[Wayneisboss] My Complicated Love For Digimon World (1999 ~ PS1) Retrospective

[Jawmuncher]

View: https://youtu.be/rEBgmcvokS0

Heads up, this is an hour-long video.
With that said, it's so satisfying to watch if you were someone that suffered through this game (like many did). Seeing all the complicated aspects of the game laid out is interesting to see and honestly, pretty damn impressive (Even if personally, it wasn't that fun to play). The game has so many subsystems going on that it's absolutely fascinating to see and the fact someone had to develop ALL of this into the game itself is just ridiculous. The Video perfectly lays out the flaws of the game while going in-depth into why it's easy to understand why it's such a cult classic now.

There are a lot of systems here that would feel right at home in a "Digimon Rogue-like" if you ask me. If you were ever subjected to this game and wanted some closure (that doesn't require actually playing it). I definitely recommend giving this a watch.

 

[wwm0nkey]

World 1 wrecked my shit as a kid. 2 and 3 were more enjoyable to me back then lol

Would like a remake of 1

 

[Speedstersonic]

World 1 wrecked my shit as a kid. 2 and 3 were more enjoyable to me back then lol

Would like a remake of 1

Click to shrink...

I tried to play 3 again last year. I love the presentation for 3 but like 70% of the game is backtracking over and over. I was playing with speed up through an emulator and it still was too much backtracking. I ended up not finishing it.

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

Haven't watched the video but I will say that I spent hours on this game as a kid.
Never got anywhere though because my Digimon kept evolving into the fucking poop monster and I reset it every time.

Out of curiosity about a year ago I booted the game up for the first time since I was a child. I figured surely I was just a dumb kid who didn't understand how to balance out what the Digimon did. So as an adult, I made sure it was always properly cared for, had strong stats, and we got some main story done.
It still evolved into the fucking poop monster.
Fuck this game.

 

[kodax_shc]

Me and my brother spent countless weekends trying to figure this game out, no regrets what so ever. Going to give this a watch.

 

[Dice]

oooooh yes, this weirdass game... thanks for sharing Munchy!

 

[tecl0n]

The love i hold for that game is not healthy.
The broken nature of its systems is the charm.

The fact that the game cannot be beaten in PAL due to bugs, is just the cherry on top. (Although i think it can be avoided by messing with the disk tray)

 

[The_Noobiablos]

I remember playing this game when I was younger, but never beat it. I was pretty awful at it, lol. EDIT: Actually, I think I remember the game basically locking from progressing at some point. I think I had to do something in an ice area and a Digimon wouldn't spawn, or something like that.

Played through Next Order not THAT long ago and had a lot of fun with it.

Made me want to revisit the PS1 game at some point because I think now I can probably get an actual grasp of the gameplay loop. A lot of the systems from the PS1 game seemed like they game back for Last Order, and I had a much better time figuring my way around the game now that I'm older.

 

[SinnyIndonesian]

I had a magazine walkthrough helping me through this game so it wasn't anywhere near as confusing for me lol. Fantastic game, though. Rare gem.

 

[pbayne]

Maybe digimon was trying to court a different audience but it is interesting to go back and compare how accessible the pokemon games are compared to how obtuse and complicated a lot of the digimon games are.

 

[Kurtikeya]

I don't usually post without reading (or in this case, watching) the source topic first, but I'm not sure I can do 1 hour for this. I just want to say that I really wish Next Order had the worldbuilding that this game had. It would have been the perfect spiritual successor had it treated its Digimon with the kind of reverence that this one did. A lot of mons here actually felt important and memorable: Frigimon at the icelands, Angemon at the sanctuary, Myotismon at the haunted mansion, Seadramon as the lake guardian, Monzaemon at the toy land. The places, too, felt mystical and/or awe-inspiring. I still remember them. Meanwhile, I don't remember a single Digimon in Next Order that felt important, not even in the story.

 

[Leo]

I absolutely love this game, it's still my favorite Digimon game to this day.

Would it benefit from better communication of how the evolution system works? Absolutely. Playing with a guide completely solves this issue? Oh yes.

There is so much to love here, the incredible soundtrack, the super atmospheric prerendered environments + environmental sounds, it really feels like you're out to explore the wilderness, like very few games manage to feel.

The recruitment system is addictive and one of my favorite mechanics in whichever game it is present. The game is like a huge toy box that you can tinker with to find out what happens, and does feel like a fully realized Tamagotchi experience come to life.

It's a shame the subfranchise it has spun isn't very popular, I hope we get more of it soon. I did have a great time with Next Order, even if it isn't as moody as the original. I also hope they make the game available for modern consoles, it's ridiculous that it still isn't.

 

[SanTheSly]

I loved this game as a kid, tried to go back to it and found it pretty impenetrable and glacially paced.

I never owned a PS1, but the kid over the road did so I'd watch him play for hours and hours, little did the both of us know that he'd never ever be able to beat it, because the PAL version has a game-ruining bug in the second half.

Whoops!

 

[Z-Brownie]

oh, i remember this game, the only time i could progress on it was when i raised an angelmon ... most of the time i ended up getting a pile of poo. I remember it being fun.

 

[Qwark]

Will watch when I get a chance, but lmao "subjected" to this game? I adore this game and y'all are lucky if you got the chance to play it. The game had such a unique feel to it. It was confusing, yes, but also so very interesting.

 

[Ricitor]

I love this game due to the common sentiment from people who played it is "I have no idea what the fuck I was doing then my Digimon turned to shit." Actually playing it I can't comment on as I too had no clue what was happening besides my Digimon eating its own droppings.

This video popped up on my feed too so I'll give it a watch ASAP. Clemps also did a fun video looking at the Digimon World series.

 

[Roli]

The whole reason I wanted a PlayStation was this game. Never ended up getting it lol. Would love to play a remake to make up for lost time.

 

[Luigi87]

Played this as a kid, with a guide. Loved it, beat it, pretty sure I recruited everyone to the town. It was an interesting and challenging game, where you manage to get a bit further into the world with each subsequent Digimon.

My first ultimate, Metal Mamemon, is what carried me in the end.
Then I grinded for Metal Greymon, got one, and then never played again.

I'll check out the video when I've got the time to spare.

 

[Omnicore]

Absolutely loved this game as I kid. While I never ended up beating I did get all the way to the final dungeon.
That being saaaaaid, I still have my Prima's Official Strategy Guide lol.

 

[drtomoe123]

While I agree the game was certainly obtuse, it was pretty par for the course if you had experience with the Digimon v-pets at the time. Actually, I guess World was a nice "welcome to the madness" for people who were coming over from the anime, Digivices, or Pokemon, haha.

 

[Murlin]

I'll watch the video after work, but I've always found it amazing that certain mechanics in this game (how learning techniques works, for example) were not fully understood until about 5 years ago.

 

[Kouriozan]

Absolutely loved that game, had to learn by myself the drastic digivolution conditions at first, after that it was thanks GameFaqs lmao, I would replay it again and again.
But the PAL version had that AWFUL Agumon bug at Ogremon's fortress, absolutely impossible to 100% it back then, that was honestly the worst.

Even today I think it's easily in my top 20 games of all time. And I replayed it again last year, this time patched for 100%.

 

[Kuro]

Game was terrible lol. The second was a decent dungeon crawler but the third was legit awesome.

 

[WhateverItTakes]

Me and my brother spent countless weekends trying to figure this game out, no regrets what so ever. Going to give this a watch.

Click to shrink...

Me and mine completely failed on that, I think I remember even the tips we saw in game magazines were so vague we couldn't follow them. Couldn't even get digivolving consistent, except for the poopmon lol

I remember playing 4 and properly hating it, very boring and difficult

 

[kodax_shc]

Me and mine completely failed on that, I think I remember even the tips we saw in game magazines were so vague we couldn't follow them. Couldn't even get digivolving consistent, except for the poopmon lol

Click to shrink...

Never said we were successful lol, but we had a lot of fun trying.

 

[Giga Man]

I couldn't figure out what to do in this game. I had a monster. Saw it poop. Tried to fight something and got trashed. I don't remember anything else.

Sold the game eventually, but wish I kept it longer since it's gone up in price significantly.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

I definitely borrowed and played a Digimon World game of some kind on PS1 from a friend, but I can't remember which one it was. Apparently there were 3 on PS1. It might have been this one, the footage looks vaguely familiar.

 

[Red]

Ah yes, the game where you coached animals at the gym and they transformed into a big pile of shit after walking three screens into the mountainside.

 

[Professor Beef]

I tried to play 3 again last year. I love the presentation for 3 but like 70% of the game is backtracking over and over. I was playing with speed up through an emulator and it still was too much backtracking. I ended up not finishing it.

Click to shrink...

Backtracking with no fast travel or quick dungeon escape, either. I tried my best but had to finally tap out once Submarimon became available.

 

[Speedstersonic]

Backtracking with no fast travel or quick dungeon escape, either. I tried my best but had to finally tap out once Submarimon became available.

Click to shrink...

That is about where i stopped too i think, and i was following a guide :(

 

[GetDigitized]

This game is the goat... If you had a digivolution guide... Which a magazine in thr UK had. That thing was in tatters by the time the ps3 came around.

But if you haven't played it, this game absolutely spoils everything great about the game and I wouldn't recommend it if you ever want to play it (or the inevitable remaster/remake which would be coming if digimon survive sold well ).
Very few games get to the same level of creativity and its basically its own genre.

 

[GetDigitized]

Haven't watched the video but I will say that I spent hours on this game as a kid.
Never got anywhere though because my Digimon kept evolving into the fucking poop monster and I reset it every time.

Out of curiosity about a year ago I booted the game up for the first time since I was a child. I figured surely I was just a dumb kid who didn't understand how to balance out what the Digimon did. So as an adult, I made sure it was always properly cared for, had strong stats, and we got some main story done.
It still evolved into the fucking poop monster.
Fuck this game.

Click to shrink...

You only get the poop-mon (sukamon) if you let your digimon poop on the floor and not a toilet. The booby-Mon(numemon) which is a green sludge can evolve into an ultimate easily during early game but you need to have fought a couple of champion digimon.
You get numemon if your digimon don't meet any evolution requirements which you can't figure out in game, so you needed a digivolution guide to actually play it. However, it doesn't detract from the game if you use one.

 

[Kazuhira]

Holy shit this game was something else, my older sister and i never managed to beat it.
We were almost obsessed with it and the obscure mechanics, we've never managed to evolve any of our digimons beyond champion form, they always died after a while no matter what lol.
Oh noo it's sick, it's going to die again! don't poop in the grass pls, the toilet is in the next zone!
I played World 2 a lot and loved every moment of it, i actually managed to finish that one.

 

[Luigi87]

Watching the video... as soon as he pulled out the fishing rod I knew what was coming, because I too suffered through that way back when...

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

You only get the poop-mon (sukamon) if you let your digimon poop on the floor and not a toilet. The booby-Mon(numemon) which is a green sludge can evolve into an ultimate easily during early game but you need to have fought a couple of champion digimon.
You get numemon if your digimon don't meet any evolution requirements which you can't figure out in game, so you needed a digivolution guide to actually play it. However, it doesn't detract from the game if you use one.

Click to shrink...

Was probably the green sludge then. They blur together in my mind.

 

[DetectiveKenobi]

I always wanted the game because of the amazing Magazine ad.

 

[SamualDude]

One of my all time favorite games. I have hundreds of hours on it.

 

[Rapscallion]

I've always found this game fascinating, even though I've never played it (watched multiple let's plays). The progression is just so imaginative, albeit based on a truly bonkers system.

I know it's not similar, but is World 3 worth playing this day and age? I know people say it's the most standard JRPG of the bunch.

 

[Kaswa101]

I really loved 2 and Card Battle.

3 was fun to watch when my brothers played it but it was a LOT of backtracking and grinding lol, so I never really bothered with it. The card game stuff was cool though :)

 

[Yunsen]

I have vague fond memories of this game despite losing my copy 2 decades ago. I know I beat the game with Andromon but I don't remember a ton else. I still have my copy of Digimon World 2 which I played a lot more (never touched 3). I remember when my dad said he'd buy me a PS1 I could pick 3 games. I picked Digimon World, Rayman 2 and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. My taste in video games has gone downhill since.

 

[redbomb6]

There's a couple ps1 classics that I remember fondly despite never finishing because they were too difficult. This is one and the other is Hello Kitty Cube Frenzy. I played the hell out of these 2 games for some reason back then.

It's weird that I think they are technically not amazing games, but I think they were some of my favourite games from that generation.

 

[Benzychenz]

I hope these all get a rerelease as I'd love to play them.

I only ever rented 3 for a week a kid. Got as far as going across the sea(?) and ended up in a dungeon with Numemon that were like 10-20 levels above me and just destroyed me. Don't know if I was meant to grind or I missed where I was meant to go.

I remember really loving the presentation and vibe of the game.

 

[Taruranto]

It's a weird experimental game, tbh I don't think I ever played anything like it? It's like the dark souls of mon games.

Like I'm not even sure I'd call it a good game, it's a poorly balanced buggy mess that is just way too hard for a kid, but the atmosphere is top notch, the OST is catchy and the city building is satisfying.

It's a weird fascinating package to play at least once, at least... On emulator with a guide.

The love i hold for that game is not healthy.
The broken nature of its systems is the charm.

The fact that the game cannot be beaten in PAL due to bugs, is just the cherry on top. (Although i think it can be avoided by messing with the disk tray)

Click to shrink...

You can finish actually finish PAL version but it's a tight squeeze. Curiously UK PAL version is actually the best version of the game, with the least bugs.

 

[GetDigitized]

It's a weird experimental game, tbh I don't think I ever played anything like it? It's like the dark souls of mon games.

Click to shrink...

It's not that difficult, you just need to have your stats raised properly which relies on you evolving your monsters, which you need a digivolution guide for. Once your stats are even to the other monsters then it's just a case of ordering the attacks/dodging and healing your monster.

I don't think it needed balance since it was the case of going to whatever area you want and fighting the monster(before saving) getting slapped when you're at something that has better stats and reloading your save to go train or go to a different area.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

This is the strangest, dreariest game my friends and I stubbornly played for hours on end trying to make sense of it. It's muted aesthetic and atmosphere combined with the mystery of what on earth's fuck you were supposed to be doing was strangely inviting to press on with. There was an unusual joy when we would trigger something new or discover a previously unknown area after so much effort. We eventually moved onto some other game after a week or two, but it's stuck with me al these years later.

 

[Pokémon]

The world and the atmosphere of the game are great but the battle system and the tamagotchi style raising of Digimon is utter garbage. I really loved exploring File Island but I was constantly hindered doing so because my Digimon kept dying or were not strong enough. Not to mention the countless bugs which literally prevented me to beat the game on 100% due to the infamous PAL Agumon bug.

It's a love/hate relationship I have with the game.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Haven't watched the video but I will say that I spent hours on this game as a kid.
Never got anywhere though because my Digimon kept evolving into the fucking poop monster and I reset it every time.

Out of curiosity about a year ago I booted the game up for the first time since I was a child. I figured surely I was just a dumb kid who didn't understand how to balance out what the Digimon did. So as an adult, I made sure it was always properly cared for, had strong stats, and we got some main story done.
It still evolved into the fucking poop monster.
Fuck this game.

Click to shrink...

At some point I managed to figure out how to not get the poop monster. Then my Digimon died and became a baby again. I was pissed off I had to do all that fucking grinding again I never turned it on afterwards.

 

[DonFreecs]

Man I hated this game as a kid, played it for 2 hours max. I just recently came back to it and now I love it so much. The atmosphere is sooo good.

 

[RockmanBN]

I've always found this game fascinating, even though I've never played it (watched multiple let's plays). The progression is just so imaginative, albeit based on a truly bonkers system.

I know it's not similar, but is World 3 worth playing this day and age? I know people say it's the most standard JRPG of the bunch.

Click to shrink...

3 has a nice overworld style, sprites on a prerendered backgrounds. The combat is very simplistic and the game is all backtracking. There's no fast travel. Grinding specific forms is a goddamn pain.

 

[citrusred]

No chance of me watching a 1 hour long YouTube video but Digimon world was honestly a great game. Think almost everyone in my class had it so we actually made decent progress towards the end. The game event has a 'get out' clause if you get a poop master since there's a suit they can squeeze into to change into a different Digimon.