Following the release date trailer at the recent State of Play, we got to try out Digimon Story: Time Stranger, the long-awaited new entry in the Digimon Story sub-series.
This game has gotten a lot of fans excited, not only because it’s coming soon after having been in development for a long time. There’s also the fact that the game promises to tell an intriguing story, all while having gameplay that looks to build upon the Cyber Sleuth games (which are considered to be among the best Digimon games by many fans). It also helps that Time Stranger seems to be a big-budget series entry, at least in terms of how the game looks.
Given the excitement from fans, we were definitely interested in trying out Time Stranger in a recent media preview event hosted by Bandai Namco. While the demo that we played was fairly short, it did give us a good idea of what players can expect. From our time with the game, we can confirm that there’s plenty of reasons for fans to be excited.
A Promising World with a Digimon-Human Connection Story
If you ask fans about their favorite game, chances are that many will mention the two Cyber Sleuth games. This is because they feature a familiar yet fun combat system, not to mention that they are accessible to newcomers, given that the first Cyber Sleuth functions as a remake of the Digimon Story series.
It has been nearly eight years since the release of Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory, and while the wait was long, Time Stranger might just be worth the wait, thanks in part to how nice the game looks.
Sure, this isn’t a blockbuster triple-A release, but in the context of the Digimon games, Time Stranger has some eye-catching visuals, all while retaining the series’ signature style. This is especially the case with the various Digimon designs. Players will get to see over 450 Digimon in this game, and from what we’ve seen, their designs won’t disappoint.
Speaking of Digimon, you can ride certain ones, which should make traversing the game’s levels a bit faster. In our short demo time though, we only got to explore the game’s Central Town, which seems to act as a hub of sorts. Even though we didn’t see the other parts of the game’s world, the Central Town area already seems to be packed with things to do.
Aside from the game’s world, the fact that this game features English voice acting should make for a fresh experience, especially considering that this is the first Digimon game with English audio. This is great for players who prefer English dub options as the game’s story promises to be quite an engaging one.
We weren’t exactly able to dive into the story, but this game promises to explore the connection between Digimon and humans, so that premise is already quite intriguing. Hopefully, the game’s story delivers on its promise.
What we were able to experience more of was the combat.
Combat that Classic JRPG Fans can Enjoy
Monster collection will no doubt be a major element of Time Stranger, and while we can’t comment on this aspect of the game, we can talk about the combat system.
The game features a turn-based combat system where players have multiple Digimon on the field who take turns attacking foes. In battles, the goal is to discover the enemy’s weaknesses and use corresponding abilities for major damage. This weakness-based combat system, coupled with the overall combat flow, makes for an experience that’s reminiscent of old-school SMT games.
In the demo, our main combat encounter was against Parrotmon, a foe that was quite tough to take down. After making a dent on its HP, an ally appeared and helped take Parrotmon down. Even though this was more of a “story” encounter, we still got a good enough taste of the combat to get us excited to see more of the game.
Given the familiar nature of its combat mechanics, Time Stranger is shaping up to be a great entry point for those new to Digimon. So long as they’re familiar with typical JRPG turn-based mechanics, the combat flow of Time Stranger should be easily accessible.
This is in line with what we found out about the game from Producer, Ryosuke Hara. To be exact, we got to interview Hara after our demo of the game, and he mentioned that the development team intended this game to be a fun experience even for those who have not played the previous Digimon Story games, or Digimon titles in general.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger Initial Verdict
After playing a bit of Digimon Story: Time Stranger, we can’t give a final verdict yet, but our initial impressions of it are rather positive. Based on the game’s world, story, and combat, Digimon fans are right to be excited for this game.
If the full release delivers on this promise, Time Stranger may just have the potential to equal (or even dethrone) Cyber Sleuth as the definitive Digimon experience.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger will be released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on October 3, 2025.