinions and I felt I couldn’t go wrong, although I knew hardly anyting about Digimon monsters. In hindsight I was right in trusting them! I was pleasantly surprised by the game, and had a ton of fun playing it on my PS Vita.
I can safely say that, after that introduction to the Digimon world, Digimon has found another fan in me. I didn’t regret for one moment that I downloaded the game on a whim, and I have been on the lookout for any new Digimon game that’s released. Now, my wish is granted: the new installment Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker’s Memory is coming West! 
As in the first game, the story is totally with the times again: it starts out with Keisuke Amazawa being a victim of identity theft after his EDEN Account, used as an access key to cyberspace and as personal identification, got hacked. In order find the person responsible and to prove himself innocent of the account phishing incident, he becomes a hacker and begins his investigation in cyberspace. And you investigate right with him!
The game will come to PS4 and the PS Vita in Europe and America on January 19 2018.
Pre-order bonuses have been revealed too, though I’m not sure if it will be for the Vita version as well:
In addition to the release date, pre-order bonuses for the game have been revealed. Those who commit to a copy will get four extra costumes and Digimon. The additional items are:
- Beelzebumon Emblem T-Shirt
- Crusadermon NX
- Inoden School Attire
- Leopardmon NX
- Omnimon NX
- Sistermon Ciel and Blanc
- Summer Camp T-Shirt
- V. Uchida Costume
By that time I will have to dust off the Vita again. A good game to look forward to!
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth is by far my favorite Digimon game, and I played the older ones like Digimon World and Battle. I hope this sequel is even better! I enjoyed reading your story about you and your daughter coming to Digimon. I still think Pokemon has better games, but Digimon Story has a great old-school RPG feel that I don’t see too much anymore. Have you played Digimon Links for mobile?
No I haven’t. To tell you the truth, I loved Cyber Sleuth but not for the reason most people love Digimon. Most battles I did in auto-mode, lol. The randomness sometimes really got on my nerve, not being able to move without landing in another battle. But the story, and the scenery. Loved it!
Ooh! I particularly loved the Tokyo locales!
Me too! Like you are really there!
My wife and I visited Japan shortly after playing through Digimon Story, and we were like “Hey! It’s that area from Digimon!” Hahaha. And funny enough, the first Digimon anime takes place in Odaiba. So when we visited that, it was like a true Digimon nostalgia overload!
So cool! We always tend to enjoy such memories in familiar places too. Much closer to home of course, but when we visit London we always tend to go see the places we know from Sherlock!
Ahh that’s awesome! I love it!!