Digimon Story Fans Are Going to Love Time Stranger, But Really Hate the Grind (Review)

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After a long wait, Digimon fans can now enjoy a brand-new game in the Digimon Story series. Digimon Story: Time Stranger offers a fresh experience, bringing players back to the Digital World with all-new characters and a compelling story. The latest game boasts a massive roster of over 450 Digimon to collect, and its enhanced battle system provides a deeper and more engaging experience for fans.

Time Stranger successfully revives the enjoyable elements of the Digimon Story games, and even expands upon them. You can collect, train, and Digivolve a larger variety of Digimon, and building the perfect team for battle is more involved than ever. The game boasts significantly improved graphics, and the story quickly draws you in with a compelling premise. However, despite all these advancements over previous games, it isn’t perfect. In many respects, Digimon Story: Time Stranger feels like the strongest Digimon game to date. Still, I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pros Cons
Beautiful graphics and battle animations Leveling grind can be brutal at times and isn’t very intuitive to new players
In-depth Digimon training and evolution system Camera angles and movement feel clunky in some areas
Human and Digital Worlds feel vibrant and alive Doesn’t feel quite as polished as other games at a similar price point
Unique and engaging storyline that hooks you from the start

Digimon Story: Time Stranger Truly Pulls You Into the Digital World

I often wished for a deeper sense of immersion in the Digital World while playing older Digimon games. And with Time Stranger, that wish finally came true. The most impressive aspect of this game is how stunning and realistically populated the world feels. Illiad genuinely feels like a home for the Digimon, and we get to see them going about their daily lives-working and playing-as we explore.

The game’s graphics make each Digimon feel vibrant and alive as you journey through the world, and the battle animations really showcase the unique personality of every Digimon you gather and train. The turn-based combat features complete animations for each attack, which makes battles more engaging while still giving you time to strategize. Beyond the fights, I constantly wanted to capture screenshots from every viewpoint, as Illiad is visually gorgeous, and the Digimon are rendered with such beautiful detail and care.

It does take a little while to reach the Digital World in Time Stranger. The game starts in the Human World, and we spend more time there than I anticipated. While this world is nicely designed, it feels a little awkward to move around in. Certain areas use a fixed camera angle that makes exploration clumsy. Also, the faceless humans wandering around can be unsettling. However, the game’s attention to detail and smooth animations are impressive, and it performs well on PS5.

Running around Illiad is visually appealing, but exploring the world feels quite restricted. It isn’t a truly open-world game. There are short loading screens between areas, and some parts of the world aren’t very smooth to navigate. The camera and how your character moves can feel awkward, particularly in specific locations. However, the DigiRide feature is exceptional. Gliding on your Digimon is incredibly smooth and seeing the unique animations for each of your team members is very rewarding. Traveling alone, though, can sometimes feel slow, and the map often feels cluttered with obstacles, people, and Digimon constantly getting in your way.

InTime Stranger, The Story Hooks You From the Start

The title itself, with the word “story” in it, leads you to expect a lot from Time Stranger. The story does begin a little slowly, taking its time to get to the Digital World. However, don’t be discouraged, as it immediately grabs your attention. The mystery surrounding a strange girl your phone seems to recognize, combined with the appearance of a Digi-egg, creates a compelling desire to understand what’s happening and uncover the truth.

I don’t want to give away any big spoilers, but trust me, the story really grabs you right from the beginning. Even when I figured out some things pretty early on, I was still completely hooked and needed to know what happened to everyone. There’s a real sense of pressure, even with all the time travel stuff, because knowing what the future holds makes you realize that every single thing you do in the past can have huge effects. Honestly, for a time travel story, this one is really well-crafted, and at around 50 or 60 hours to finish, it doesn’t feel at all like they were rushing things. I’m really excited for others to experience it!

I didn’t enjoy the side quests as much. I usually love completing all the optional content in games, often spending hours on them before continuing the main story. However, in Time Stranger, these side quests are frequently very brief and feel like they were added as an afterthought. Sometimes characters just ask you to wear a certain outfit and chat, or complete a quick series of tasks that aren’t very rewarding. Considering the main story’s sense of urgency, taking the time for side quests felt a bit out of place.

The Leveling Grind in Time Stranger Might Be Too Punishing for Casual Players

Putting the visuals to one side, the combat in Time Stranger is somewhat inconsistent. The turn-based battle system is fairly simple to understand at first. Everything is clearly labeled, and the tutorial is helpful enough, to a certain extent. However, becoming truly skilled, or even completely understanding what’s happening with your Digimon, is much more complex. That’s where you have to delve into the details of leveling up and balancing their strengths and weaknesses.

The new Personalities feature adds another layer of complexity that many players will likely enjoy. If you appreciate a detailed system for improving and powering up your team, Time Stranger is sure to please. It offers a great amount of depth, letting you explore and maximize the strengths of your preferred Digimon with numerous customization options. However, I wish the process of customizing felt a little more enjoyable.

In many creature-collecting games like Pokemon, simply battling with your team is enough to help them grow stronger. However, in Time Stranger, I found that even fighting constantly wasn’t enough to defeat early bosses on the normal difficulty setting. While this might be intentional, it sometimes feels like an error. Time Stranger includes a lot of battles as you explore different areas. Even with all those fights, though, you’ll still need to use the Digifarm to fully level up your team.

The Digifarm is the place to nurture and level up your Digimon. This system is familiar to those who have played previous Digimon games, so returning players will feel right at home. However, it doesn’t quite fit seamlessly into the overall gameplay. Raising Digimon on the Digifarm requires leaving them alone for a while. This is beneficial if you don’t mind temporarily sidelining part of your team while you’re out exploring, as they’ll grow stronger in the background. But if you need your entire team battle-ready quickly, either paying for instant training or waiting for the timer to finish can be quite annoying.

The detailed systems for Digimon types, personalities, and moves offer a lot of depth for dedicated players, but they can be overwhelming for newcomers. It’s easy to feel lost trying to understand everything, and the game doesn’t explain key features, like the Digifarm, very well – you have to discover them on your own. Because of this, the gameplay loop can sometimes feel more frustrating than enjoyable. However, there’s still a lot of fun to be had in collecting, training, and evolving your favorite Digimon. If you’re struggling with the more complex aspects, you can always switch to the easiest Story setting.

Generally speaking, Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the strongest Digimon game we’ve seen so far. The visuals and details are incredibly impressive, and it delivers a well-made, traditional turn-based JRPG experience. However, considering its cost, it could use a little more refinement. For those who enjoy Digimon, Time Stranger is essential and will fully immerse you in the Digital World.

We were given a PlayStation 5 copy of Digimon Story: Time Stranger by ComicBook so we could write this review.

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2025-10-03 14:12