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- Digimon World DS
Digimon World DS
- November 13, 2006 12:09 PM PST
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Does "Gotta Catch 'Em All" sound familiar? Well, that's not the game we're talking about here, but it has the same premise.
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Although Digimon might evoke images of the creators ripping-off and milking the Pokemon franchise, that doesn't stop the fearless authors of Digimon from venturing forth with Digimon World DS.
What Happened to Your Parents, Anyhow?
First things first, the game starts out with you, the arbitrary male or female trainer wandering into your school's computer lab, lamenting aloud about the fuss around this "Digimon" thing. All the cool kids are doing it, why aren't you? Then, after stumbling upon the Digimon website, you are literally sucked into the computer you're using and your monster-collecting madness begins. Your character doesn't even wonder why the heck she's in this world and doesn't worry about getting home in time for dinner.
"Digi" Is Not Overkill of a Prefix. Or Is It?
The top screen is a surveillance camera of the DigiFarm; your Digimon may do or say things to level up, which can be mildly entertaining.
Just like past Digimon games, you are on the monster-collecting grind in the form of an RPG. Start out with a couple low-level Digimon, and collect the rest by Digiconverting your Digimon. There are more than 230 Digimon you can collect- which include Digivolved forms of Digimon.
Minute details aside, there are several features that set this particular addition aside from its predecessors. First of all, there's the newly added DigiFarm system, where you can store Digimon you're not using. Your Digimon can level themselves in the DigiFarms, and essentially, one could leave the game running for hours on end resulting in substantially leveled Digimon.
Another feature of Digimon World DS is its multiplayer system, previously unavailable on the GBA. Players can connect wirelessly to other players to not only battle or trade Digimon, but to DigiCombine them to produce new (and sometimes rare) Digimon. While the process is beyond Freduian, this will encourage enthusiasts to breed their Digimon until something they want comes out.
The battle system works like any other RPG; it's turn-based with a menu of controls for your Digimon. You can change the order in which they fight, as well as the position in which they fight. No complaints here since the battle system is decisively cookie-cutter, but if you are one with low patience and/or have a scathing animosity for RPGs, then this is probably not a game you'd want to pick up.
DigiDig It?
The controls don't really have a significant weight in this game. The two buttons you primarily use are A and B, and the touchpad is also usable, but absolutely unnecessary, as its only purpose is really to speed up the navigation process. The graphics are not spectacularly different from the GBA version as pixel art is the game's style; there's a very SNES look to the game. The music's electronic influence has resulted in a jarring mix of bells and other synth-based instruments that is more irritating than it is catchy.
Old Digimon fans will absolutely love this game; it's a repackaging of the older Digimons, but with much more to do. However, new fans may be a bit wary approaching a game like Digimon World DS- it might be exciting to discover a new Digimon every time, but it takes a bit of work to level them up and have them become creatures of unsurpassable might. Either way, the game is at least worth a shot on a store's DS demo stands, if it ever makes it there.
PROTIP: When Digiconverting, make sure that the scan data of your Digimon equals more than 100%. Scan data is collected when you encounter random Digimon in dungeons or levels.
