The Digimon Survive suffered from multiple delays due to the development staff changing from Witchcraft to Hyde, in addition to complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the long-running Digimon franchise has always dipped its toes into some surprisingly dark and mature themes, the developers behind Digimon Survive have promised a much more serious experience than past Digimon titles. The plot centers around a group of teenagers who find themselves transported to a mysterious parallel world filled with strange digital life forms. Some of these creatures pose a serious threat to the youths as they try to figure out how to return home, as shown in the most recent Digimon Survive story trailer. Luckily, players will befriend and train their own Digimon partners to defend them through turn-based battles, and it appears the guardian monsters will be shaped by the many difficult choices players will make along the way.
Earlier today, the official PlayStation website posted an article by Bandai Namco Entertainment America Associate Manager of Digital Marketing John Liao that goes into detail about Digimon Survive’s choice-based Karma system. As noted by Digimon Survive producer Kazumasa Habu during the recent Anime Expo Summer Showcase, this system will shape how the “visual novel’s” story plays out and what alternate forms the player’s partner Digimon will take throughout this dark journey through the Digital World.
During conversations and other narrative prompts, main protagonist Takuma Momozuka will have a choice between three different approaches to dialogue: Moral, the yellow-colored option on the top of the dialogue tree that focuses on sacrifice and justice - and pushes his partner Agumon toward the Vaccine attribute, Harmony, the green-colored choice on the right that is centered around comparison and compromise - and draws the player’s Digimon partner toward the Data attribute, and Wrathful, the bold and direct option that is represented by a red choice on the left and drives the partner Digimon toward the Virus attribute. These three attributes determine what enemy Digimon the player will be strong or weak against in battle, and the choices Takuma makes will steer players toward one of several possible alternate endings. A brief snippet of gameplay footage posted on the official PlayStation Twitter demonstrates Digimon Survive’s karma system in action.
Digimon Survive’s karma-based system is relatively new to the Digimon games, but it fits quite well with the overall themes of the franchise. In anime adaptations like Digimon Adventure and Digimon Tamers, human leads like Tai and Takato are shown to trigger terrifying alternate Digivolutions in their partner Digimon in moments of rage or recklessness, only for them to take on their more heroic, true forms once the humans act more genuine later on.
It could be possible for players to have a similar experience during Digimon Survive, as the game's karma system will shape not only the path that the harrowing story takes but the different Digimon evolutions that players can take command of. Fans won't have to wait much longer to see how their choices will play out, as Digimon Survive will finally launch across all major platforms on July 29, 2022.
Source: PlayStation/Twitter, PlayStation.com
