Though it’s had a fairly prolonged and seemingly troubled development, Bandai Namco’sDigimon Survivefinally seems to have been immunized against any further delays. The game is slated to launch on July 29, and it looks to be a hugely important new chapter for the long-lasting monster-taming franchise.
To celebrate the occasion and give players another good look at whatDigimon Survivereally is, Bandai Namco has just released a special launch day trailer for the game. While it doesn’t necessarily offer any truly groundbreaking news aboutSurvive, it serves as a good reminder of the fact that the game may be one of the darker chapters of the saga, and that it may entirely forego its occasionally cheery disposition.
RELATED:Digimon Survive Explains the Game’s Karma System
Digimon Surviveis one of the main reasons whythis is an excellent week for JRPG fans. Being one of the most eagerly awaited titles in this genre,Survivehas some big shoes to fill, and it remains unclear at this time whether the game could possibly live up to its hype. It was first announced in 2018, only to suffer several major delays and a change of developer, to boot. At its core, the game is a mix of a visual novel and a turn-based strategy title, and it’s been presented as a somber and serious entry to theDigimonfranchise. This puts it at odds with other monster-taming IPs, such asPokemon.
Specifically, it has been outright stated thatsome characters will die inDigimon Survive, and the general tone of Bandai Namco’s pre-release materials for the game has been notably grim. This isn’t necessarily unprecedented forDigimon, it’s worth pointing out, but it implies that the franchise may be competing with an entirely different competitor thanPokemonat this point, asSurvivelooks more similar to aPersonagame than anything else at this point.
Fans have got some interesting changes to the core gameplay formula to look forward to, as well.Digimon Survivehas greatly altered Digivolution, which is the in-universe process of temporarily changing a creature’s form into something more suited for the given situation. There’s a great degree of freedom present in how players change and interact with their creatures, though this seems to correlate somehow to the choices made during the game’s main story.
Bandai Namco previously released aDigimon Survivetrailer highlighting the game’s cast, which should provide additional context for total newcomers to the IP. Most of them have already been established in previous media, which is what makesSurvive’s attempt at revitalizing the IP as something new and exciting particularly interesting.
Digimon Surviveis scheduled to launch on July 29 for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
