Digimon Story Time Stranger

Developer: Media.Vision Inc.
Release: Oct 2nd 2025
Platforms:
RPG
Addictive
Nostalgic
Strategic
Greedy
Repetitive
Digimon Story Time Stranger Poster

" Engaging RPG with strategic turn-based combat and vast Digimon roster but costly DLC issues "

Digimon Story Time Stranger Review

Digimon Story: Time Stranger is widely regarded as the best Digimon game to date, praised for its engaging turn-based combat, expansive roster of over 450 Digimon, and improved quality-of-life features compared to previous entries. The game offers a nostalgic yet modern experience with smooth animations, vibrant graphics, and a story that, while somewhat predictable, holds players' interest. Many players appreciate the game's combat depth, character customization, and the extensive digital world exploration.

However, the game is marred by controversial DLC practices, with essential content like outer dungeons and music packs locked behind additional paywalls, even in the Ultimate Edition. This has drawn significant criticism for being anti-consumer and undermining the overall experience. Other common complaints include tedious side quests, repetitive travel mechanics, some pacing issues, and a lack of deeper world-building or protagonist development. Despite these flaws, the core gameplay loop and Digimon customization keep fans engaged and hopeful for future improvements.

Highlights

Players consistently praise the game's combat system for its fun, strategic depth, and satisfying Digimon evolution mechanics. The graphics and animations are noted as clean, colorful, and smooth, successfully capturing the classic Digimon charm with modern polish. The extensive Digimon roster and customization options are highlights, providing addictive team-building opportunities. The story, while not groundbreaking, is engaging enough to maintain interest, with well-localized dialogue and nostalgic elements that appeal especially to longtime fans. Quality-of-life improvements such as shared experience for all Digimon and faster gameplay options enhance the overall experience.

Criticisms

The DLC strategy is the most frequent criticism, with players condemning the exclusion of key content from even the most expensive editions, labeling it as greedy and predatory. Side quests are often described as repetitive fetch tasks that pad the game length unnecessarily. Travel mechanics receive heavy criticism for being slow, tedious, and poorly designed. The story and character development, particularly of the protagonist and some supporting characters, are seen as weak or underdeveloped. Some players also mention pacing issues, lack of post-game content, and occasional bugs or technical shortcomings. The Digifarm system is noted as needing quality-of-life improvements.

Pros

  • Engaging and strategic turn-based combat system with satisfying Digivolution mechanics.
  • Extensive roster of over 450 Digimon offering deep customization and team-building.
  • Clean, colorful graphics and smooth animations that capture Digimon’s classic charm.
  • Quality-of-life improvements like shared EXP and 5x speed auto-battle enhance gameplay.
  • Well-localized story with nostalgic elements that appeal to longtime fans.
  • Expansive digital world with varied locations to explore and immersive environments.
  • Voice acting and cinematic shadow puppet cutscenes add polish to storytelling.

Cons

  • Controversial DLC practices exclude key content from Ultimate Edition, frustrating fans.
  • Side quests are repetitive fetch missions that pad gameplay without much variety.
  • Travel and navigation mechanics are slow, tedious, and poorly optimized.
  • Protagonist and some characters lack depth, weakening story engagement.
  • Pacing issues with story progression and late unlocking of side content.
  • Digifarm system is cumbersome and needs multiple quality-of-life improvements.
  • Some minigames and card battles are poorly designed and feel unpolished.

Rating Criteria

Story
Difficulty
Graphics
Duration
Stability
Worth the Price
Capsule image

The latest in the Digimon Story series is finally here! In this RPG, unravel a mystery that spans across the human world and the Digital World, collecting and raising a wide variety of Digimon to save the world.

Release Date Oct 2nd 2025
Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
Developer Media.Vision Inc.
Platforms

User Reviews

Very Positive (2,743)
93% Positive 7% Negative