Reviewed on: PS4

Since the 90s, monster franchises have been born and have grown in popular culture. The biggest of all, Pokémon, has always been rivaled by the Digimon series, which bet on a less childish style to attract a different audience instead of trying to go head-to-head with Nintendo’s giant.

Today, 20 years after the birth of that rivalry, Digimon is still going strong. The franchise still spawns several anime series and, more recently, a new sub-series of quality games, both in story and in gameplay.

Narrative: 9

Mechanics: 9

Digimon SCS:HM is a JRPG based on controlling teams of creatures that you can acquire and train. There is an immense variety of monsters, all based on Digimon introduced over years of the animated series. Each of the 700 Digimon has a type and an element:

• Types: Data, which is strong against Vaccine, which is strong against Virus, which is strong against Data. Outside this triangle, there is also the Free type, which is neither strong nor weak against any other type.
• Elements: There are two Effectiveness triangles, Fire-Water-Plant and Electric-Earth-Wind. There is also Light-Dark, which are effective against each other, and a Neutral element, which has no special relationship with any other element.

Type advantage is always active, and can double or halve the damage of all attacks. Each move has a different element, and elemental advantage can multiply damage by 1.5x. So the right combination of types and elements can even triple an attack’s power!

Combat is between teams of up to 3 members each, and is turn-based. You can see the order of upcoming actions (influenced by the fighters’ speed), but keep in mind that some attacks can delay or advance your digimon’s next action! Each turn you can perform one of several available commands: Attack, Defend, Use Item, Swap with a Reserve Digimon (there is room for 8 Reserves besides the 3 main Fighters) or use a Special Attack, which consumes SP.

The game’s most interesting and deep mechanic is the creature progression system. Each Digimon has a collection of attributes and moves, and upon reaching certain prerequisites (such as level, minimum value in an attribute, knowing a move) you can digivolve (or “evolve”) your monster into a new form with greater potential. You can also de-digivolve your Digimon to a previous form, inheriting abilities and part of the developed attributes. This way, you can explore the enormous evolutionary trees of each Digimon and still have the satisfaction of perfecting your team.

The game is rich in mechanics and details, showing enormous care and polish. There are online battles, farms to raise your critters, development of new items and equipment, hacker powers to alter the digital world and a vast range of further options that enrich the gameplay experience. You aren’t required to use them all, and that gives you the flexibility to find the playstyle that best fits your taste.

Audiovisual: 9

The art direction is spot on, delivering the experience of an interactive anime. The look of the digital monsters is very carefully done, keeping high fidelity to what is shown in the animated series. The characters have original, charismatic designs and have all their dialogue voiced (!), which further reinforces the impression of playing an interactive episode of Digimon.

The music does a competent job of setting the mood and reinforcing the emotion each scene tries to convey, but several of the loops are far too short… Which can make the soundtrack repetitive and even tiresome.

Final thoughts

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Hacker’s Memory is a very attractive game for any fan of the anime, JRPG lover in general or anyone looking for a monster-raising/battling game that departs from the rigid formula established by Pokémon in favor of more depth and diversity in its mechanics.

With charismatic characters, high fidelity to the style of the animated series and several well-executed ideas, this is a game that is easy to please all audiences!

Score

Narrative = 9

Mechanics = 9

Audiovisual = 9

Overall: 9.0

PlayStation 4 version