I'm so glad this game got people into Digimon.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the long-awaited Digimon Monster Taming JRPG featuring the Digital World: Iliad, an alternate Digital World inspired by Greek and Roman myths. The mechanics isn't as unique as its contemporaries (especially compared to non-MonColle JRPGs) but the story beats are Digimon, for better or worse (played on Normal Difficulty).

Note:
Unlike Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth/Hacker's Memory, Digimon do not have species-exclusive base stats nor abilities, they do have at least one (up to three) signature skills unique to them. It lets you play with virtually any Digimon with little to no differences in casual play. This plays a little more like Digimon Story games from the DS Era (Digimon World DS, Digimon World Dawn/Dusk included).

What I like about the game:
- Casual play experience is challenging enough whilst still being fair, given I have not touched Mega/Mega+ difficulties.
- Attachment Skills are way less of a hassle to get compared to Cyber Sleuth.
- The Digital World is the liveliest it's ever been in the Story games, and you get to be in it for a good chunk of the story too!
- The general story feels mature, bonus points for respecting Greek Myths to some degree for its writing.
- QoL features like EXP sharing with your ENTIRE BOX.
- A good chunk of the 100 or so New and Returning Digimon alike not seen in Cyber Sleuth/Hacker's Memory before feels like actually substantial additions and not haphazardly picked to fill the roster (Examples include the Olympos XII, BeelStarmon, Parallelmon (DLC), Callismon and even brand new additions like Sharkmon and SkullSeadramon).

What could be better about the game:
- Reserve Digimon being capped at 3 again feels backwards from Cyber Sleuth in some ways.
- Despite the QoLs, DigiFarm still feels like it could be better.
- The story feels a little bit predictable with its direction, and that's besides being based on Greek Myths.
- Digimon from after Last Evolution Kizuna doesn't look like they'll appear any time soon unless there IS a season pack 2 (RIP Gammamon line dreams)
- Some older Digimon you'd think would be in the game are still NOT in the game (Looking at Much of Digimon Frontiers, Rafflesimon and Aegisdramon for example; easiest DNA Digivolution add-ons).
- 1st wave of DLC Digimon Roster has 3 OMEGAMON. WHY?! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A SLOT FOR OTHER DIGIMON LIKE BLOOMLORDMON.
- Speaking of DLCs, they're overpriced.

All in all, this game is a great Digimon experience for first timers and Digimon fans alike, however if you're really deep into Digimon you'll feel the roster not being as good as expected of a 2025 release. Not sure if it'd be a great JRPG experience though, since my reference point in non-moncolle JRPGs are pretty limited.

I'm so glad this game got people into Digimon. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the long-awaited Digimon Monster Taming JRPG featuring the Digital World: Iliad, an alternate Digital World inspired by Greek and Roman myths. The mechanics isn't as unique as its contemporaries (especially compared to non-MonColle JRPGs) but the story beats are Digimon, for better or worse (played on Normal Difficulty). Note: Unlike Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth/Hacker's Memory, Digimon do not have species-exclusive base stats nor abilities, they do have at least one (up to three) signature skills unique to them. It lets you play with virtually any Digimon with little to no differences in casual play. This plays a little more like Digimon Story games from the DS Era (Digimon World DS, Digimon World Dawn/Dusk included). What I like about the game: - Casual play experience is challenging enough whilst still being fair, given I have not touched Mega/Mega+ difficulties. - Attachment Skills are way less of a hassle to get compared to Cyber Sleuth. - The Digital World is the liveliest it's ever been in the Story games, and you get to be in it for a good chunk of the story too! - The general story feels mature, bonus points for respecting Greek Myths to some degree for its writing. - QoL features like EXP sharing with your ENTIRE BOX. - A good chunk of the 100 or so New and Returning Digimon alike not seen in Cyber Sleuth/Hacker's Memory before feels like actually substantial additions and not haphazardly picked to fill the roster (Examples include the Olympos XII, BeelStarmon, Parallelmon (DLC), Callismon and even brand new additions like Sharkmon and SkullSeadramon). What could be better about the game: - Reserve Digimon being capped at 3 again feels backwards from Cyber Sleuth in some ways. - Despite the QoLs, DigiFarm still feels like it could be better. - The story feels a little bit predictable with its direction, and that's besides being based on Greek Myths. - Digimon from after Last Evolution Kizuna doesn't look like they'll appear any time soon unless there IS a season pack 2 (RIP Gammamon line dreams) - Some older Digimon you'd think would be in the game are still NOT in the game (Looking at Much of Digimon Frontiers, Rafflesimon and Aegisdramon for example; easiest DNA Digivolution add-ons). - 1st wave of DLC Digimon Roster has 3 OMEGAMON. WHY?! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A SLOT FOR OTHER DIGIMON LIKE BLOOMLORDMON. - Speaking of DLCs, they're overpriced. All in all, this game is a great Digimon experience for first timers and Digimon fans alike, however if you're really deep into Digimon you'll feel the roster not being as good as expected of a 2025 release. Not sure if it'd be a great JRPG experience though, since my reference point in non-moncolle JRPGs are pretty limited.