I’ve always had a soft spot for the Digimon series since I was a youngster. Sure, Pokémon was the big hitter, what we watched on telly before school, but Digimon Adventure was a weekend treat in the same slot. While it’s never matched Pokémon’s popularity, it’s seen a steady stream of releases over nearly 20 years. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the latest entry and the seventh in the Story subseries.
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Digimon Story: Time Stranger arrives from Media.Vision eight years after Cyber Sleuth: Hacker’s Memory. Originally announced in 2017, it’s fair to say fans have waited a long time.
The game never fully disappeared, occasional updates surfaced, but it wasn’t until 2025 that we finally saw a trailer.
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Time Stranger is an RPG, so expect a time sink. Still, with seven years of development behind it, that effort shows in several areas.
The story follows an agent from the secret ADAMAS organisation, sent eight years into the past after a catastrophic event in Shinjuku. You play as either a male or female character, tasked with investigating the disaster’s origins, involving Digimon and strange anomalies, in hopes of preventing it in your timeline.
Digital Divide
The narrative spans both the Human World and the Digital World, as you try to alter history while keeping your identity hidden.
It’s fair to say the Human World sections are a bit dull. You wander through bland environments, engage in forgettable NPC conversations, and quickly realise your choices have little impact. The pacing also drags.
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The silent protagonist doesn’t help. Emotional scenes often fall flat while everyone else talks around you.
Things improve in the Digital World. You’ll meet standout characters, battle enemies, and interact with the stars of the show: the Digimon. Expect dungeon crawling and a few puzzles too.
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Time travel is used cleverly. Digimon you meet can evolve or take on new roles depending on your timeline movements. Digivolution also ties into this mechanic, which is a nice touch.
Combat is classic turn-based RPG. You field three Digimon at once, with backup support and Gaomon lending a hand. The system feels inspired by Shin Megami Tensei, using a rock-paper-scissors-style setup. Use your team well and you’ll trigger powerful combos and special attacks.
Hundreds of Monsters
There are 450 Digimon available, each with unique moves. You’ll constantly tweak your team to find the best fit. Add four skill discs per Digimon and you’ve got a deep, customisable system that takes time to master.
If things get tough, your character can unleash a Cross Art move after earning enough CP. It’s powerful, capable of wiping out enemies or healing your team, but you can only equip one at a time, which feels oddly restrictive given the range of options.
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Visually, Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a mixed bag. The animated art style is striking and often looks great, but some areas feel sparse. Sound design is decent, though not groundbreaking, and the voice acting is serviceable.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a time sink and a bit of an RPG throwback. It’s easily one of the best Digimon games to date, though held back by its Human World sections. Still, it’s an engaging tale wrapped around a deep, rewarding combat system, and fans will lose hours to it.
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