The ESRB has rated Bandai Namco’s upcoming, and much delayed, strategy JRPG Digimon Survive. It also reveals the game’s darker tone.
The game sees a a group of teenagers on a school camping trip hurled into the Digital World. Featuring anime-style graphics and strategy JRPG battles with over 100 Digimon, players will have to make difficult choices in order to survive.
Announced back in 2018, Digimon Survive was originally set to launch in 2019. It was then delayed to 2020, 2021, and then 2022. The latter news was announced in Bandai Namco‘s financial report, before being officially announced several months later. The game’s development was undoubtedly strained by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent lockdown orders, and remote working.
Those development woes may finally be over, as the ESRB has rated the game. Giving it a T for Teen Rating, they note the game has Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Language, and Mild Blood. They also describe the game as a visual novel with strategy RPG elements, and also mention the addition of the Xbox Series X|S as a platform.
The game’s previously reported darker tone seems to be in full effect. Aside from some harsh language, a bloodied corpse is briefly shown in a cutscene.
It should be noted that in most media, Digimon are not depicted as being capable of bleeding, leaving few other candidates than the teenage humans. Of course, the more mature rating may mean the Digimon themselves are at risk.
The franchise has never been afraid to pull at heart-strings with tragic deaths of beloved Digimon. Neither has it been afraid to show Digimon poop, often used for comic relief, or even a weapon by “Filth” Digimon like Numemon and Sukamon.
You can find the full ESRB description below.
“This is a visual novel, with strategy/role-playing game elements, in which players follow Japanese teenagers lost in a world of monsters. As players follow the storyline, they periodically engage in turn-based battles using Digimon (monsters with special powers/abilities). As human and Digimon characters move around grid-like battlefields, players select attack moves/skills from a menu and watch short animations of monsters executing moves. Attacks can include kicking, biting, blasts of energy, and elemental bursts. One cutscene briefly depicts a still image of a bloodstained corpse. Out of a variety of attack moves, Digimon can perform a Poop Toss, which is depicted as a cartoony poo coil thrown at opponents, and is accompanied by squishy sound effects. The words “sh*t,” “b*tch,” and “p*ssed” appear in the dialogue.”
Digimon Survive launches 2022 on Windows PC (via Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S
