Digimon World... it's Marmite

By Jyggalag






With my lack of funds preventing me from purchasing the much coveted Dragon Age 2 and PokeMon White, I have instead sought to satisfy myself elsewhere until such a time comes when I can get my greasy mitts on the aforementioned games. Thus came along Digimon World for the PS1 as recommended to me by Mr Darko (I'm sure anyone giving a shit enough to read this knows who he is). Now, he first recommended this game to me when discussing my little nostalgia piece and I argued that the only reason he wanted to play the game again was because of his nostalgic feelings towards it. Yadda yadda. Mr Darko searched the web until he found a cheap copy of the game from a respectable seller and then waited frantically at the letterbox (I'm being quite literal here) until his coveted game arrived. Didn't see much of him for the next few days after that, except for whenever I went to make a cup of tea. Eventually I caved and decided to play the game as well.

Now, we all know what Digimon is. We all watched the cartoon as a kid... well at least most of us did. There was always a big argument at the table during school dinner times as to which was better, PokeMon or Digimon. So even if you didn't watch it because you were "too cool" (but of course back then it WAS cool, so don't try denying it you dirty little liars) or you're a backwards hick raised in the middle of nowhere, you'll certainly know what Digimon is.
My first thoughts of the game were lukewarm, to say the least. I'll admit to being a bit of technology whore and if a game ain't flashy, it rarely impresses me. Now released in 1999 I wasn't expecting anything fancy but to be quite honest, there was a certain charm to it that only Japanese game developers can pull off.

I didn't pay much attention to the game's opening. For some reason a tiny child is dragged into the Digital World. Rather conveniently his mother has "nipped out" and left this small child home alone, so at least she doesn't have to get into a panic about her missing boy. But you know... plot devices and all that. Anyway, all a manner of crazy shit is going off in the Digital World and its up to the small boy to help rebuild and repopulate File City. With the help of a wise old creature named Jijimon the young boy is partnered with his first Digimon (I got Gabumon, which was always my favourite) and sets out on his adventure.

Gabumon: What's not to like?

For an old game, the game world is pretty expansive with dozens of large areas to explore, littered with quests, tasks and monsters to battle. The game is pretty much an RPG, you have to raise and "level up" your Digimon's stats in order to get them to Digivolve and depending on their stats depends on what they Digivolve into. Unlike PokeMon however, the evolution of your monster is much more complex. Whilst the game encompasses all the basic functions of an RPG, it also serves as a sort of... tamagotchi-like game. Your Digimon need to eat and if you train them too much they become exhausted. They need to sleep, they age and even die and if you don't take care of them properly their life expectancy will shorten. They also shite an abhorrent amount (or "go potty" as the game itself puts it). How you take care of your Digimon effects what they Digivolve into. The game tried to reinforce the idea that taking care of your Digimon is the best thing to do... however to get some of the best Digivolutions you have to have certain conditions, and some of the conditions include "care mistakes" where you purposely mistreat your Digimon. So naturally, I wanted these much better Digimon and rather cruelly unfed my partner and let it shite all over the floor to its heart content.

Don't treat your Digimon right and you'll end up with this turd-eating beauty

Now, for a game that is obviously trying to tell kids to take care of animals, this sends a somewhat mixed message. Each Digimon has a Happiness and Discipline bar and depending on your actions these change. After my Digimon had taken the last dump it needed to be unhappy enough to Digivolve I actually began to feel awful. I just looked at the Happiness bar (which now had a little red angry face next to it) and was half expecting some Digi-equivalent of the RSPCA to turn up and take my Digimon from me. But they didn't.

After a few more hours of playing and finally getting my Digimon to reach Ultimate Form, much to the contradiction of Mr Darko, I had become completely obsessed. I must have only explored three or four areas and I was determined to see more. I'd recruited several Digimon to work in File City and my Digimon was at last was happy with me. Everything was going great and I could see why Mr Darko had waited so eagerly for this game. But then the worst happened. My Digimon died. He had reached the grand old age of 20 (in-game 20 days, which is only a few hours in real time). After moving some dirt from a tunnel for some giant furry testicle with a horn on its head my Andromon just laid on the floor and died. I was gutted. I'd worked the little sod from when he was just a rookie into the big, metal monster he was then and he just died... just like that. But apparently 20 is a good age for your first Digimon so at least I could take comfort in that.

Now, Digimon world only sold around 250,000 copies in Japan which isn't great (at least by today's standards) and the game was only ever given an average rating by most critics. Apparently it's a game for certain types of people. If you loved the Digimon cartoon then Digimon World is just for you, if not, then you'll hate it. The game's greatest strength is probably its greatest weakness. It is such a deep game, but that's the problem. Unless you're following a guide you won't know what the hell you're doing. Now I'm one for exploration and to learn by yourself, but some people don't like that. Some people just want to know what to do straight away. That's why games like Call of Duty are so popular. You shoot people. That's all there is to it and its such a great and fun game.

Digimon World is game that requires a lot of effort and is probably why it never really took off in the first place. Sure there are plenty of people who love the game and Digimon World has become very popular amongst file sharing. It's pretty much the only reason anyone downloads a PS1 emulator these days. But that is where it ends. The Digital World isn't big enough to impress anymore.