With the recent release ofDigimon Survive, fans hoped this latest entry to theDigimon serieswould once more bring the franchise back to the gaming scene. But followingthe mixed reception and review bombingit’s received, the series continues to have false starts with games that are just shy of the mark. Despite earlier titles likeDigimon Story: Cyber Sleuthand its additionalHacker’s Memorysparking fresh hope that the series could finally be meeting the standard thatPokemonhas been set, it seems that the franchise might never fully get out of the shadow cast by Game Freak’s juggernaut series.
But one ofPokemon’slatest spin-offs could help pave the way for a possible line ofDigimongames that would arguably be better suited to the set-up than its competitor.Pokemon Unite,Pokemon’sforay into MOBA games akin to the likes ofLeague of LegendsandDota 2, became highly popular among fans even in spite of criticisms against things like its microtransactions, garnering millions of downloads at the time of writing. ButUnite’soverall formula could easily be extrapolated forDigimonand take the game style even further, so TiMi Studio Group should consider aDigimon Unitespin-off.
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Unite Is Ideal For Digimon
Unite, at its core, is a straightforward game and performs similar to most other MOBA games in which two opposing teams attempt to score points and attack one another.Pokemon Uniteprovides a new take on this, however, combining its own mechanics such as evolution so that players must accrue experience in order to level up and evolve, providing them with stronger Pokemon to use against their opponents. SinceDigimonalready shares this quality withPokemon, the parallel is easy to make with playableDigimoncharacters digivolvingin order to reach more powerful stages, such as Champion or Ultimate.
Moreover,Pokemon Unite’ssetting has been sufficiently removed from the mainline series, allowing the spin-off to make substantial changes to thePokemonmechanics and lore. While a setting and “plot” forPokemon Unitewould be purely superficial, the game is set on a distant mythical island of Aeos where these battles take place using Aeos energy, with variouscurrencies like Aeos gems or Aeos tickets.As stated, this isn’t something the game relies upon in order for its gameplay to be enjoyed, butDigimonwould need far less reconfiguration to fitUnite’smodel, settingDigimon Unitein the digital world as an example.
Digimon Unite Could Be Better
It isn’t just the game’s setting that would work more cohesively under theUnitebanner, asPokemon Uniteborrows fromDigimonin order to explain away the reason why trainers' Pokemon would “devolve” with each new battle. The lore that the Aeos energy would mysteriously reset a Pokemon was introduced to address this and goes against the grain of whatPokemoncanon states.Digimon, on the other hand, faces no such challenge, as Digimon will routinely digivolve up and down dependent on battles. Not only would this be more consistent with its own canon, but could even factor intoUnite’sown mechanics.
Additionally,Digimonwields an extensive array of various digivolutions across many Digimon. UnlikePokemon, which sees its pocket monsters having 1- to 3-stage evolutionary lines they won’t go beyond,Digimon’sown monsters digivolve in multiple different ways. For example, while Charmander could only reach Charizard,Agumon has multiple digivolutions, ranging from ShineGreymon, WarGreymon, ZekeGreymon, and more. This could substantially expand uponUnite’smechanics and allow players to specialize across digivolutions or even change up strategy mid-battle with a different digivolution.
Another significant improvementDigimon Unitecould also make thatPokemon Uniteis currently lacking would be a story mode. WhilePokemon Unitefollows a basic premise in order to get players into the action as a free-to-play game, a story mode could greatly benefit theUniteseries that could first help new players acclimatize to the game’s mechanics and controls, allow them to gradually improve, all while delivering an engaging story.Digimoncould best deliver a story, as a setting in the digital world is more malleable for potential plots thanPokemon’sAeos island.
At present, TiMi Studio Group has other projects it is working on, including its continued support and expansion ofPokemon Unitewith new seasons, playable Pokemon, and more. Another added complication is thatDigimonalready has a significant number of mobile games already in operation, andUnitewould be yet another title to add to this mix, meaning it might not be the standout entry fans could expect. But regardless of this,Digimon Unitecould be a serious contender for theUnitemodel and could finallybreakDigmonout ofPokemon’sshadow.
Digimon Surviveis available now for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
