First Gameplay Impressions of Digimon World -next 0rder-

Demo play site, uploaded by @digimon_info

Over December 19th and 20th fans could demo Digimon World -next 0rder- at Jump Festa 2016. The simulation RPG drew a crowd soon after opening its doors, with waiting lines for the game being around 20 minutes; each player was allotted 5 minutes of time with the game, and given a pair of Agumon and Gabumon stickers for playing. Here's a collection of first impressions from various players that posted on Twitter and other blog sites about their experiences.



From Digimon Headline

Rough impression of gameplay. First of all, even though I had two partners, the hunger and toilet timing was the same. This time it was Agumon and Gabumon, but what happens when the partners' ages are different is unknown... Also, after battle both partners run over to below the protagonist, and their Happiness  stat can be adjusted by praising or scolding them.

(The Happiness (なつき度 natsuki-do "emotional degree") they're referring to is probably the same Happiness from the original Digimon World and Re:Digitize/Decode that reflects a Digimon's attachment to its tamer. Ordinarily both Happiness and Discipline act as regulating factors that affect a Digimon's natural evolution, with Discipline increasing as Happiness decreases, and vice-versa. Interestingly, none of the first play impressions have mentioned Discipline as being in -next 0rder-; the stat may be absent from the game.)

From Digimon Headline

The after-battle fanfare and menu selection sounds were similar to the original Digimon World. It feels a little nostalgic.

From Sasakani (3rd & in 2nd place in the previous DIGIMADO tournament)

Thoughts after playing the NekuOda demo:

• Enemy Digimon are very fast on their feet.
• When giving a Digimon meat, or praising them, you can see their evolution conditions? I was able to evolve to Seadramon, Tyrannomon, and Garurumon.
• The Digimon's response time for each command is short.

From DigiKz

I could play for 5 minutes. You could choose between playing as either the male protagonist Takuto or the female protagonist Shiki. This time, I thought that the male protagonist seemed like the #1 candidate for main character, but because Shiki-chan seemed pretty nice, I selected her. If I buy the game, I think I'll probably begin as her.

In the demo you were thrown into an unknown grassland without explanation. Your partners [as Shiki] were Piyomon and Palmon (this time they apparently train simultaneously). If you chose Takuto it seems your partners were Agumon and Gabumon (I went with Keichi-san and saw him play as Takuto). For the time being, I walked around and encountered Goblimon. We rushed right into battle.

The battle system was autobattle, I didn't understand it well but it seems you told the Digimon what techs to use with the L & R buttons. You cheered with the O button, I don't know what kind of numerical value it increases. Anyway, we somehow won (because it's a demo). Beating Goblimon took a while because of how slow they go down. After winning a battle, it seems you could praise the Digimon (but I was able to battle without a relationship to them). When in the menu screen, Shiki-chan called over Piyo and Pal to the menu display. It felt like it took a little while. While the menu screen was up, the 5-minute timer stopped. However, in going through the menu you could only use items, you couldn't see the Digimon's individual status. I wonder if this feature was restricted for trial play? Even so, it really wasn't for the best, just battling Goblimon running through the grasslands. The trial version was honestly not that fun...

You also couldn't advance to other zones. Digitama were omitted, and before I could approach another Goblimon, time was up. I think it would have been a little more fun if I had more time with the demo. At the end, I received Dot Agumon and Gabumon stickers.

Dot Agumon & Gabumon stickers. Original image uploaded by @sasakani_cool

Poster for -next 0rder-, original image uploaded by DigiKz

Digimon World -next 0rder- will launch in Japan on March 17th, 2016, on the PlayStation Vita for 6,800 yen.