Joe Hamilton

Going to start by stating I love both the Digimon franchise and visual novel games, so this is right up my alley. I can understand the criticism, Digimon Survive is unlike any other Digimon game that has been produced so far, and won't appeal to everyone, but that is part of its charm. The story is fantastic, all of the endings are varied and interesting in different ways, there is value in replaying for that extra story. The cast of digimon, though relatively small compared to other digimon games, feel like there's enough. I cannot overstate that is a visual novel first, and tactical rpg second, however the mechanics of the battles are smooth and easy to navigate. There is also the option to free battle at any time, so if you feel like there has been too much dislogue, you can take a break to battle and train up. The story elements are fantastic, the only criticism I have is that the main divergence point for the ending is 2/3 of the way into the game, so you have to grind through another playthrough if you want to get back to that choice. With the dialogue skip option, the time is cut down massively, but there are still the battles to grind through. Dialogue choices can sometimes seem random and arbitrary, and do have effects on the gameplay, as the ultimate/mega evolutions of the other characters are locked behind affection. It does get easier on subsequent playthroughs, but it can be frustrating, on my first playthrough, I only managed to get 2 of the other characters digimon to mega, and felt like the rest had to be benched, as the later enemies were too strong for them. Overall, its a strong showing. I personally love the game, and would recommend to anyone who is a fan of the franchise, and/or visual novel games.