There have been quite a lot of gaming-related posts lately but Japan is currently releasing so many great titles that it’s hard to ignore them. I never watched the Digimon Tv show as a kid but neither did I watch Pokemon. Of course, I played the first release (chose the red version back then) on my Game Boy but never got around to play any of the Digimon titles. But even I had my fair share of Digimon exposure. When you remember the Tamagochi days you probably read all these articles about Japanese people burying their dead Tamagochi as well. A time where Japan was still a very mystified country for me. We all had a little digital pet but when the trend slowly died we got ourselves a little Digimon as well. The best part: You could train them and let them fight against each other.
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is the latest Digimon game and actually aimed at a more mature audience. It’s basically targeted at all the people who grew up watching the show or playing the Digimon games and are now 15 years older. A pretty nice approach which I would love for Pokemon as well. Financially wise it would make sense for the huge Nintendo franchise but at least you could implement several difficulty modes. That would be something.
There has been a title for the PSP as well called Digimon World: Re: Digitize and remake which added Decode to the title. I bought and played the latter one on my 3DS but the graphics were horrible and the texts were so pixelated that you could barely read them. The 3DS was never the perfect machine to read with (unlike the Vita) but Digimon World: Re-Digitize Decode was truly horrible. Since then I have been waiting for the Vita entry to be released and that’s now been a solid 18 months.
Menu translations for Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
None of the latest Digimon games were brought over to the US with a translation and I’m not quite sure how good the chances are for this one to make it. The reviews are very solid to great and playing a Japanese game on the Vita is always a pleasure. If you don’t know Japanese but still want to play the game. Don’t worry, there already are some great guides floating around. And I’m sure there will be much more to come. Shounengamez was so kind as to do some menu translations. These will definitely come in handy when you have absolutely no Japanese knowledge but still want to play Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.
If you prefer video a YouTuber just started a walkthrough which should definitely help you out if you’re stuck in the game. I’m not the biggest fan of video and really prefer a written walk through so I can experience the whole story myself for the first time. But if you don’t know how to proceed these videos are great.
Get the Japanese guide
A member of GameFAQs picked up the Japanese guide for the game and will help you out when you have any questions. Just have a look in the thread. I’m still undecided if I should pick up this one or just go ahead and buy Yakuza Zero. I played the demo and absolutely loved it. But I have to admit, the Japanese is brutal in this one.
Like always I’ll update this thread whenever I come around new and useful information which will help to play Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. Who picked up the game already?
- Buy Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth from CDjapan
If you buy the game through my link I’ll get a small referral fee which will help to support the site. Thank you!
I was a fan of the anime when I was 9 or so, this brings back memories. Sadly though, most of the games that made it to the western market don’t seem to be my type. I’d like to give it a shot but don’t understand much japanese. You seem to think it’s feasable with walkthroughs and all but are there at the very least furigana dispalayed? That would be a ton helpfull, for the sake of looking up words or self-teaching, or getting maybe at least 10% of the dialogues.
Sadly, there are no furigana in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth but you’ll manage easily following a walkthrough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGQUEM6sa5o&list=PLkDZHf3dL5bYwxQcLiJKywcw-C88kcVA4
I have to admit that I overestimated the “power” of furigana a little bit, especially in my earlier posts on this site. Sure, it’s neat if you need to look up a word but it really holds you back in the long run. Get used to “reading” Kanji as early as possible. You’ll quickly get used to it and recognize the words you already know even without furigana.
Let me know how things are going with the game or what you decided.
This brings back my childhood!