There are a ton of Digimon games out there for fans of the franchise to enjoy, and one particular series stands out as being immensely popular due to the dedication to both storytelling and fun gameplay.
The Digimon Story games consist of 6 titles, 1 of which was only released in Japan, and all of them have received unanimously positive reviews from critiques and fans alike. And while all of them are ranked fairly similarly, it's clear which ones appeal to modern gamers the most.
6 Digimon World Dawn & Dusk
Released for the Nintendo DS in 2007, these 2 games are very similar with only a few thematic changes. Both tell the story of a sinister virus that is sending earthquakes around the digital world that revert Digimon back into their egg forms. The player takes control of a Tamer seeking to find and stop the cause of this troubling occurrence.
Digimon World Dawn and Dusk possesses all the adventuring and Digimon battling one expects from the franchise and players will find new species of digital monsters that they can partner with for epic battles. While a great game, it does not do anything groundbreaking for the subject matter.
5 Digimon Story Lost Evolution
In this 2010 adventure, also for the Nintendo DS, players will take the role of a tamer brought to the digital world after seeing a bright light descend onto a nearby mountain in the real world. After being transported, they meet their Digimon partners and end up having to fight some antagonistic characters with hidden agendas.
The gameplay is considered to be well-balanced and possesses a few different training methods for one's Digimon partners, which makes it less repetitive to increase an ally's stats. Digimon in one's party also gain experience while not in battle, which makes leveling up less tedious. However, some items required for Digivolutions are a pain to find, which is not the worst thing for an RPG but still detracts a bit from the fun.
4 Digimon World DS
Created for the Nintendo DS a bit earlier is Digimon Wolrd DS from 2006, which has a story that focuses on a version of the real world that begins to see massive leaps in technological advancement, which gives rise to the appearance of Digimon. One day, as the protagonist is doing research on a computer, they get sucked into the digital world before being sent on a crazy adventure with their partner Digimon while doing battle with the sinister and mysterious antagonist Unknown-D.
In addition to having all the requirements of similar combat-oriented RPGs, there are some novel ways to acquire Digimon partners and even some unorthodox Digivolution paths.
3 Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue & Red
North American audiences will likely be unfamiliar with these dual-titles, as it was only released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2011. Like with some other games in the franchise, 2 versions of essentially the same game were sent out into the world. The events of Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue and Red follow the protagonist from the Digimon Fusion anime, which is unusual since the game protagonists are usually original.
In terms of gameplay, there are around 400 Digimon that are obtainable, though, even more interestingly, the mechanics are changed up a bit from the usual Digimon games as there is a huge focus on fusing Digimon together to create novel variations of everyone's favorite digital monsters.
2 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
As one of the best-selling and well-received Digimon games of the era, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth takes storytelling to the next level by introducing a new way in which one will learn about and befriend digital monsters. Players take control of a newcomer to certain aspects of the online world and get sucked into a character-driven adventure where one must act as a detective to solve people's problems both online and offline with the aid of their digital companions.
The combat is satisfying and appearing on more heavy-duty consoles like the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows allowed the developers to go nuts with cool animation, a beautiful art style, and tons of Digimon to choose from. Both newcomers to the franchise and veteran Tamers seem to have enjoyed this 2015 title immensely and made it possible for a sequel to be created.
1 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory
The sequel to the previous digital detective tale, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory takes all the great things about their predecessor while telling the story of the same setting from another character's perspective. This is a novel way that has allowed the developers to re-use many parts from the previous game while telling an entirely fresh tale with close to 100 more Digimon than were previously obtainable in this 2017 release. This game appears on all the same consoles as Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.
By delving into memories and digital realms alike, players can experience a riveting adventure full of dynamic characters, witty dialogue, and events that feel significant. There are also tons of epic battles to be had alongside a party stacked with some of the coolest and strongest Digimon in the franchise.