Digimon Story: Time Stranger Shows Off A Vibrant Digital World And Quality Of Life Upgrades

One of the titles at SGF I was most excited to check out was Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Having loved the previous two Digimon Story games I was excited to see a new location, new story, but more of the same JRPG goodness.

I got to sit down and play 30 minutes of Digimon Story: Time Stranger, starting with the protagonist, Aegiomon, and Inori first reaching Central Town in the Digital World. After a brief cutscene of the characters making their way through a sewer to a ladder, the party emerges in Central Town.

Central Town Is Alive With Digimon

I was blown away by just how much was going on in this city. From where you emerge, you can see at least three dozen digimon, of levels from Baby up to Mega, some hanging around having conversations, some watching over the city, and others working as store owners or guides.

It was a feast to the eyes, and as a fan of Digimon, I was even more excited to hear that every Digimon that I could see in and around Central Town was one I could obtain for myself through scanning or digivolution.

With a variety of colorful characters, different themed Digimon exploring relevant environments, and active movement, it really made the city feel alive.

Exploring the city, there was a shop to purchase stat-changing equipment from, attacks to purchase for your Digimon, and food for the Digifarm. Plenty for you to spend your hard-earned cash on. I didn't get to dig much more into that, but a lot of it was the standard RPG array of items and elemental attacks of varying power.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger Overworld Combat And QOL

Leaving Central Town on a Pegasusmon's back, it was my new goal to reach the top of a large tower. Entering a space with aggressive Digimon, there were a few things that I was shown.

The first was that there were a variety of supplies and crates that I could destroy with my Digimon to obtain the item.

Digimon now spawn in the overworld, as opposed to being random encounters. On top of that, I was surprised when I initiated my first battle… and it was over just as soon as it had started. A new Quality of Life feature in Digimon Story: Time Stranger is that if you're up against Digimon that are less powerful than your own party by a certain amount, you'll win automatically.

What's even better about this is that not only is EXP still earned, but you get scan data for the Digimon you face too.

When you encounter a Digimon that you don't kill immediately, you'll get launched into turn-based combat. Here you can perform basic attacks or lean into your Digimon's special abilities. This is where I experienced the least difference from prior Digimon Story games, but also it's Shin Megami Tensei style combat, where there's a focus on using special attacks and swapping between a variety of unique creatures. It doesn't need to totally reinvent the genre to be a good combat system.

Another major Quality of Life improvement is that combat speed can change. You can have 1x, 2x, 3x, and 5x battle speed. When you know your Digimon, what combos of abilities are strongest, and are maybe doing some experience farming this speed up will be a saving grace.

Boss Battles Have Evolving Moments

There were two places where combat showed off some unique aspects that I experienced as I was fighting against Parrotmon, a boss/titan at this point in the story.

The first of these changes involved Parrotmon directly. Partway through the battle, Parrotmon brought its wings in towards its body, protecting itself as it started to charge up electrical energy with its head. A new white bar appeared below its health; this was a gauge that I needed to take down by specifically attacking its head instead of its body, otherwise it would unleash a powerful attack.

This added dynamic element created a reason to prioritize powerful attacks, turning the battle momentarily into a sprint as opposed to being a marathon.

The other change is how the tamer is involved in a battle. The first of which is in item usage. Instead of an Item being used, and taking up a Digimon's turn, the Tamer has their own 'action' that they can take. If an item is used, the Digimon whose turn it is is still able to perform an ability, but it will take a rotation of all of the Digimon before your Tamer can use an action again.

This came in clutch while I was using Tankmon in the battle against Parrotmon. Tankmon has a powerful attack that will leave him paralyzed for a turn. Just before it was Tankmon's turn, I was about to use a restorative item with the Tamer, readying Tankmon for another powerful attack, while still getting to deal heavy damage with a Kyuubimon.

A second way that the Tamer is involved is with a powerful X-Art (Pronounced Cross Art). While battling, you'll earn points by hitting your enemy with type advantage attacks, and avoiding being hit with moves that are strong against your Digimon. Activating this ability stacked three turns' worth of every buff on my entire party.

This was another time, this time created by the player, to set up your most powerful Digimon to attack in quick succession to capitalize on the boosts that you receive.

One thing that wasn't clear about X-Art is whether this kind of ability is one that can be swapped out, or you can expand from having one option to multiple.

Creating And Digivolving Your Partners

Digimon are at the core of this experience. At any time in your party, you can have three active members and three reserve members. There are also spaces for guest party members who are part of combat, but can't be controlled by the player. You can also have 999 additional Digimon in your storage. You can freely transfer Digimon in and out of your party whether you're in a city or out in areas where you can fight wild Digimon. I got to see Aegiomon and Minervamon as guests in this session.

Digimon in your party, whether they're active or in reserve, will all gain full experience in battle, which is a lovely touch.

Encountering Digimon in the wild, you'll scan them. Once you've scanned them to 100%, you can convert that data into a Digimon of that type for yourself. Additionall,y you can scan to 200% and the Digimon that you create will have boosted stats as well as a higher maximum level potential.

An aspect of Digimon raising that I didn't get to see as part of the gameplay demo was the Digimon farm so we'll have to look for more than that in the future. 

Digimon Has Never Looked So Good

Walking around the world, seeing Digimon interact with one another, and most frequently during the battle scene, was just how good the Digimon in Digimon Story: Time Stranger looked.

I was most impressed with seeing Zudomon up close, his bulkier model looking really well-defined in Central Town, and Kyuubimon in the middle of battle. The boss battle took place under dark cloud cover, but Kyuubimon's flaming elements glowed bright. This not only looked more realistic, but also made me think of other interesting fire or water elements of different Digimon and how they'll be represented.

References Everywhere

You can tell that the developers are fans of the source material by how even that small slice of the world was overflowing with references. The Digimon 02 Rookies could be found near the Trailmon station, Tamers Rookies were hanging out in an alleyway, and even Arukenimon and Mummymon were seen together.

Outside of the specific references to groups of Digimon, if there's a Digimon that you're a fan of from specific Digimon media ,then chances are that Digimon is here. We've seen Digimon as early as Digimon Adventure, all the way up to Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time.

It isn't entirely clear if we'll see any Digimon from Ghost Game or characters like Pulsemon or Herrismon from mobile games, and I think it would be safe to assume we won't see any Appmon.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger Preview | Final Thoughts

I went into Digimon Story: Time Stranger as a lifelong Digimon fan, and someone who has been poring over released footage and assets, and I was still blown away by what I got to see. The world is full and thriving with Digimon life. Packed full of new Digimon (like Tankdramon) and references that Digimon fans will always smile to see.

I hope they are hiding some Ghost Game Digimon, and that we'll get to see more of the Armor Digivolutions (including some non-canonical ones).

The release of this game can't come any sooner.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger was previewed at Summer Game Fest 2025.