A Digimon Renaissance: Why 2022 Could be the Greatest Year for Digital Monsters in the West
🐲 Updated 7.19.2022
Some Digi-History
In 2014 Digimon fans published a petition pushing for the well-deserved western localization of two video games in the Digimon franchise, Digimon World Re: Digitize Decode for 3DS & Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth for PSVita. This petition would go on to garner over 66,000 signatures and ultimately prove successful in catching Bandai Namco’s attention to once again start porting Digimon RPG games outside of Japan.
In a Developer Diary for Digimon Survive in 2019, Chief Producer of Digimon Survive, Habu Kazumasa, confirmed that it was because of this petition that retailers took notice of the overwhelming support Digimon had in the West – with the collective thought being:
Well, if it’s this popular, maybe we should try selling it.”
-Habu Kazumasa, paraphrasing Western Retailers
And they were right. In 2015, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth became a record hit, with sales reaching over 800,000 copies worldwide by 2019 and reaching a combined 1.5M in sales by 2020 once it and its equally successful sequel were released as a combined switch port.
Fast Forward to the present day, 8 years after the creation of the original petition and for many Digi-enthusiasts of the 25-year-old IP (me included), 2022 feels like the long-awaited culmination for a Renaissance of this now silver-age franchise. The Digimon Renaissance is upon us.
that Digimon fans are indeed in the eye of the DigiStorm.
“But What Makes 2022 So Special?”
In July alone, we’re primed for the release of Digimon Survive, Digimon RPG Online, The Vital Hero in the West, a Digimon Crossover with the mobile game “Tower of Saviors”, and DigiFes 2022 at the end of the month.
Here’s the Digi-Hype Rundown:
July 14, 2022 – Digimon RPG Online (NA) is Re-releasing Globally
This Digimon MMO previously only available in South Korea back in 2002 & 8 years later (2010) in NA and Europe as Digimon Battle Online – will be re-released to a global audience. This game upon its official release only lasted for about 3 years before going offline in North America and Europe.
9 years later the South Korean game will be making its return to the states. This blast from the past may not be for everyone but if you intend on checking it out let us know in the comments & check back here for the registration page once it goes live.
July 18, 2022: Digimon & Tower of Saviors Crossover
The Digimon Adventure kids are receiving their first video-game crossover with Tower of Saviors; an RPG Puzzle game created for mobile and developed by Mad Head Limited, a Hong Kong-based developer.
The game is a “Connect-3” game (similar to Candy Crush or Puzzles & Dragons) where players summon monsters using cards to enable certain skills and remove tiles (“Runestones”) off the board to align “3-runes”. The more tiles removed off the board through wit & use of cards, the more damage a player inflicts on dungeon monsters.
July 21, 2022: The Vital Bracelet receives its western release as the “Vital Hero”
The Vital Bracelet is a Virtual Pet raising device in the formfactor of a watch that encourages physical activity through the growth and promotion of a digital companion. It’s incredibly anime and has sold very well for Bandai Namco.
According to press info released back in August of 2021: Bandai Namco had sold 200,000 units within 5 months of the initial release of the Vital Bracelet in March 13,2021. Many Digimon Fans have already begun importing the Japanese versions of these devices using sites like ZeninTCG or even Amazon but July 21st marks the formal release in the United States.
If you’ve ever wanted to raise a Digimon of your own, in a capacity that involves more than making sure they go to the toilet and get fed; one that grows with you and your body – Well then here it is.
I should point out that its successor, “The Vital Bracelet BE” has also been announced albeit with no release date yet.
Now more than ever you should hop in on the fun. You can just double fist later.
July 29, 2022: The Long-awaited Release of Digimon Survive
On July 29, 2018, Bandai Namco released the first trailer & release date for a new visual novel game titled: Digimon Survive. After 4 years, a series of delays, & internal shifts amongst budget and development teams, this game will finally be released in just 2 weeks.
Digimon Survive will be a visual novel, roleplaying game with tactical/strategy battle elements. Similar to the original anime, this game will feature 8 kids dropped into a different world and attempting to return home. The game will have a major focus on players’ bonds with characters and their Digimon.
Player choice and decision-making are critical gameplay mechanics that will impact storyline and Digivolution paths. These paths lead to multiple endings and depending on choices made – even the death of certain characters.
In a Q&A at Digimon Con 2022 – Kazumasa Habu, Chief Producer of Digimon Survive, confirmed that their would be 12 chapters and 3 initial endings – with a 4th secret ending that unlocks after beating the story once. True to its name fans have speculated that the only way for every character to Survive your playthrough may have to be done through the secret unlockable route.
“There are 12 chapters in the scenario. And from chapter 8 onwards, the story branches into three routes: Morality, Harmony, and Rage. When you reach any one of the three endings of Morality, Harmony, and Rage, the secret route will be unlocked.”
Kazumasa Habu, Chief Producer of Digimon Survive
Digimon Survive will be considered a tribute not only to the original Digimon Adventure season, but to the entire franchise.
Digimon Survive releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via Steam) on July 29, 2022. Follow me or Mook-World on Twitter & keep an eye out for our upcoming review.
July 29th – July 31st , 2022: Digital Monster 25th Anniversary Exhibition “Museum”
This museum event will be a celebration of the history of the Digital Monster franchise and everything that led up to this moment. The official website says it will showcase notable objects & media from the past such as: LCD toys, anime, video games, illustrations from card games, and product displays. “Visitors can experience the world and charm of Digimon.”
The Digital Monster 25th Anniversary Exhibition will be held at the Belle Salle Akihabara on Friday, July 29th through Sunday, July 31st with the following operational times:
Hours are subject to change- Please check the official website. – Admission will be free.
July 29th- 2PM through 8PM
July 30th- 10AM through 8PM
July 31st- 10AM through 6PM
July 30, 2022- DigiFes 2022
DigiFes is a Digimon celebration is set to be held at Tachikawa Stage Garden in Tokyo on July 30th. The festival traditionally includes live performances with past voice actors, musicians, exclusive merch, and more.
This year performances from the Digimon Frontier and Digimon Adventure 02 Casts are expected as well as a highly anticipated clip of the upcoming Digimon Adventure 02 Movie.
The film will be set two years after Last Evolution Kizuna and centers around Davis Motomiya, the leader of the Digimon Adventure 02 protagonists and a new character teased to be the first Digi-destined. We expect to learn more details about the film, such as working title and release date at DigiFes 2022, stay tuned.
Update: In a pre-DigiFes stream, Producer Kinoshita inadvertently revealed the new title to be:
Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning
More details can be found at the #1 Digimon Forum on the web: withthewill.net
What’s Next for Digimon?
With the success of the recent Ghost Game Anime, the Vital Bracelet, Cyber Sleuth, and Survive, it appears Bandai Namco has finally started to take notice of the nostalgic power and allure Digimon can have once its backed with marketing and faith in their Developers.
At Digicon 2022 in February, Habu Kazumasa confirmed that more Digimon games were in development. He added that these games will be more IPs than just Cyber Sleuth, which will revolve around the Olympus Twelve. Exciting news for fans of a franchise whos future once seamed bleak.
A year or 2 from now when the world is sick with Digimania we’ll be able top look back and pinpoint the turning point to this moment in Digmon History, the Digital Rennaissance.
Now all we need is a remaster of Digimon World 2003, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary.
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Comments (4)
Rick
It’s really cool seeing someone did a chronicle of Digimon’s feats and all the reasons fans of the series have to be hyped. I know all the cool stuff this year sure got me personally back into the series, going to order a Vital Hero myself here in the next week or so. Didn’t know about it doing a crossover with another mobile game either so may have to check that one out.
DigitalHazard
Very well constructed piece, Digimon fans are eating very well this year, partially thanks to fans like you spreading the goodwill and joy of the franchise!
Sylvester Quezada
Felt like I was reading a kotaku or gamespot article, but better
Nick Matthews
Ayeeee yooo this was beautiful mate! Real deal hooked on Digimon again for sure after reading this!