Bandai Namco Provides Digimon Survive Update

During its online Digimon Con event, Bandai Namco provided a new update on the status of tactical RPG Digimon Survive. The information came as part of a Q&A session with producer Kazumasa Habu.

The first piece of news is that there currently is not a release date for the game — which is planned to release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch — as a result of its development being transferred to a new studio, HYDE. Kazumasa Habu also reiterated that the game’s story is intended to be darker than traditional Digimon properties and appeal to the franchise’s adult fans.

Digimon Survive will be a mixture of text adventure style storytelling and tactical combat, with about a 7:3 respective content ratio. The text adventure portions will include “free expedition” sections where players have a limited number of actions available, with in-game time passing as they move between locations. In these, players talk to friends to improve their relationships or undertake events that can cause their Digimon to Digivolve. There are also free battles where players can level up or make friends with wild Digimon, as well as opportunities to find hidden items.

The text adventure part will also include “exploration” sections that line up with the game’s story and require players to move around, converse with others, and investigate certain locations. Players can switch between examining places with the naked eye or their phone camera, the latter letting them see things that are otherwise invisible. Sometimes players might come across monsters that will attack them and start combat.

The tactical combat is turn-based and will let players field up to ten units depending on the battle. Turn order is based on individual unit speed, and attack power is affected by multiple elements including attack direction, height differential, creature species, and attack attributes. Monsters use SP, which recovers automatically each turn, for special attacks and to Digivolve. Once Digivolved, a monster will continuously use SP to maintain that form.

A playthrough of Digimon Survive is split into twelve chapters, with the story branching at chapter eight. There are three story routes available in the first playthrough — “Morality”, “Harmony”, and “Rage” — with a fourth hidden route unlocked after the game is completed once. It is expected that the first playthrough will take players around 40 hours and there will be a New Game+ option. The game will also include four difficulty levels but will not include any multiplayer modes.