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| Our heroes introduce themselves. |
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| It's time to digivolve! |
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| Creepy...mon... |
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| Let's go with "Pepper Breath." |
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I thought Digimon had died. Well, I thought Pokémon had died too, but then Diamond/Pearl hit the market and sold phenomenally well. Is Namco Bandai attempting to follow suit with their monster-collecting-and-evolving franchise? One might think so, as Digimon World: Data Squad is on its way for North American fans to try out in a month's time. We at RPGFan had a chance to play through the first few hours of the English version, to get a taste for what's involved with this PS2 title.
The game opens with seemingly no background information or story: you are literally thrust right into the middle of a mission in the digital world. The player immediately takes control of protagonist Marcus Damon (the lead character of the Digimon Data Squad anime series). Marcus's digimon, the now-infamous Agumon, is sent to battle some wild digimon in the "Digital World." In this mission, however, Marcus and Agumon encounter a villainous digimon named "Creepymon." This creepy bad-guy nearly defeats them, but he runs off at the sight of Marcus's Digivice (the device used to call digimon and to let them "digivolve").
Shortly after, Marcus meets up with two more members of the DATS (Digital Accident Tactics Squad) team: Yoshino, who controls "Lalamon," and Thomas, who is partnered with "Gaomon." Eventually, they also get together with Keenan Crier, whose digimon is "Falcomon." These four make up the main team in the game.
In Digimon World: Data Squad, battles take place through random encounters on the field. Though the primary interface seems simple enough (attack, guard, support, or flee are your four main options), there are some unique features to this RPG. First and foremost, your digimon have a will of their own. They have ideas as to what they ought to do, and this is displayed on the menu screen in a unique way. For example, Agumon may want to use a flame breath attack; however, he is also considering using an "attack up" skill to boost his parameters for the battle. While the choice is yours to make, you would do well to pick the one Agumon wants to do most. You can tell what it is he wants to do by the number of times that particular command appears on the menu screen (in little hexagonal boxes). Furthermore, you cannot order your digimon to do something that he is completely unwilling to do (that is, the option is not displayed on the menu). So if you want to flee from battle, you cannot unless your digimon is content to flee as well. You can do this, along with many other things, by taking a turn for you as the human to act, rather than the digimon. This happens through the "support" option. You can encourage your digimon, lecture them, throw them a healing item, or give them an affinity for or against certain enemy types. The possibilities are almost endless, but you don't have much time to waste using these functions since your opponent is probably dead-set on punishing you and your crew.
The other unique system in the game is that of "digivolving." Okay, so maybe the concept was ripped from Pokémon, but there are some noticeable differences that may pique your interest. First of all, your digimon does not just digivolve down one set path. There is actually a map, with a unique star system for each digimon, and different paths are mapped out. The requirements for digivolving down one path or another may vary, but you have your options. The other major difference is that, if you think you made a mistake in taking your digimon down a road you didn't want, it's never too late to turn back. Unlike a Pokémon creature who, once evolved, could never go back, your digimon can change back and forth with relative ease. As to why you would want to do this? Different forms have different skills and attributes; some will be more offensive, others will provide much-needed support and defense.
In the few hours we had to check out the early version of this game, it seemed clear that a pattern was forming in the gameplay. You go to an area, explore (solving puzzles along the way), and then fight a boss, which allows you to clear the mission. Then you had back to base, talk to some people, and move out again. Unlike previous Digimon games for the PS2, which had a base you could explore on foot, the DATS base in Digimon World: Data Squad is one you can only explore by menu.
Character models in Data Squad are all cel-shaded, and they look pretty smooth. This is to be expected with a late-era PS2 title. However, we were a little surprised at the length of load times so far. It's unlikely that these will be dealt with for the game's official release in September, but we'll have to wait and find out for sure.
Be sure to stop back in late September for our full review of Digimon World: Data Squad! It's shaping up to be an interesting addition to some people's RPG library, particularly for the faithful few that have followed this franchise over the last decade.
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