The 10 Best Digimon Games (And 10 That Should Never Have Been Made)
There have been a lot of Digimon games over the years, but not all of them have been hits. Here are the amazing ones, and some that weren't.
A lot of the games in the franchise center on the idea of collecting and digi-evolving your . If that sounds too much like , don't worry, most of those games are a lot worse than any game. Some of the games have their own spin-off titles that focus on different gameplay mechanics. There was a racing game that was released on the Game Boy Advance.
Of course, there are some gems. Recently, the games have followed more traditional role-playing mechanics. The relatively recent release of proved to be a hit among fans of the franchise and reinvigorated interest in the series. has been announced for modern consoles, and it is revealed to be releasing in the West as well. looks like an interesting blend of classical RPG gameplay and Japanese visual novels. To celebrate 's announcement, I want to celebrate by listing out the ten best games. Unfortunately, since there are so many bad games in the series, I also feel I should mention the ten worst games in the franchise.
20 Best: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
19 Worst: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth: Hacker's Memory
18 Best: Digimon Adventures (PSP)
Despite how immensely popular the early seasons of were in the US, interest in the series greatly waned around the fourth season of the anime. With a lack of interest in the west to see more products, Japanese developers will occasionally not release games in the US, as they assume there will be no market for them. The game on the PSP, which is based on the first season of the show, was one of those games that was never released in the west. That's unfortunate, considering the game is really good. The graphics are impressive for the handheld, the gameplay is solid, and the game's story closely matches with the story on the show.
17 Worst: Digimon Racing
16 Best: Digimon World DS
15 Worst: Digimon Masters
14 Best: Digimon World Re:Digitize
serves kind of as a predecessor for future titles in the franchise. was a PSP game released exclusively in Japan in 2012. The game would later get an enhanced port on the 3DS in the following year called . 's gameplay is a return to form for the franchise, following a gameplay similar to that of . and would retain the same aesthetics from ; all three games share the same character designer. The gameplay and story of were proven to be a hit with fans of the series. The game would eventually get a fan translation, allowing fans overseas to enjoy .
13 Worst: Digimon Digital Card Battle
12 Best: Digimon World Dawn And Dusk
A sequel to , and improves on what was established with its predecessor, and is an overall superior game. Following the Pokémon tradition of releasing two games in each generation, and are two separate games that tell the same story. The games are RPGs that center on collecting and Digivolving your own Digimon. and offer more variations to Digivolve your Digimon, and the story is more engaging than the first. The presentation and the graphics are pretty great, especially on the DS. The games, unfortunately, are grind heavy; however, RPG fans are used to that kind of grinding.
11 Worst: Digimon World Data Squad
In my perspective of the fandom, every season post- appears to be divisive. There are fans of the seasons that proceeded , yet there are also a lot of detractors. In my experience within the fandom, seems to be the most divisive. Whatever spectrum you fall into with , at least most fans can admit that the game is bad. Boring, bland, and excessively long load times, the video game is one the most boring games I have ever come across. I would rather watch grass grow than go through the game's load times.
10 Best: Digimon Battle Spirit
may not hold up as well as some other games, however, there is still a lot to love with this game. is a fighting game that was released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003. The gameplay is similar to . begins fights in their rookie or champion forms. They can digivolve into their stronger ultimate or mega forms, giving them the edge in battle. plays well on a handheld, and the graphics are pretty good. would later have a sequel that focuses more on the characters. is a divisive season of the TV show, so I would recommend playing the original rather than the sequel.
9 Worst: Digimon World
8 Best: Digimon World: Next Order
It feels like every major gaming franchise wants to have their own open world game. Open world games have become increasingly popular since gaming consoles have become powerful enough to handle games as huge as open worlds. Even has their own version of the open world video game called . In the game, you're a fan that gets trapped in the digital world, and you need to collect and learn a way to leave. The game is a fun take on the open world genre, and the story is pretty entertaining too. The game also comes with an English vocal track, which is a rarity among recent games.
7 Worst: Digimon World 2
6 Best: Digimon World 3
The first two games have not aged well, however is without a doubt the best of the original trilogy. Released at the very end of the PS1 lifespan, serves as a fitting swan song for Sony's first console. takes everything that is established in and and makes it better. The gameplay is faster and more smooth, and the graphics have improved since . also has a pretty sweet soundtrack, and a large variety of Digimon to play as. Just like the first two games, was critically mauled by western critics. Despite that, fans of the series love this game.
5 Worst: Digimon World 4
Time has not been kind to . is a hack and slash video game starring everyone's favorite Digimon. This is a contrast to the first three games, which were all RPGs. At the time when the game was released, which was 2005, was an okay game. It was a little bland and the graphics weren't that good. Nonetheless, it played fine. Since was released, the Earth was spoiled by better hack and slash games. The series was already on its third installment when came out, and the series was just getting started. Those two other franchises only improved in each proceeding installment, while aged like rotten cheese.
4 Best: Digimon Rumble Arena 2
may not be the most polish fighting game out there, but it is still a lot of fun. is a type fighting game starring the iconic characters from Digimon. Each Digimon will start in their weak rookie forms. They can absorb orbs to get more energy and can digivolve into their more powerful champions and mega forms. The controls for the game are actually pretty clunky, and there are a lot of aspects of the game that haven't held up as well we hoped. It is still a very fun game to play, which is more than I can say for half of the entries on this list.