During the mid 90’s there was the major war between consoles, as Sega, Sony and Nintendo were in constant battle as they fought for the top spot. In the other mainstream arena we had anime, and the two biggest names that resonated with many during that era were Pokémon and Digimon. Pokémon had a head start as it was released in 1996, with Digimon taking off just before the beginning of the new millennium in March of 1999.

The two struck a chord with many fans and for a long time, many thought Digimon would soon fall to the wayside, while Pokémon continued to overshadow the series due to its mammoth popularity. However, the beauty about Digimon is that many of the characters felt real, and fans felt that the series provided a more organic emotional experience. Fast forward to today and both franchises still continue to thrive, with Digimon expanding its narrative and giving fans more to offer with regards to Digimon selection, new characters, and new paths to discover.
So this brings us to Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Complete Edition, the title that brings both worlds together for new and old players to enjoy. Those who have dabbled with Cyber Sleuth but haven’t played Hacker’s Memory can now do so in one package, and entirely new players have the best of both worlds!

A little backstory before jumping in.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory is the sequel to Cyber Sleuth, which released back in 2015 and places more emphasis on creating a new narrative, while still sharing locations and elements from the original that made it shine. Players looking to uncover new types of Digimon will be pleased to know that Hacker’s Memory expands upon the current roster of Digimon, encouraging players to do more collecting. The battle system is still turn-based while the exploration portion still remains linear in its design. With a fresh new story to be told, and more secrets to discover, is Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Complete Edition the game fans have been waiting for? Keep reading to find out!

Much of the action in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Complete Edition takes place in the real world of Tokyo, but has players traveling through the digital world of EDEN to uncover more about hacking and how if affects not only humans but the lives of Digimon as well. The stories have different protagonists along with their respective roles within the narrative, but both provide a very interesting take on the Digimon universe in cyberspace EDEN.

Much like Cyber Sleuth, Hacker’s Memory takes on a more realistic approach, giving characters more emotion and relatability. The overall environmental design is stellar in regards to how in-game Tokyo accurately reflects that of the actual location itself, albeit some store name changes to avoid any conflict. The digital cyberspace that is EDEN is also put together very nicely and helps to create this beautiful contrast between the real world and the digital one. Players will likely find themselves absorbed in all of the action as the Digimon in battle are animated superbly, with each Digimon having their own distinct characteristics that make them cool to watch. Overall animations are well designed but it’s clear that there are some areas which require fine tuning, such as lip syncing.

While we certainly can praise the story, gameplay, and vivid visuals that help to create a wonderful world to travel around, both games seem to struggle in the sound department. Much of the music in the game of course tries to maintain harmony with its very futuristic setting, but falls short due to its repetitiveness and bland delivery. The music in the game could have certainly been better, perhaps taking some elements from real life artists, and then adding cool elements behind it. The generic sounding music felt more like a distraction and didn’t really help to add emotion to the game, which in itself is fantastic. Creating a different mixture of sounds would’ve been awesome, like adding futuristic rock or upbeat techno during battles, then perhaps some soothing house music as you wander around both the real world and EDEN.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Complete Edition is truly the best combination you could possibly make for Digimon fans. Both games are superb in their own right and do a stellar job of creating a world that both humans and Digimon can thrive in. Every character you encounter carries their own burden which helps to create a strong and impactful story, rather than just a thrown together piece that doesn’t serve any purpose. Tie that in with spectacular turn-based gameplay and you have an amazing RPG on the Switch.

The way in which you can utilize multiple Digimon on the fly is awesome, and as you progress through the game you can increase your party size via Party Memory chips. This in a way, creates a unique challenge early on in the game since you’re quite limited to how many Digimon you can carry, so it encourages you to be mindful of your strategy when engaging in battles. Now of course this can be seen as a negative for some players, since having a limited party can create some problems if you aren’t careful, but also limits the amount of variety in terms of counter play and safety precautions.

Early in the game you start off with 20, with each increment of your memory increasing by 5 over time. In most cases you can carry around 4 depending on how much memory your Digimon takes up, but as mentioned before you’ll be able to carry more later.

The game pushes you to be critical of your selection and not just going after your favorite Digimon to fill the void, since it may not always work in your favor. Another thing to be mindful of aren’t just attributes but also affinities and so now it’s not just about Vaccine versus Virus, but now players must take into consideration the various elements. This of course is a quintessential aspect of RPGs and so it makes sense to incorporate into the Digimon world, and it does an excellent job of doing so.

Be that as it may, both games do suffer from some depth, and by that we mean things often felt too linear in regards to the direction players were headed. This isn’t saying that linear games are bad but we wish the series would expand more on just where we could travel, giving players more freedom rather than locking us into specific locations. Having a linear story is great since you don’t have to concern yourself with how things turn out, but the overall adventure portion of the game would be considerably better if we could do more. Let us travel by train, or by bike, or hop on one of our Digimon and let them fly us to the next destination. Things like these are what we mean by creating more freedom and allowing for a more open world, especially since the amount of Digimon you can find has expanded.

In the end, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Complete Edition is the culmination of two amazing games in one package. That’s a huge plus for us since it allows you to play through either game at your own pace, and having that option to choose is key. Some players may have already finished one and so having the other right there waiting for you, without having to pay extra, is a smart move by Bandai Namco and we praise that. The gameplay serves the series well and as mentioned, we hope the series can expand upon this by allowing for more freedom in all areas. Improve the music and sound while continuing to deliver with an impactful story that keeps us engaged. If there’s ever going to be a new title then hopefully these additions will be implemented!

Until next time!