Since the late 90s and early 2000s, one argument has divided both the gaming and anime communities: which is better, Pokémon or Digimon? Now, if you are looking at the two from a market and sales standpoint, Pokémon seems like the obvious answer; this is due to the overall success of the Pokémon franchise (the highest-grossing franchise in history).
But if you look at the franchises side by side, many would argue that the first two seasons of Digimon were drastically better than those of Pokémon. Sadly, some might view Digimon as a knock-off of Pokémon despite putting out games that have a deeper story.
Now, the next Digimon game is set to release and may offer one of the deepest Digimon stories to date. So what can we expect from Digimon Story Time Stranger? Find out in our Digimon Story Time Stranger preview!
At PAX West 2025, we met with Bandai Namco and Media.Vision to get a firsthand look at Digimon Story Time Stranger. For this preview, we got the chance to play four hours of the game in a behind-closed-doors meeting. The first two hours were spent at the beginning of the game exploring the area, checking out different Digimon, and power leveling. The second half of the demo took place further in the game and let us see the conflict between the different Digimon factions.
When choosing a new game, the player is allowed to choose between various difficulties: Story, Balanced, and Hard, while Mega and Mega+ were locked. Once we chose our character, we got introduced to the story where a hidden organization (ADAMAs) deals with wild Digimon (Phase Electron Lifeforms) and urban legends from the shadows. At the beginning, you can choose to explore the city and talk with different citizens, or you can head straight to the mission objective.
With a crowd in your way, you must sneak past the protesters in order to get inside the wall. Once you are in the undercroft, the Operator informs us that someone nearby is putting out a distress call. In order not to go in defenseless, ADAMAs is sending a digital companion to help. You can choose between Patamon (Data), Gomamon (Vaccine), or DemiDevimon (Virus).
Like other games, Digimon Story Time Stranger uses the Rock, Paper, Scissors combat system for basic layer combat. After the basic level of combat is done, the game uses an elemental advantage system. This can mean an attack can do 300% more damage than it normally would. For our playthrough of the demo, we chose Gomamon.
Before entering combat, if a Digimon doesn’t see you, you can use a Digiattack to land a sneak attack. Once a battle starts, you will need to analyze enemy Digimon to find out their base stats and what attributes they are weak to. If you are in an unfavorable match-up, you should switch Digimon to get an advantage.
The more you battle different Digimon, the more you will learn about each, and the easier it will be to take them down. Once you have analyzed a Digimon to 100%, you will be able to convert the Digimon data into a new allied unit; the closer you are to 200%, the stronger the Digimon will be. The more Digimon you beat, the easier it will be to convert additional Digimon.
When the player interacts with their party Digimon, they are able to change their personality and potentially get new skills. Based on the bond type, it can change the path a Digimon can Digivolve.
Digivolution is locked behind the Digimon’s stats and the player’s ADAMAs rank. For the first part of the demo, we were only able to have our Digimon rank up to Rookie rank. The demo did showcase a wide variety of Digimon, both in the early stages and in the second part of the demo.
The game does have a challenging Digimon that the player can face, but it would take a ton of grinding to accomplish this challenge. You can use other Digimon as materials to enhance your Digimon, making them level faster. You can also De-Digivolve your Digimon in case you want to go a different route with it.
On Balanced difficulty, we did get a bit of reprieve, and after a bit of time standing around/resting, Regeneration Mode would kick in, recharging our Digimon’s health and skill points.
Just as we were about to start the Kiwagimon Boss fight (Champion Level Digimon), the game explained the Cross Arts mechanic. Cross Arts utilizes the power of each Digimon in order to damage an enemy. You can charge this meter by gathering up critical points (CP) earned by healing an ally or attacking an enemy Digimon.
Once it is fully charged, you can select X-Arts to unleash the attack. Depending on your party’s makeup, the Cross Art can have a different effect, such as buffing your allies or debuffing the enemy.
The second part of the demo showcased a portion of the story later in the game called the Abyss Beach. In this area, you can try out the Digimon card game and interact with other Digimon.
The first thing we explored was the In-Between Theater. By speaking with Mirei Mikagura (receptionist), we could go to the Outer Dungeons or check out the Digifarm. The Digifarm is a useful area, similar to the Pokémon Day Care, where you can enhance the stats of different members of your team.
Digimon placed here can not be used in battle and must be retrieved to get them back in your party. Once you have placed (Moved) a Digimon in the Digifarm, you can set up a training regimen based on the training items you have acquired.
Each type of training can affect the Digimon’s stats and how their personality will shift. You can speed up the training by spending Yen to quickly complete it. Otherwise, you will need to wait for the real-world equivalent of time to pass before the training is complete.
In the Abyss Beach section, we could see how guest members affected Digimon fights. Additionally, we could get around the map faster by riding on Leomon’s shoulders.
Since we were running out of time, we decided to try out the auto-battle fight mechanic. If the enemy Digimon had been analyzed enough, and their weakness was known, our party would target them with type-effective moves.
In each fight, both your main team and reserve team will gain experience. Occasionally, while you are exploring the world, you will have a surprise encounter. These surprise encounters can cause rare items to drop if you defeat the Digimon before it potentially retreats.
In the Abyss Beach portion, we learn about the rivaling factions of Digimon and how there are some that have only their self-interests in mind. For the second portion, we encounter Sharkmon, a Fortress Whale-like Digimon with a mean streak.
During this fight, instead of having our Digimon fight using the Auto-Battle system, we utilized the increased menu/combat speed to make the battle go quicker. Next to the boss’s health bar, you can see when its critical power is fully charged and when it’s about to unleash a devastating attack.
The combat system within Digimon Story Time Stranger felt more well-rounded and versatile compared to the grid combat in the prior game. The game offers a variety of ways to start combat, and once combat is started, how to change the process.
Digimon Story Time Stranger looks to give players a wider variety of experiences with their Digimon party, making it easier to have different combinations so that each playthrough will not be identical to the last unless desired.
The early grinding of levels can be off-putting to some who loved Digimon Survive, but it brings the franchise back to its roots of Digimon World 1 to 4.
I enjoyed Digimon Survive, but it is not the same experience as getting to explore a living, thriving digital world. When we finally got the chance to see the Digimon in their natural environment with Time Stranger, it was breathtaking and almost created a feeling of jealousy in wanting to experience it firsthand.
Now that I have gotten to play four hours of Digimon Story: Time Stranger, I can say that I have gone from being somewhat excited for the game to counting down the days until the game’s release.
Based on what I experienced during the preview, I can say that Digimon Story Time Stranger will give Digimon fans what they have been longing for and will become a fan favorite, potentially even breaking the Top 5 Digimon games list.
Digimon Story Time Stranger is set to launch across Windows PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 on October 3rd.
