Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)
Like any franchise that has lasted this long, Digimon video games have had a lot of ups and downs. Digimon World: Next Order was first released in 2016 on PlayStation Vita, with a PlayStation 4 release in the West the following year. Since then, it’s had such a cult following that it’s now been ported to PC and Switch years later. Perhaps because of its origins on Sony’s handheld console, it feels right at home on Switch, but Digimon World: Next Order is still a title that’s struggling to find its footing.
The game’s opening plunges players into a tense battle between two highly evolved Digimon partners and a powerful adversary that serves as a tutorial for the battle system. Battles take place in real time, with the player’s teammates acting on their own initiative, depending on which of three predefined AI behaviors you have chosen for them. Players can choose specific actions for themselves, but only if they have accumulated enough Order Points during combat.
More elaborate attacks require more mana and order points to use, but the combat system itself is quite simple to understand. Especially when fighting lower level enemies, you can get away with barely paying attention in most fights. This makes grinding surprisingly easy as you roam the open world the game takes place in. However, fighting enemies is a dangerous business. Walk around the next area and you’ll likely find the Digimon doing some quick work on their current partners.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Connected)
Combat isn’t the only way to gain strength in Digimon World: Next Order. We’d say it’s not even the better form. It would be like sending them to the gym for training, letting you choose a specific stat to boost and throwing yourself a spinner mini-game for a chance to boost. You’ll likely spend most of your time here, working to increase your stats and eventually unlock the next Digivolution for your companions.
This part of the game, frankly, isn’t very fun. It’s repetitive to the point of boring and is only interrupted by the Digimon’s need to sleep, eat, and poop. Just like taking care of a child, you have to get your partners to the bathroom before they make a mess somewhere. This mechanic makes the game feel like an odd cross between a virtual pet simulator and an RPG, but the mechanics of supporting your partner’s physical needs are awkwardly implemented.
Every time you send Digimon to train at the gym, they accumulate a bit of fatigue. Eventually, they will need to rest. This can be done in the gym itself, but rest only removes a small amount of fatigue, meaning you have to repeat the same dialogue over and over if you want them to get back into shape. It’s a frustratingly slow process that could have been vastly improved by providing the option to rest until all fatigue wore off.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
Unfortunately, you’ll likely spend hours engaging in the cycle of training and resting to increase your Digimon’s stats before it reaches the next stage of its evolution, because if you don’t, it will die. once his life points are exhausted. If this happens, they will turn back into an egg and you will have to start the whole process over. They’ll have slightly boosted stats from how they started, but it still feels like a huge step backwards and adds to the repetitive feel of the game.
This mechanic allows you to change how you raise your partner Digimon to influence what they will eventually become. There are over 200 possible evolutions in the game, so it’s unlikely you’ll see them all. The age of the game works in your favor in this case, as there are guides that can help you increase the right stats and give them the right foods to make sure they turn out exactly the way you want. Without them, it looks a lot like chance with a bit of luck mixed in.
The reason you’ll be spending so much time in the gym, improving your stats through training, is because of the sudden and devastating difficulty spikes that appear as you travel the world. For example, when we first entered the open world portion of the game, we came across a level one creature and, unsurprisingly, quickly cleared the ground with it. Without even leaving this section of the map, we found ourselves facing a level two monster, and our two Digimon were eliminated in 30 seconds. It took us 15 hours to get to a point where we had a team capable of taking on the game’s first boss.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Offline)
There are three difficulty options in Digimon World: Next Order: Beginner, Easy, and Normal. We found Normal to be too complicated to progress through the game’s story, which is quite thin. Once we got to Easy, the enemies were more manageable and the game became a much better experience. Honestly, it seems like easy mode should be how everyone experiences this game. Exploring the world, recruiting new Digimon for your growing city, and seeing what evolutions you can unlock next is fun, but getting to that point is so difficult that it is not worth it.
It’s disappointing because Digimon World: Next Order has a lot of endings. The graphics are a bit dated now, but still hold up thanks to the cartoonish nature of the characters. The soundtrack, however, is fantastic. From the opening theme to the music that plays as you travel the world, there are some great tracks.
However, the actual gameplay lets this title down considerably, and the decision not to include the original Japanese voice tracks in the Switch version is simply baffling. Even on the lowest difficulty and using a guide to help you get the best gear possible, you’ll spend hours doing repetitive workouts just to get to a point where you can play.
conclusion
Digimon World: Next Order is an open-world RPG that’s too complicated to recommend. While the music and graphics have their charms, they are totally overshadowed by the unbalanced difficulty, highly repetitive training mechanics, and some very odd design choices. Unless you’re a die-hard Digimon fan with incalculable patience, it’s best left alone.