YMMV / Digimon Ghost Game

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • GulusGammamon's relationship with Hiro is a bit...complicated at best. Does he genuinely care about Hiro to an extent, or he's just trying to use him to prove a point that Digimon are heartless savages that had to be suppressed though fear? He's not far from trying to convince Hiro into submitting to his ideology, but he shows too much Pragmatic Villainy and restraint (especially for a Digimon that can call forth the apocalypse at any moment) to be considered only using Hiro as a prized possession and is perfectly content on letting the protagonists fight on their own volition unless they clearly can't. As Regulusmon, he becomes a flat-out sadistic monstrosity who gleefully slaughters Gammamon-Siriusmon and laughs at him over being baited into getting countered in front of an obviously despairing Hiro and other equally shocked spectators and combatants, but he only snaps and attacks Hiro after he finds out that he's getting tricked and doesn't mind him otherwise.
  • It's also unclear if GulusGammamon's backstory of being the Sole Survivor of a planet destroyed by Endbringer is actually true or him lying. When he tells the protagonists and Quantumon about it, he sounds pretty convincing, but when questioned, claims that it's only "2,000 human years later". The humans largely treat it with an unimpressed mood, but all of the Digimon in Quantumon's room are instantly terrified, presumably because of Narnia Time between the two worlds meaning that 2,000 years come to a pass very quickly on the other side. It also freaks out Quantumon enough to take all the Digimon back, and GulusGammamon's response to Hiro indicates that he wasn't taking the entire thing with enough seriousness. If at anything, it could just be used to freak out Quantumon rather than justifying himself.
• Anti-Climax Boss: At the end of his debut episode, Dracumon promises to get revenge against Ruli and Angoramon. Fans expecting him to have a rematch with them will get disappointed by Dracumon's reappearance in episode 25, as he gets quickly killed by Vamdemon for trying to drink Ruli's blood for revenge, not even having a proper fight against her and Angoramon.
• Arc Fatigue: A common criticism of the series is that it keeps running with the Monster of the Week incidents on Earth that aren't related to the main story. At the start of the series there are implications that there's something wrong with Gammamon and the Digital World. The former gets development in Episode 13, but then only becomes relevant a couple of times before the final arc. The latter isn't brought up at all until Episode 56, then is similarly left hanging until the final few episodes. The real reasons for both are only explained in an Info Dump, 10 minutes before the ending, after the conflict is already resolved.
• Ass Pull:
  • Siriusmon inexplicably overpowering Regulusmon one-on-one after being revived, despite it was established earlier that Regulusmon was perfectly capable of curb-stomping all three of the protagonists Ultimate-Level Digimon all by himself. It just seemingly came out of nowhere without any concrete explanation on why it happens, and would also had been made the idea of the group perfectly content in fighting him together prior moot. However, this could be because of Siriusmon busting out Planet Knuckle for the first time; the move's existence had been known for some time now because of the Digimon Reference Book, but like many of the Partner Digimon in this series, Siriusmon purposefully held off on using it until the time was right to give the sync prompt.
  • Despite the ending answering most of the Driving Questions instead of leaving them in dangling threads, GulusGammamon suddenly drops what can potentially be a bombshell if he wasn't lying. He claims that he was an alien whose planet was devoured by something called the Endbringer and the corrupted Digimon were used to combat it, even as no such thing was hinted prior and he was just shown to be a Sukuna-esque Evil Overlord trying to convince Hiro that Digimon had to be suppressed through the fear of death, or that some Digimon couldn't be reasoned with and had to be disposed of. The way he says it makes it look like he just made it up to freak Quantumon out, but there's no denial that it came too abruptly, and if it is true, that means aside from him potentially being an alien, there's an even bigger threat out there, that he only decided to mention now, right when the main conflict ended.
• Audience-Alienating Ending: Just like Digimon Adventure 02, the final episode is considered to be a very rushed one that dropped development after development that clearly needed at least 2 more episodes to properly flesh them all out. Particularly, Arcturusmon and Proximamon's absence is widely regarded as a flaw by most fans, with those who actually liked the ending wanting them to show up and be followed upon in a sequel or interquel.
• Awesome Art: Ghost Game's evolutions are among the shortest across the franchise - the longest barely reaches sixteen seconds - but as per the norm with Digimon, a series' best animation can often be found in their evolutions and this one is no exception. The backgrounds are tunnels full of lights and DNA strands streaming along or converging into the Digimon, the tamers' current outfits will be shown instead of reusing the exact same shots; and unlike Adventure: or despite Gammamon's four Adults, everybody gets to have those gorgeous sequences. When it's time for them to go Perfect, the Adults no longer simply emerge from a cocoon of energy and are covered in light that burns off to reveal their Perfect form.
• Awesome Music:
  • The opening song, "Faction" by Wienners, is extremely hype while also tossing in some creepy-synth to emphasize the slightly spookier vibe of the series. And there's a full version!
  • "First Riders", the first evolution theme. It opens on haunting piano and strings before blending them with triumphant rock, combining the series' elements of horror and action in one thrilling tune. As a nod to the evolution theme of Digimon Adventure, "Brave Heart" is even mentioned at the 4:14 mark of the song.
  • The fourth credits theme, "Monster Disco" is a lighthearted song that combines a catchy disco tune and cheerful lyrics with the occasional horror-themed sound effect to create something that wouldn't sound out of place at a Halloween party.
  • The second evolution theme, "MAKUAKE", is somehow better than "First Riders"!
• Broken Base:
  • The slower pacing of the anime with its constant Digimon of the Week plots compared to past seasons has led to plenty of contention among viewers. To those who like it, the much slower plot progression helps avoid the problems that Digimon Adventure: had, allowing for more time to focus on the characterization and bonds between the human and Digimon protagonists, while also embracing the previous show's strong points by showing off various Digimon both old and recent in unique ways in the human world, similar to Adventure: showing them off in the Digital World. And when something does happen in the plot, it's assuredly never forgotten (with a few exceptions). On the other hand, to others, it's a heavy detriment due to having a lot less of an overarching plotline compared to the other series and being more boring and uneventful as a result due to its abnormally sluggish plot progression ^note While Frontier and Digimon Adventure: suffered from poor pacing issues at times, they do not go without major buildups for periods spanning 20 - 40+ episodes, with plenty being unsatisfied with nothing major happening in several episodes outside of an occasional new evolution or introducing a new ally, with arguments that the attempts to "shake up the plot" are too minimal and don't feed enough intriguement or hinting to the greater plot at hand.
  • The Jet-Black Conqueror's portrayal as a Sukuna-esque Evil Overlord who used to have no redeeming traits and only barely mellowed out by (passively) spending time with Hiro and his Gammamon. Some people think that it's an interesting and creative twist to the series' apocalyptic abomination archetype mostly consisting of outright Eldritch Abominations — in contrast, the Jet-Black Conqueror's various forms merely resemble dark versions of Gammamon's evolutions and walks amongst the protagonists inside a cute and friendly Digimon, emphasizing the Paranoia Fuel that any sufficiently powerful Digimon can be a force of destruction without looking too monstrous and they can be near you at any moment. Others believe it's a cheap cop-out that could had been done much better if not for the limited number of serial episodes near the end, believing that he would be a better Climax Boss and something else, such as the mysterious Digimon who debuted in the same episode as Regulusmon or Lucemon, could take the Big Bad or even the Final Boss role instead, and his characterization can be done better than being an unhinged monster who's just put on a tight leash.
  • The ending itself is pretty...divisive to say at the best. There are many fans who consider it rushed and failing to deliver any climatic, cathartic or emotional moments in favor of a Writer Cop Out that was also blamed on the Toei hacking incident of March 2022, and believed that it would need at least 2 more episodes of breathing room to properly flesh out and deliver. In the other hand, there are equally many fans who praise it for somehow still being able to answer a huge portion of the In-Universe mysteries held back for the majority of the episodes despite the relatively short build-up window, and a conclusive, optimistic outcome that doesn't look too far off (especially when prejudice towards Digimon is nowhere near as awful as other series, since humans spent enough time living amongst them to see them as the creatures they really are.) But one thing the fanbase can agree is the absence of Arcturusmon and Proximamon being sort of disappointing, with some hoping for a sequel or interquel in the future.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Those who had watched Episode 63 and onwards and read Regulusmon's Digital Reference Book entry will instantly recognize GulusGammamon as the one who caused the series' cataclysm.
• Complete Monster: "Executioner": Sealsadramon is a cold, ruthless mechanoid whose sole objective in life is meeting a murder quota. Setting a goal of 1000 victims, Sealsdramon invariably alters the tone of the show by making Bokomon his thousandth kill. When GulusGammamon questions his motives, Sealsdramon reaffirms there is no rhyme or reason to its actions, just an obsession with murder.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Archnemon quickly became one of the most memorable villains of the anime despite appearing in a single episode and being a Monster of the Week in the grand scheme of things. Reasons include her competence as a villain (especially compared to her 02 version), her nightmarish behavior and actions (showing violence unthinkable for a kid series) and her very attractive design in her human form (that showed for the first time how she looked without the sunglasses and hat).
  • In an official poll conducted in June 2022 that asked which featured Digimon in the second batch of episodes was people's favorite, Ajatarmon took the lead with nearly twice as many votes as second and third-placers Sealsdramon and Digitamamon combined. It can likely be chalked up to being one of the more sympathetic villains with her misguided affection towards a human, inflicting some of the worst Body Horror seen in the series up to that point - and for having an absolutely gutwrenching death. Said human - Yuto Takanashi - is also quite popular, and many people have been begging for the two of them to come back so they can have a second chance at a proper friendship.
  • Kayono Aramaki, the One-Shot Character of Episode 30, is considered very relatable by fans because of her locking up herself away from school, apparently because of a feud with her teacher. It's also not difficult to feel sorry for her when we find out she let herself got used by some vicious Digimon who didn't even care for her and just wanted to use her to justify wrecking havoc.
  • The Calamaramon in Episode 40 is surprisingly popular because of the ethereal and horrific Body Horror she induces, and she's portrayed as attractive and endearing unlike her Frontier counterpart.
  • Piemon, who shows up right after Calamaramon's episode is highly impactful despite not even directly fighting once for several reasons. On top of being the first Ultimate Digimon incident the kids run into, unlike his Adventure counterpart he's a Noble Demon who is admired by his fellow troupe members and is a Graceful Loser who instantly makes his leave and releases all of his victims after being bested by Ruli in a game of trump. Last but not least, he's also pretty flashy and intimidating for a Digimon of the week and every minute he's on-screen you can feel the tension rising.
  • Emma Hanes, the One-Shot Character of Episode 43 is considered by fans as a pretty adorable and quirky young woman, with many wishing for her to come back in a future episode. The insane Body Horror inflicted by Eyesmon on her body is remarkably gruesome, and she's pretty endearing even when she's possessed by him to approach Kiyoshiro for more information. There's also her little Ship Tease with Kiyoshiro.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Similar to Digimon Adventure 02, the ending seems to ignore the potential consequences that the protagonist's actions would bring forth. At the end of the series, the protagonists managed to build the new nation for both humans and Digimon to live together, but seemingly without clearing loose ends with some of the unrepentant Digimon that are still free such as Jyureimon and Lilithmon.
• Evil Is Cool: GulusGammamon is Gammamon's fourth evolution with a brutal personality and a Pay Evil unto Evil mindset, yet he is by far the most popular of the main cast's Adult-level forms. Even more so when he evolves into his perfect form Regulusmon, who is so ball-bustingly unhinged that it's hard not to be entertained by him, and just like Lucemon Falldown Mode, can easily defeat and kill Ultimates despite being a Perfect. Regulusmon's Digimon Reference Book entry even puts him on par with the Walking Wasteland that is Megidramon.
• Fanon: It is very common for people to give GulusGammamon a dark Palette Swap form of Gammamon◊ as his Child form.
• Fanfic Fuel: The final episode. Gammamon forcefully fuses GulusGammamon back into his body, and Gulus finally mellows out now that it's clear there's someone more powerful than him in charge. Gammamon allows Gulus to share a body with him, with Gulus being able to take control of Gammamon's base form when needed. This, combined with the potential hints at a looming bigger threat, has caused the fan base to explode with post-series continuation fics exploring the relationship between Gammamon and Gulus, and the new series Big Bad.
• Friendly Fandoms: Surprisingly given Digimon's history with Fandom Rivalry towards it, fans of Ghost Game have becomes friends with Pokémon: The Series, as the finale of Ghost Game coincided with Ash's departure as the protagonist of his series.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In episode 25, Dracumon comes back for revenge against Ruli, only to be killed by Vamdemon. Two months later, not only is Dracumon a partner Digimon, but its Perfect/Ultimate form is Vamdemon.
  • In Digimon Survive, the plot is kickstarted by the fusion of the spirit of a hate-filled Kamukura clan lord and his Fanglongmon, who happens to possess his distant descendant and coerces her Renamon into doing his bidding. Come episode 38, a Doumon, the dark counterpart of Renamon's evolution, Taomon was possessed by the spirit of a Hojo clan servant and starts abducting random people to restore the Hojo clan and take over Japan, while also possessing Hiro with the spirit of the clan's lord.
• Informed Wrongness: Hiro treats the Gyukimon outbreak in Episode 39 as his fault because he was the one who brought Ryudamon (who was heavily implied to be undergoing a Dark Evolution into Gyukimon) to the resort island with him. This is glossed over within the episode, but if he left him on Bakumon's doorsteps instead it would be even worse since Bakumon is away for a break and a rampaging Gyukimon inside a city would cause more victims than when it's contained inside an island.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • DarkLizamon and Saberdramon attacked Hiro and their friends, solely because they want to find a way to return home after their attempt to live in the human world failed after a botched rescue attempt resulted in the death of a human and them being branded as monsters by the onlookers. It is later revealed in Episode 65 that after returning to the Digital World, the duo ran afoul of Rafflesiamon, with DarkLizamon being consumed beyond help unlike his partner.
  • Kayono Aramaki, the One-Shot Character from Episode 30, teamed up with an Ex-Tyrannomon and a WaruMonzaemon and ordered the former to turn anyone she doesn't like into dolls, including her parents, social worker, teacher and Aoi. It later degenerated into a rampage where she gleefully had Ex-Tyrannomon turn anyone she met into dolls for no reason whatsoever. However, at the end she's still a lonely girl who had no friends and dropped out from school because she ran into issues with her school life, and the Digimon around her didn't even care for her by the slightest bit and only wanted an excuse to wreck some havoc. It's not difficult to give her some sympathy despite what she has done.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Soon after Jellymon's introduction, with her smug and trollish behavior towards Kiyoshiro, comparisons between her and Nagatoro-san became common.
  • BetelGammamon Digivolve to Stardust Dragon!^ExplanationGammamon's Perfect form, Canoweissmon, sports a character design that wouldn't look out of place in 5Ds, reminding people of Stardust Dragon in particular. Naturally, many jokes have been made about this.
  • We need to torment someone in this episode. Well time to pick on Kiyoshiro again!^ExplanationOf the three main leads so far, Kiyoshiro has by far gotten some of the worst of it when it comes to dealing with Digimon. Over the course of the series as of adding this, he has been turned into a doll, underwent horrible plant mutations, has been heavily poisoned, was kidnapped by Betsumons, and literally died and got sent to Purgatory where a Digimon was attempting to drown him in the River Styx. And he got there by cracking his skull against a curve after nearly being hit by a truck. It's gotten to the point fans think the writers have it out for him personally!
  • We need to torture someone in an exceptionally gruesome way. Let's pick Ruli (or another girl)! ^ExplanationWhenever Ruli gets caught in a Digimon incident as a victim (especially in later episodes), there's a very high chance where she will get hit in a particularly grisly way. Notable instances include being turned into a Gecko Human by Salamandamon, kidnapped and tortured by Chamblemon on the first minute of the episode or being mutated into a horrific monstrosity and starved to near-death by Quartzmon. Another variant is having the Character of the Day, often a girl or young woman, to be the victim of a gruesome Digimon attack (see Eyesmon or AncientSphinxmon). It went to the point that there are fans who believe that it's a fetish from the writers.
  • The director's fetish is brides turning into mushroom seedbeds and getting the mushrooms on their bodies painfully ripped off ^ExplanationEpisode 48 is an infamous episode because of the Chamblemon turning young women, usually brides (but also later including Hiro) into living mushroom logs and they pull off mushrooms from their victim's bodies. Unlike most Digimon episodes, it also holds literally nothing back showing the Chamblemon torturing young women and children. This also means something much, more saucy, especially for Japanese Twitter...
  • "Toei knew full well what they were doing." ^ExplanationEpisode 50 has already developed an infamous reputation as 'the furry episode', thanks to Pucchiemon going full Yandere on Fukatsu and Digivolving into Meicrackmon Vicious Mode, a rather anthro cat Digimon infamous for being furry bait. It's pretty common to hear people say that Toei was fully aware of what they were doing with the episode. The only way it could have been more blatant is if they used Renamon, a long-standing favorite among furries.
  • "OH NO HE'S HOT!"^ExplanationAngoramon's Mega, Diarbbitmon, is an extremely◊ handsome knight. Upon his debut in the anime, jokes about the fanbase finding his design pleasing on the eyes became commonplace.
  • Jellymon's kill count. ^ExplanationJellymon, in spite of being an unrelenting troublemaker, is the only member of the main Digimon trio who has never directly killed someone. The closest she's gotten is neutralizing RareRaremon's Decaysion to allow Lamortmon and Canoweissmon to euthanize him and her ill-fated attempt to save the already-dying Shadramon with Adieu World.
  • Siriusmon donuts ^{Explanation — spoilers}At the end of Episode 66, Regulusmon tricks Siriusmon into landing a hit on him and quickly counters him by impaling him with a massive laser beam that pierces through his chest, seemingly killing him for good, and the episode ends after Siriusmon's lifeless body is shown with a massive hole on his chest.
  • Hiro's traumatized face ^{Explanation — spoilers}During Episode 66, Hiro spends a good portion breaking character to fall off the Despair Event Horizon under the very real fear that his stepbrother is likely gone for good, hammering how dire the entire situation is. Fans noticed how vacant he looks when this happens (especially after Regulusmon seemingly kills Siriusmon), but some find him look rather adorable that way instead.
  • As the series reaches its end, (semi-)jokes about the In-Universe setting being a Death World arise. This sentiment began from Episode 56 and beyond where multiple Ultimate-levels (of Warrior Ten or Seven Great Demon Lords infamy) show up casually to attempt killing or at least harming multiple civilians with entire cities being the average scope of harm, but it really began when Eldritch Abomination Digimon like ZeedMillenniumon and Quartzmon ^note The latter which is treated like any other Ultimate and not the apocalyptic threat he is in his debut anime get involved near the end of the series and walk amongst the human world as if they were any other Digimon, making it seem like the world is threatened with an apocalypse once per week.
  • Gammamon ate his champion. ^spoilerThe finale of Ghost Game ended with an Enemy Without situation where GulusGammamon and Gammamon managed to separate themselves. Gammamon also refers to chocolate as his champion. At the very end of the fight, Gammamon manages to forcefully remerge Gulus back into himself. The processed involved Siriusmon opening his mouth and sucking Gulus back in. With GulusGammamon being a champion level Digimon, the joke of Gammamon eating his champion flooded social media soon afterwards. Jokes about comparing GulusGammamon to dark chocolate also followed.
• Moral Event Horizon: See here.
• Narm:
  • Kuzuhamon's justification for wiping out Hiro's entire town sums up as people committing minor misdeeds piling up to the ten thousands and written off as one massive atrocity. The scene where she lists off Ruli's "sins" this way is treated as seriously as the rest of the incident, but because of said justifications and she's an Ultimate-level capable of full-blown reality warping, it can come across as ridiculous and hard to take seriously.
  • A scene in Episode 66 has a bunch of people running away from a Strikedramon. It's supposed to represent the sheer damage the Digimon expelled into the human world causes like the Bakemon before him who actually caused chaos, but said Strikedramon was literally just walking out of a train like an orderly civilian. One only wonders why all the people are freaked out save for he looks like a big, scary monster.
  • The final episode reveals that Siriusmon is capable of opening his mouth. The way how he does it, how it looks like and the light effects come off as very creepy, which may or may not be intended, but it also looks comical of sorts. Siriusmon being completely silent during the scene makes it even more eerie.
• Not Badass Enough for Fans: One of the most frequent complaints about the Ghost Game protagonists is their utter reluctance at the mere thought of having to take the life of a Digimon, unlike previous protagonists of the franchise who showed no qualms with killing out of control Digimon. Whenever the topic comes up, the cast usually renounce it and the one time they flat out had to in order to protect everyone, they were all deeply unsettled by it. Though some like this more realistic approach when it comes to the main characters having to stop Digimon, there have been those who considers the main cast to be weaker than previous ones for this exact reason.
• Paranoia Fuel:
  • As the show's title suggests, the Digimon here are ghost-like beings who can potentially be everywhere and unlike from previous series, they specifically target humans putting them through experiences straight out of a horror movie. It's actually even worse if you can see them, since defenseless civilians can and will run into some extremely nasty individuals like Vamdemon or Eyesmon and there's not much they can do save for being converted into something else or die. And god forbid if it's an Ultimate/Mega-level Physical God like Piemon or Kuzuhamon with no qualms vanishing or killing hundreds and can easily wipe out entire cities in hours.
  • How the Jet-Black Conqueror, the series' answer for the D-Reaper, Diablomon and Abbadomon is hiding within an otherwise harmless and friendly Digimon and is walking amongst the protagonists and watching every move they make from there, with only a handful of Digimon aware of this secret. Moments like these emphasize how even the most dangerous Digimon can be near you at any moment, and they can call forth the apocalypse at any time they want to.
• Popular with Furries: Angoramon and his evolution SymbareAngoramon have quickly proven to be popular with rabbit fans. Angoramon's design endears him equally to those that like fluffy and chubby characters. SymbareAngoramon, meanwhile, is a beastly bishonen with a shirtless outfit. He's even been compared to a male Renamon at times. The appeal of both forms is also helped by Angoramon's kindhearted and intelligent personality. Even Lamortmon has his fair share of fans who like the more monstrous (though still fluffy) design.
• Realism-Induced Horror: Episode 33 is regarded as being one of the most horrifying episodes of the series mainly because of this, even compared to other episodes in the show. An accident ends up killing Kiyoshiro. Jellymon manages to revive him, but then he ends up being stalked by a Digimon that wants to kill him by causing another accident. After several close calls, one being slipping on a wet floor and almost slamming his face against a urinal, and another where a store front sign almost fell on him, he barely manages to dodge out of the way of a truck, but trips in the process and slams his head against the curve of the road, putting him in a near death coma state. We actually see it happen, and the results afterwards are played completely straight. Hiro is absolutely horrified, and Kiyoshiro has to be carried away by an ambulance with a neck brace on. When it seems like there's nothing that can be done, everyone close to Kiyoshiro is distraught. All it takes is one little accident, one trip in the wrong place, to be on death's door.
• Shocking Moments:
  • The entirety of Episode 13 with Digimon actually being murdered by a Serial Killer that has easily the highest personal bodycount in the entire franchise, Bokomon's death and finally Gammamon's dark evolution into GulusGammamon, who instead of being a mindless berserker like the other dark evolutions is an intelligent and suave yet brutal Digimon.
  • Episode 20 manages to go even darker than Episode 13 by virtue of one thing: the onscreen and graphic death of a human. Tsuyoshi is shown being immolated slowly and painfully as an entire crowd can only helplessly watch. What's worse is that it was an entirely avoidable accident, since DarkLizamon and Saberdramon were trying to save him from a house fire, with the former telling him not to rush out of his Dread Fire so he could dispel it, only for him to rush out in a panic and burn to death. What's worse is, the public has now seen a pair of Hologram Ghosts allegedly murder someone, making it only a matter of time until Hiro and the others aren't able to hide things any more.
  • Episode 43 and Episode 48 each feature Digimon incidents that have imagery akin to visuals in Hellsing or Made in Abyss. The Digimon incidents in those episodes are disturbing to the point where viewers considered them the most disturbing episodes in the series.
  • Episode 61 and 63 each feature Final Boss-tier Digimon that really, really shouldn't be walking around in the human world as a Digimon of the Week. Cue half-jokes about the Ghost Game universe being a Death World under threat of an apocalypse almost weekly. The Digimon of the Week from Episode 56 to 60 mostly being abnormally powerful Ultimates (among the lines of the Seven Great Demon Lords) yet are still walking around as if they are typical Digimon further reinforces this sentiment.
• So Okay, It's Average: The most common consensus about the show. Aside from the novelty of a horror-themed Digimon show and its consistently good visuals, there are no other elements of the series that stand out as high-quality. The main characters are mostly stagnant over the course of 67 episodes, the show has abnormally slow pacing, and the MOTW formula is strictly formulaic. Furthermore, many reviews of this series have noted that it re-uses ideas that older Digimon shows such as Digimon Adventure and Digimon Data Squad already did first and more effectively. That said, reviews have also noted that Ghost Game is far from the worst Digimon series, with worse ones such as Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time and Digimon Adventure 02 existing.
• Spoiled by the Format:
  • If you want to tell if the fight is being concluded, just hear if the evolution theme playing in the background abruptly skips forward to its last notes. If it doesn't, then the fight is not over and there is a new development. If it does, then the fight is over.
  • In regards to the Reference Book bios for the Partner Digimon, whenever their moves are listed, expect all of them to actually see usage in the series. Siriusmon's victory against Regulusmon was made all of the more clearer by the fact he hadn't used Planet Knuckle yet prior to the final episode.
• Squick:
  • The Eyesmon in Episode 43 induces some of the most jarring Body Horrors in this season. He forces eyes all over his victim's bodies until it's literally covered with red eyes and their skin splits open in a way like the Digimon behind the incident. One of his victims, Emma Hanes, also tries to remove the eyes on her body in a washroom, first by squeezing them, then by trying to remove them with a surgical kit, only for him to accelerate the condition further until eyes start growing all over her body and her skin splits off. Eyesmon's first on-screen victim, however, has it the worst; by the end of the episode, she was lying on the floor with an exhausted look and multiple red eyes on her face, with Ruli's explanation before implying that she was minutes away from being killed.
  • Episode 48 has several Chamblemon blatantly use humans, mostly women, as mushroom plantations and torture them by pulling off the mushrooms on their bodies as food. Ruli and Hiro, despite being children, also quickly become their victims and suffer from the same fate as the other victims they kept as plantations. Unlike most instances of cold-blooded torture in Digimon anime where the torture itself is kept off-screen, this one holds absolutely nothing back when showing the Chamblemon's victims being brutalized, and even shows Ruli and Hiro being reduced to screaming wrecks as the Chamblemon pull off the mushrooms from their bodies all while enjoying their pain.
  • Episode 61's victim of the week is a man who lost his financee to a lab accident and went insane as a result, especially after said fiancee's corpse started moving on its own and he thought that she was alive. What pushes this to truly disturbing levels is that he plays with his zombified beloved in an act heavily reminiscent of necrophilia. This is ongoing for 10 straight days while his sister (a kid no older than Ruli) watches and only called the protagonists because that (and the hauntings) made her uncomfortable.
  • Ruli's Horror Hunger-induced breakdown in Episode 63 is pretty uncomfortable to watch, especially when she briefly attempts to eat Gammamon, Hiro and Kiyoshiro with obviously mutated jawlines and arms. Given that there are at least hundreds of other victims in that incident, surely someone else out there must have attempted the same thing...
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • As one of the few villains who got to show up in more than one episode, let alone have no intention of changing for the better, you've either got people disappointed how Dracumon died minutes into his second appearance without getting the chance to get revenge against Ruli, or felt that it would have been more interesting if he had been revealed to be the Sangloupmon or Matadrmon working with Vamdemon since both of them have been used as Dracumon's main evolutions in several games. To rub salt in the wound, he finally materialized like he was trying to do and never got the chance to comment about it.
  • After being saved from succumbing to his Gyukimon transformation in Episode 39, Ryudamon makes a reappearance in Episode 48, where his desire to help rescue Gammamon causes him to Digivolve into Ginryumon. He transports the others to where Gammamon, Hiro, and Ruli are being held hostage by the Chamblemon gang, but rather than going all the way and join the cast as a main member like Espimon, he gets regulated to air-transport duty like Airdramon (who actually did get to participate directly in the fight against Bastemon, as short as it was) would. It's especially jarring considering he has multiple potential evolutions like Ouryumon, a Digimon who has never appeared in an anime and one which would allow him to directly participate in combat, or the Perfect Level Zanmetsumon from Vital Bracelet BE that was widely speculated to be his evolution.
  • Despite being the creator of the Digivices who helped start the plot, Hokuto is sidelined from the plot after his return as offscreen damage control, with his role in making and improving the said devices an afterthought and his only contribution.
  • While many Digimon are Back for the Finale, quite a few antagonistic Digimon don't return, making the idea they were still out there and could still pose a threat come across as forgotten. Of particular note are Sistermon Ciel & MetalPhantomon, who were last seen continuing their death race as they were sent back to the Digital World, Phelesmon, who swore to invade Earth with an army of Demon Digimon, the Digimon of Scarlatto Vento, as it was never explicitly said Vamdemon was deleted while Matadormon and Sangloupmon escaped, Lilithmon, who promised to return and make the same offer she made to Siriusmon to GulusGammamon, and Moon=Millenniumon, whose crystal Hiro was still in possession of with the concern it might break free again.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Due to the Monster of the Week nature of the series that lasts way longer than it should be, many potentially interesting plots and characters shown up and were never touched upon after their debut, hurting the reception of the series. For example, after its defeat, Moon=Millenniumon never did anything important, despite the potential of Hiro keeping it leading to some...interesting plot points to say the least.
  • Sealsdramon is mentioned to be an assassin of the Digital World usually contracted by another party to get rid of others. This could have been a good chance to add a plot point in which someone would have hired Sealsdramon to kill Digimon in the human world for a determinate reason, prompting the heroes to search for the contractor and kickstarting a proper arc, leaving behind the Monster of the Week format the series followed for the entirety of its run. Instead, Sealsdramon turns out to be a serial killer who was assassinating Digimon out of pure sadism on his own volition, being eliminated with ease by GulusGammamon too, ending what could have been a change towards a more defined story arc.
  • Despite the ending going out of its way to actually answer many of the mysteries held back for numerous episodes within a short time frame rather than leaving the most jarring ones unanswered like Digimon Adventure tri. did, we still don't see much of Gammamon's past in the Digital World and how GulusGammamon ended up as the former in the first place. GulusGammamon seemingly gives an explanation, but it's probably a lie to freak Quantumon out considering he doesn't seem to take whatever he said too seriously.
  • Around the same time Regulusmon was revealed, two more Digimon were revealed: Arcturusmon, the Evil Counterpart of Siriusmon, and Proximamon, the Fusion Dance of both Arcturusmon and Siriusmon said to be capable of resetting the Digital World just by existing. Despite being depicted as part of the Evolution lines on the Vital Bracelet, and even receiving cards in the card game set focused on Ghost Game, they are conspicuously absent, made more notable when there is an Enemy Without element at the end, which would seem like the perfect excuse to have Arcturusmon debut, fight Siriusmon, and then have the conclusion result in forming Proximamon, letting them hit the Reset Button on the Digital World so the Digimon could go home.
  • The idea of Gammamon and GulusGammamon Sharing a Body with the latter having agreed to the former's rules could be a very interesting plotline...but because it's only introduced in the final episode, it goes unexplored.
  • Due to the format of "Digimon as Hologram Ghosts" trapping the cast on Earth, the Digital World is only explored after the GRB apocalypse, which lasts three episodes.
  • It's revealed that genuinely supernatural entities such as actual ghosts are very much real...and next to nothing is done with it outside of the episode it's introduced in despite the interesting concepts that could come from Digimon vs legit supernatural horrors.
• Uncertain Audience: Part of its mixed reception is caused by the show's uncertainty between the Monster of the Week format and a more serialized storytelling (as made notable on They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot above). It does not help that Word of God revealed that the show was made to appeal to "iPad kids," as in very young audience raised on quick self-gratification like Instagram and TikTok, and thus would get bored of long stories. See also What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? down this page for the additional confusion.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Seriously, did anyone expect a Digimon like Sistermon Ciel to appear in the anime? A Digimon that only came about with the Western release of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth as a Bowdlerised version of Sistermon Noir?
  • The eventual appearance of Herissmon, the partner Digimon from the recently concluded Digimon ReArise. ^note The thing that makes it so surprising is that, per word of that reality's Yggdrasil, no other Herrismon is supposed to exist in any other version of reality.
  • ExTyrannomon, who has existed since 1998 but has never made an appearance in an anime, makes its debut in Episode 30.
  • Antylamon Virus shows up during Episode 44 for its first major role in anime form since its original debut in Hurricane Touchdown, from which almost all known major roles Antylamon would have would be instead filled by Antylamon Deva. Most people can count the number of major roles Antylamon Virus has had on a single hand when compared to how much more famous and widespread in roles that Antylamon Deva has by comparison.
  • In Episodes 45, 46, and 48, the Digimon of the Week are brand new Digimon that have never been announced or debuted anywhere else until their episodes airing.
  • Episode 57 has a Cerberumon appear, nothing out of the ordinary, until he turns into Cerberumon Werewolf Mode later in the episode. Not only is this the first anime appearance of this Mode Change, but even when Cerberumon wound up being a Partner Digimon in Digimon Survive, Werewolf Mode didn't appear in that game at all.
  • Diarbbitmon's first opponent being AncientSphinxmon becomes more surprising in the wake of Amphimon's debut in Episode 60, as it means that Diarbbitmon is the only Mega Level Digimon of the main cast to not have made its debut against a hidden unlockable Digimon on their respective BE DiMs.
    • AncientSphinxmon himself can count, considering that the anime goes out of its way to not display alive Warrior Ten Digimon on screen and lore-wise they are Posthumous Characters. What makes this even more suprising is that he's serving another Digimon despite being supposedly the apex of Darkness Digimon.
  • After making a major appearance in Digimon Adventure: (2020), one wouldn't expect this Digimon to show up so soon again, let alone as a role that isn't any sort of Big Bad. However, come Episode 61 and we have Moon=Millennimon and Zeed=Millenniumon showing up as the enemy Digimon of the Week.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Frozomon is painted as a well-meaning Determinator for trying to find a safe place for other Digimon refugees to take shelter. However, we learn this after he tried to freeze most of the cast to death by freezing the geothermal plant they were in, then hunted them down to kill them when they got in his way. They explain that he was in such a hurry that he wanted to drill through the obstacles in his way, but he spent so much time trying to freeze the place, he likely would have saved time by simply going around it. In the end, his reasoning amounts to a Hand Wave for why the main cast kept him alive.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The Ultimate/Mega level Transformation Sequences are breathtaking, having a stylized cinematic feel on a level the franchise hadn't done since Tamers with full unique backgrounds. Siriusmon emerges from the birth of a star with space and a sun behind him and Diarbbitmon manifests in the sky above the clouds, creating a serene field as it finishes, and Amphimon creates a deep sea ocean with swirling whirlpools.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Similar to Digimon Tamers, people have noticed how rather dark Ghost Game is for a kids' show, blending a Slice of Life series into a horror-based series. It features human deaths, or forced transformations and mutations, and unpleasant Digimon that are serial killers or other ones that have enjoy inflicting suffering in general. There's also episodes that feature physical and mental torture, such as the Chambelemon's torture of Hiro and Ruli in episode 48.
• Win Back the Crowd:
  • After many fans were disappointed with the 2020 reboot of Adventure for reasons such as Taichi, Yamato and their partners getting preferential treatment at the expense of the rest of the cast (even by Digimon standards), the hit-or-miss character development or the poor characterisation of more than a couple opponents, Ghost Game in contrast has earned a much more positive reception for its first few episodes, with many claiming it's a return to form for Digimon and that the horror themes fit surprisingly well with the Digimon concept, in addition to making sure that the spotlight is relatively evenly-distributed between each member of the main cast - including giving everyone proper evolution sequences. This is also helped by the fact that this is the first non-Adventure related anime since App Monsters in 2016.
  • Moreover, it has also won back fans of Digimon Tamers who wanted to have a second season. With some considering it a Spiritual Successor of sorts due to its far more mature and dark themes without delving into Broken Base territory much like with Digimon Adventure tri.'s attempt at a darker Digimon anime story.
  • Speaking of which, in general, the series won older Digimon fans who wanted a mature series that was not Adventure related for years now. Its narrative quality and character development were also praised as intriguing and interesting (if rather base breaking due to its drip-feed based storytelling), in contrast to Adventure: which dipped drastically (especially post-Episode 50) or App Monsters whose plot dragged for too long with a couple of base-breaking characters.
  • Many fans were disappointed when the series dropped having unique, cinematic Transformation Sequence for the higher levels, which made them feel less grand than they were in the first three series. This resulted in a great deal of praise when the group's Megas started being introduced with unique, cinematic sequences and unique backgrounds unseen since the Biomerges in Tamers.
• The Woobie:
  • The Meicoomon that showed up in Episode 32. Having been a victim of the Betsumon's life stealing antics like Gammamon was, he's completely mentally shattered by the time he finds Gammamon and in the midst of an identity crisis, questioning if they were ever even real in the first place. And unfortunately unlike other Digimon who helped the protagonists deal with the Digimon of the Week, he gets no help or happy resolution as he's wiped out of existence from the Betsumon's Ret-Gone abilities fully taking effect, only being able to warn Gammamon of what's going on before vanishing.
  • The Shadramon in Episode 47 is just a tragic mess. He lost a scuffle and is about to die, only to be used by a Nanomon as a lab rat to see if he could surpass the gods through rendering himself immortal by entering human bodies. He eventually finds himself fused with Tamotsu's body and materializes with no way to come out of it, then was hijacked by Nanomon to use as a hostage and a weapon. He doesn't even get a happy resolution, either, since after Thetismon separates him from Tamotsu's body he thinks he's been successfully revived, only to disintegrate in seconds and dies just like he's intended to.
  • As far as human characters go, nothing goes well for Kotoha's brother Toru. Losing his fiancee Manami days before his wedding to a Moon=Millenniumon, having the insane, world-wiping Digimon take over her body and feed on him for ten days, and simply too insane and grief-ridden to care in spite of his sister noticing something is obviously wrong, poor guy can't take a break. He's in so deep of a denial to the point that it took Manami's consciousness convincing him within Zeed=Millenniumon with the cold, hard truth that he's facing a Morton's Fork between losing his beloved and letting an Eldritch Abomination wipe out the world for him to snap out of it. Unlike Kayono Aramaki, his story also ends with a Downer Ending — Manami's consciousness and her killer, the only thing keeping her body moving, were both dispelled from her lifeless, cold body, leaving a crying wreck of a man holding the body of his dead beloved.

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