Digimon World 2

Okay, strap yourselves in for more morally questionable gameplay as you train creatures to engage in dogfights for treasure, adventure and glory as a Digimon Tamer in Digimon World 2 by Bandai. Stock up and prepare yourself to read the word “Digi” a LOT!

Gameplay

This game handles like you’d expect with a little twist on it. Immediately you’ll want to compare it to Pokemon but it’s actually much closer to the original Final Fantasy VII with its blocky characters and turn based combat. The concept of the game is straightforward as you focus on ‘raising’ your Digimon like pets; pets that fight other pets. You explore Domains, which are essentially dungeons, inside the Digi-Beetle, which is essentially a tank, in order to progress through the game.

The dungeons are filled with enemy Digimon. I say filled but there are large areas where you don’t encounter anyone for a while. With the traditional JRPG style of turn base combat, it works as a battle of attrition situation. You keep pushing until you can push no further and have to return to the start to heal and restock but not in the way you would expect. There are a nice amount of obstacles within the Domains, acid floors, giant stones, landmines and more. It keeps it relatively fresh and keeps you thinking about how to proceed alongside inventory management. Most traps and even some enemies can be beaten without blowing something up, you may have purchased items at the store which help you befriend enemy Digimon or counter the traps throughout. You have extremely limited carry space aboard the beetle and it the traps are all diffused with different ammunition types so you have to gauge exactly what you may need and when you may need it, bringing a very interesting difficulty in.

Boss Battles

Travelling through the domains is a fun enough experience and offers a nice amount of tension. Where the game shines however, is absolutely in its boss battles. These could be a lone, high powered Digimon or, my favourite, another Tamer who has their own team of Digimon. These fights can be really close and comes down to how prepared you are and how high a level your Digimon are, the planning element gives the game a very satisfying depth to its combat and exploration.

The Digimon

The real stars of the show are the Digimon, there is a lot to appreciate about their concept and execution. Able to “Digivolve” into newer and more powerful forms, there are four levels in total that a Digimon can evolve to Rookie, Champion, Ultimate and Mega. The Digimon are also able to make use of DNA Digivolution where you can fuse two together and create a new one. Level caps are beaten with this method, which allows the party to get stronger.

Pros

• Interesting evolution system
• Straightforward and simple story

Cons

• Can be incredibly confusing at times
• Lacks much of a world for a game with the word “World” in the title.

Kiss those high-maintenance monsters goodbye and say hello to the potty-trained critters of Bandai's Digimon World 2. DW2 disposes of the tedious training aspects of the previous game and to focus more on the role-playing aspects. Command up to three of your favorite Digimon in your party for this fully 3D, turn-based adventure. Raise your rank and command more powerful digimon when DW2 ships this spring.