Digimon Survive takes the Franchise into a New Direction

If you grew up in the 90’s or early 2000, you probably argued with your friends whether Pokemon or Digimon was better. Both are Japanese video game franchises focused on working with animals to fight other players. They were released around similar times in the United State. They also both ended with -mon so it was easy for people to argue which was better. Internationally, Pokemon has beaten Digimon in popularity and the number of games released. Digimon games’ genres have greatly changed over the year and don’t have a definitive genre, unlike Pokemon. Bandai Namco’s newest Digimon game, Digimon Survive, will be a Survival Strategy RPG. Perhaps the change will bring in more fans.

Digimon has always had the advantage of a darker story than Pokemon. It looks like Digimon Survive is taking the darkness and ramping it to 100%. The gameplay is split into two parts.

One will focus on traditional SRPG by moving your Digimon Units around the map and attacking other Digimon. Each unit has Energy Points and managing it is important. Energy Points can help you evolve or use different attacks. The battlefield is a mix of 3D areas with semi-2D Digimon sprites.

The second part is the interaction with other characters. You play as Takuma Momotsuka, an 8th-grade student who gets lost in another world. With his partner Agumon, they work together to help him find a way back home. There are other human characters and depending on how you talk to them, it will change the story, cause evolution, or death for some characters. 

There are multiple endings, paths, and evolutions based on how the story changes.

The art looks beautiful and the concept is definitely an interesting take on the series. There aren’t too many trailers on the gameplay so it will be interesting to see how the game develops. The idea of the game isn’t enough for me to instabuy but depending on reviews, I may change my mind.

Digmon Survives releases sometime in 2019 for all regions and for the Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Sources:

Bandai Namco

Eurogamer.net

Siliconera

Game Giants Podcast 6.5 (6): Anime Expo 2018 Review Ft. Sam

Want to listen to something over the weekend? This podcast, Jairus and Sam review Anime Expo 2018!

Benjamin Le: Newsforgamers.net

Jairus Cambe: Youtube: Jairus C. Music 

Valve adds the ability to see your Loot Boxes

 

As controversy continues regarding loot boxes in Video Games, Valve has taken the initiative to improve the process for their games. Dutch and Belgium have threatened to prosecute gaming companies regarding loot boxes in games. Their ruling stated

“Loot boxes contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes are transferable. Loot boxes do not contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes aWhre not transferable.”

Dutch declared four games were guilty and two games are from Valve. The government declared loot boxes had monetary value content but didn’t properly showcase what you earned as it is based on chance. Earlier in June, Valve disabled opening loot boxes and trading gear in the Netherlands, Belgium and Deutschland in CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Operative) and DOTA 2 (Defense of the Ancients 2). 

 

 

Now Valve has taken another step for those regions. For DOTA 2, Dutch players can see what the loot box will contain before purchasing it. The game now restricts players by only allowing one box purchase at a time and removing the box opening animation.

Why these specific changes?

The removal of multiple purchases to prevent players from potentially mass purchasing boxes. Previously, multiple box purchases gave you small discounts or extra bonuses for more boxes. Regarding the animation, many loot boxes had fancy animations that were designed to make players feel good about opening them. Psychologist defines the feeling as ‘variable rate reinforcement.’ The adrenaline rush and the dopamines in your brain affect you more if you are unaware of the rewards but they are delivered on a periodic basis. Each game has their own animation and developers put extreme effort to make it look, sound, and feel amazing.

Do you want to see these changes in North America? Or do you think these changes aren’t the right steps to change loot boxes?

Sources

PC Gamer – The Joys of Opening Loot Boxes

Valve: CS:GO Forum 7/11 Patch

PCGAMESN – Removal of Trade in the Netherlands

Eurogamer

Eurogamer – Removal of Box Trading