Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth

What else has been a more consistent alternative to Pokémon than Digimon? The two franchises have co-existed since 1997, Digimon appearing about a year after Pokémon, although based far more on Tamagotchi than Nintendo’s brand. But that one-year advantage meant that Pokémon has always cast the longer shadow. And when it came to gaming, Nintendo just dominated over Bandai’s attempts.

Until 2016, that is, when Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth appeared on PlayStation. Using the franchise’s advantage of a far more involved anime behind it, the game combined the monster-capturing mechanics and turn-based battles with a proper, deep story. There are many similarities with the rival ‘mon games, but ultimately Cyber Sleuth stands up in its own right, and does the Digimon proud. You couldn’t ask for better proof than the mighty Mike Fahey’s original review of the game, which doesn’t utter the P-word once.

Since the PlayStation release, the game has come out for Switch and PC, in a version with all DLC included, and if you’re reading this before Jan 15 2023, it’s currently 70% off on Switch, at just $14.99.

Available on: PlayStation, Switch, PC