Digimon World

Gameplay

The gameplay revolves around raising a single Digimon from its egg form, hatching into a Fresh, up through In-Training, Rookie, Champion, and with work, Ultimate. A Digimon partner will "fade away" with age, and return to an egg eventually, so the player has to raise it again. To raise a Digimon partner, the player must train it, feed it, let it rest and take it to a bathroom.

The other main part of gameplay is battle. The player's partner Digimon fight the Digimon that have become aggressive due to a crisis on File Island. Partner Digimon begin the game with a few basic skills, but acquire more as they progress in levels through the game.

The more Digimon who you gain in your city will make training and various other aspects of the game much easier. Many will open shops and even sell items, some which will open mini-games you can play to gain rewards and items.

Plot

The game revolves around a young boy (the player can name the protagonist in the beginning of the game), the protagonist, who is drawn into the Digital World through his V-Pet device. Jijimon greets and asks him a few questions, the answers to which determine whether he begins with an Agumon or Gabumon. His goal is to travel around File Island, locating all of the resident Digimon of File City who have turned feral and bring them back, raising Digimon partners in the process. He must train his Digimon and battle his way through all of Digimon World until the once sparsely populated city is flourishing with different Digimon from all of Digimon World. He must eventually go to Mount Infinity (the final location) to confront the antagonist, Analogman, and the mega Machinedramon, and save the Digital World from destruction.

Development

Developer and publisher Bandai (now Namco Bandai Games) used an extensive marketing campaign to compete with Nintendo's Pokémon media franchise, specifically the video games Pokémon Red and Blue. A promotional Digimon trading card was offered to the first 100,000 North American customers to purchase the game. The game was officially announced in conjunction with Digimon World 2 in May 2000, before either's release.

Reception

Digimon World received a 23 out of 40 total score from editors of Japanese Weekly Famitsu magazine, and went on to sell approximately 250,000 copies in the region by February 2000.

The English version sold enough copies to qualify as a Greatest Hits title in North America, and Platinum Range in Europe, but received mixed to average review scores from critics, earning a 52.55% average on aggregate review website GameRankings. GamePro magazine criticized the game's "tinny" music and sound effects, as well as the largely uncontrollable nature of its combat system, recommending it only for "a hardcore Digimon fan". GameSpot's Miguel Lopez likewise stated that "Digimon World isn't for everyone – only dedicated Digimon fans or fans of the monster-raising genre need apply," but found the graphics pleasing, declaring that "despite its disassociating play focus, no one can deny that Digimon World is a nice-looking game." IGN's David Zdyrko offered a similar opinion on the game's visuals, stating "There's nothing revolutionary being done here [...] but it still can be classified as a good looking videogame," but found the game's battle system unfulfiling.

Legacy

The game was followed by various sequels released for the PlayStation and other platforms, though they do not retain the gameplay elements found in the original. In addition, despite being localized as such, Digimon World DS, Digimon World Dawn and Dusk, Digimon World Data Squad, and Digimon World Championship aren't official games in the series.

Digimon World Re:Digitize was first announced in July 2011, in an issue of V-Jump, as the first Digimon game for the PlayStation Portable. The game was announced to be developed by Japanese video game developer Tri-Crescendo, The original premise of Re:Digitize was to call back to the first Digimon World game; unlike the sequels.

Digimon World: Next Order was announced in the July 2015 issue of V-Jump. It will be released for PlayStation Vita and will be published by Bandai Namco. A trailer was released on July 31 and featured clips from the original Digimon World before showcasing its gameplay. It will be about an “evolving world,” and like Re:Digitize, the player will take control of the main character who will travel alongside a Digimon partner. The first partners to be revealed were Agumon and Gabumon. It was released in Japan on the 17th of March 2016.