Digimon Adventure is the name of a 2013 Digimon game for the PlayStation Portable released by Bandai Namco and developed by Yuji Naka's Prope. It is a turn-based Eastern RPG retelling of the anime of the same name to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the entire franchise.
The main gameplay involves using one of the DigiDestined (a.k.a. the Chosen Children) to explore different environments in the Digital World and later the real world, with the player experiencing many events and setpieces from the anime. Should the children encounter any hostile Digimon along the way, they will send their own Digimon (up to three in a party) to battle against them. As the game progresses, the entire team will gain access to more levels of Digivolution, improving each of their Digimon's stats and giving them more powerful moves for the remainder of the fight or until they're been knocked out.
Turns in a Digimon battle are determined by a Timeline gauge at the bottom of the screen. The next ally or enemy Digimon that touches the left edge of the Timeline will get to act next, and how strong this action is determines how far to the right the Digimon moves through the timeline afterwards. The further they are towards the right edge, the longer they'll have to wait before their next turn. This can be manipulated, however, by using moves that inflict Shock or Break against the enemy, or even use a move called "Again" that lets an ally immediately take another turn.
The game's progression is roughly split into "Episodes", based on and named after the original Japanese episodes of the anime. Alongside the Main Episodes are Sub Episodes that can be taken on before the next main episode that provide additional plots and interactions not found in the anime. Another branch of levels includes the Digital Dungeons players can explore as a training grounds for more items and EXP.
Alongside adapting the entire first season of the Digimon anime into a game, this title also adapted Digimon Adventure Movie: Our War Game! (a.k.a. Part 2 of Digimon: The Movie). Owing to it being an anniversary title, it also features special Crossover battles against all of the anime franchise's succeeding protagonists from Digimon Adventure 02 all the way up to Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time.
Despite the huge popularity of the anime that inspired this game, it was never localized and released outside of Japan, very likely thanks to the various licenses and additional owners that the anime has, as well as because of just how late of a PSP title it was (the system's successor, the Play Station Vita, was over a year old in Japan, and the PSP itself was one year away from its discontinuation). Luckily, an English Fan Translation was released by a team led by a user named Kazari
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This Digimon Adventure video game provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Biyomon, Tentomon, Palmon, Gomamon, Patamon and Gatomon can all reach their Mega forms much earlier than they end up appearing in anime canon. For reference, Patamon and Gatomon only briefly used Seraphimon and Magnadramon in the first Digimon Adventure 02 movie (aka the third part of Digimon: The Movie), and the other four Megas make a proper debut in Digimon Adventure tri.
- Adaptation Expansion: Although this title is primarily focused on adapting the first Digimon anime into an Eastern RPG, it also includes brand new material that has never previously appeared in the anime itself, such as Side Quests that can be seen as their own extra mini-episodes to the anime, the ability for the entire Digimon team to reach their Mega forms rather than just Agumon and Gabumon, and Crossover battles against all of the franchise's succeeding anime protagonists.
- All There in the Manual: Every Digimon has 3 named attacks that use SP, and one unnamed that doesn't, selectable by pressing the battle menu's Attack button. However, this unnamed attack IS named in the game data, and have thus been listed with the other attacks.
- Assist Character: All of the Digimon can become this as their human partners raise their Bonding Rank with each other. This will increase the chance of triggering a Bonding Combo, where one child's Digimon will follow up using their top most Skill attack after the other's Digimon action without having to spend a turn nor any SP.
- Auto-Revive: Any Digimon when equipped with LifeUp or LifeUp Omega. Once per battle, if reduced to 0 HP, they'll automatically revive in their lowest stage with 1000 (basic) or full (Omega) HP.
- Calling Your Attacks: In true Digimon fashion, several (but not all) of every Digimon's main Skills involve unleashing a special attack that is accompanied by an echoing shout of the attack's name.
- Cap: The most damage a single hit can do is 9999. However, this can be circumvented with a powerful multi-hitting move. Since each hit is treated as its own damage, and applying both buffs to the user and debuffs to the target, you can use this to go well above the 9999 limit.
- Cast from Hit Points: Any Digimon can do this if equipped with Sacrifice Attack. They will use a powerful move that costs them HP.
- Cel Shading: Character models have black outlines to help replicate the anime's artstyle.
- Combat Medic: Any of the Digimon can become this if equipped with the various Healing skills. Angewomon can impose this trope naturally thanks to her all-range Saint Air healing Skill, which recovers 2000 HP of the whole party and removes all status effects.
- Counter-Attack: Three levels of them, which have increasing levels of activation and damage dealt: Counter, Super Counter and Ultra Counter. They're always active when equipped. Any Digimon hit while this is equipped has a chance of automatically hitting the opponent back.
- Critical Status Buff: The Pray skill, when equipped, increases the users evasion when their health is low. Always active.
- Defend Command: This game has three of them:
- The Guard Button. Always usable. Using it will mean the user takes less damage from attacks until their next move, but it takes up a turn to use.
- The Protect Skill. Using it requires equipping it to a Digimon. Using it takes up a turn. When used, you select an ally Digimon. Until the users next turn, any attacks that would've hit the selected Digimon hit the user instead.
- The Defend Skill. Using it requires equipping it to a Digimon. A passive skill. When equipped with it, a Digimon will always take hits meant for ally Digimon with low HP.
- Experience Booster: Any Digimon equipped with the "Fast Growth" DigiPiece will gain double the amount of EXP after a battle.
- Evolutionary Levels: Naturally. Following the plot of the anime, each of the protagonists' Digimon will access higher levels of Digivolution as the game progresses, improving their stats and giving them more powerful moves to use in battles. Tai and Matt's Digimon will eventually reach their Mega levels because of this, but if the other kids' Bonding Rank is high enough, their Digimon will now also be able to achieve this (see Adaptational Badass above):
- Agumon to Greymon to MetalGreymon to WarGreymon
- Gabumon to Garurumon to WereGarurumon to MetalGarurumon
- Biyomon/Piyomon to Birdramon to Garudamon to Phoenixmon/Hououmon
- Tentomon to Kabuterimon to MegaKabuterimon/AlturKabuterimon to HerculesKabuterimon/HerakleKabuterimon
- Palmon to Togemon to Lillymon/Lilimon to Rosemon
- Gomamon to Ikkakumon to Zudomon to Vikemon
- Patamon to Angemon to MagnaAngemon/HolyAngemon to Seraphimon
- Gatomon/Tailmon to Angewomon to Ophanimon
- Grid Inventory: Each Digimon has a Skill Panel that gets bigger and more expansive as they level up. The player can install different DigiPieces into these panels to buff the Digimon's stats and give them further Skill moves and passive abilities, such as debuff attacks, Status Effect attacks, Regenerating Health, or an Experience Booster.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: Any of the Digimon can do this if equipped with the All Attack Skill. The user will attack every possible target. Several Digimon also have a natural Skill attack like this, such as Birdramon's Meteor Wing and Fire Flap, Ikkakumon's Northern Lights, and Togemon's Prickly Bang-Bang (Needle Spray).
- HP to One: Any Digimon with an "Unconscious" attack will force this on its target, such as Myotismon's/Vandemon's Dead Scream and Phantomon's Death Sentence.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: The game's boxart, manual and extended trailer presumes that you've watched the anime before playing it, as it all doesn't shy away from showing that Kari is the eighth child of the DigiDestined with Gatomon as her Digimon partner.
- Leaked Experience: A full roster in the game will consist of 7 (later 8) Digimon in your party, but the game only allows 3 of them to participate in battle at a time (including a "Leader" character that can't be switched off outside of Digital Dungeons). The remaining ones on standby will still get 1/5th of the EXP of what the active party has. Fainted Digimon in battle will also gain the full EXP, as well as automatically being revived with 1 HP left.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the way that Mochimon introduces the game's Save Point, mainly in how the party can use it to save their progress and heal, Izzy immediately comments on how the advice was like they were in some kind of video game.
- Life Drain: Any Digimon can do this if equipped with Drain Attack.
- Limited Animation: The game doesn't have a strong budget in this regard. For example, the animation the kids use when falling down a pit is the same one they use for standing shocked or surprised. Likewise, only the human characters move their mouths during dialogue, while the Digimon are stuck with still images that may or may not change expressions. This also means seeing the nature of more intense scenes getting toned down (such as Seadramon's attack against Matt, which triggered Gabumon's first Digivolution to Garurumon, being turned into more like Matt just simply standing up against the creature before Garurumon appears).
- Magikarp Power: How Patamon feels throughout the entire game. True to the anime this game was adapted from, he is a Digimon that doesn't get to shine as well as the others in the party due to the limited times he gets to Digivolve throughout the story, but when he does...:
- During the Devimon/File Island Arc, Patamon doesn't hit hard compared to other Rookie level Digimon and takes a while to get his first Digivolution compared to the other Digimon, meaning he'll feel more like a liability to use in Episodes that don't require T.K. to be the leader. However, once Patamon does achieve Angemon, he becomes the strongest Digimon in the game up to that point that can hit harder against Devimon than anyone else.
- Of course, right after this Devimon battle, Patamon becomes an egg and the player won't be able to use Angemon, let alone Patamon, himself, for several further episodes. Then by the time Angemon returns, he will be the only Adult/Champion Level Digimon in the player's roster as everyone else has, or is about to achieve their Perfect/Ultimate forms (and in Agumon and Gabumon's cases, another level above that). As such, Patamon continues to have trouble keeping up with the rest of the team's Digimon, including Angemon's higher-leveled Distaff Counterpart Angewomon.
- From there, it will be yet another distant stride before Patamon can reach his own Perfect/Ultimate level in the utterly-powerful MagnaAngemon near the very end of the main story (which itself can be taken even further beyond via access to the Mega-leveled Seraphimon if T.K.'s Bonding Rank is high enough).
- Mana Meter: Skill Points (SP for short) must be spent in order for your Digimon to use stronger Skill attacks and Digivolution. The more potent the Skill and the more stronger the Digivolution, the more SP it will cost.
- Pre Existing Encounters: All enemy Digimon can are visible on the field before you fight them. They will chase you down if they spot you, and their sight range increases if you run near them. If you can touch and ambush them from behind, your party will be able attack much earlier in the Timeline. Likewise, if the enemy Digimon ambushes you first, they get to act much sooner.
- Practical Taunt: Any Digimon can do this if equipped with Taunt, and enemies will be inclined to attack the taunter until their next turn.
- Protagonist Power-Up Privileges: In the anime, Agumon and Gabumon were the only two Digimon that would eventually reach their Mega forms during the story. This is replicated in this game where they remain the only Digimon that get this as a mandatory power up. The rest of the Digimon can now gain their Mega forms, but this happens very late into the game after Agumon and Gabumon achieve theirs and only after each of their human partners' Bonding Rank with each other is high enough.
- Regenerating Health: Any of the Digimon when equipped with the Auto Heal ability, restoring 100 HP every time it's their turn. There is an Omega variant that restores 1000 HP every turn.
- Save Point: There are digitized pools of light in the ground that let the player save their progress and fully recover the whole party's HP and SP.
- Side Quest: Alongside that game's Main Episodes that are based on the episodes of the anime, the game also wields temporary Sub Episodes that are completely original and are meant to provide some extra plots for the cast, such as them helping Matt recover his harmonica from a dirty lake and punishing the vandals responsible for the lake's pollution (but then Matt ended up not being able to play it because it got too dirty, itself), helping Koromon Village concoct a medicine that will give Tai's Koromon the strength to Digivolve back to Agumon following Tai's SkullGreymon incident (but the medicine ended up tasting too awful for it to work), or Mimi being forced to go on a date with a Numemon so she can finally have some cold cola (which didn't even matter in the end as the cola was too expired and syrupy to drink).
- Sixth Ranger: True to the anime, Kari and Gatomon are unavailable to the party until more than halfway through the whole game. In the meantime, the slot that would've contained Kari's face in the Episode screen will be blacked out until she joins the DigiDestined for the final encounter against Myotismon.
- Status Effects:
- Poison: Turns a Digimon's HP bar purple, and lowers HP after every move their make. Removable through Digivolving.
- Stun: Called Shock, which freezes a Digimon's place on the Timeline gauge for a while.
- Silenced: Called Skill Seal, it prevents your Digimon from using their attacks that cost SP, limiting them to the basic Attack command. Removable through Digivolving.
- Slow: Called Sticky, it turns the Digimon's icon on the turn bar purple, and every move they make sends them right to the end of it.
- Other: Break, it moves the Digimon back towards the end of the Timeline gauge.
- Status Buff: An assortment, from raising ATK and DEF of allied Digimon, to giving allied Digimon the ability to attack more than once a turn.
- Status-Buff Dispel: Any Digimon can do this if equipped with Status Reset, allowing them to remove enemies status boosts.
- Stone Wall: All of Gomamon's forms except for Zudomon can impose this as they each wield a natural Skill that can temporarily raise the Defense of his whole party.
- Theme Music Power-Up: "Brave Heart" is used prominently and proudly throughout the game, often during recreations of each Digivolution sequence from the anime (and new ones for the new Mega forms exclusive to this game), but sometimes this song plays before the actual sequence commences to seize up the incoming power up and/or during the fight itself.
- Toilet Humor:
- Numemon are quite a common enemy to encounter in this game. So that means expect a lot of poop-throwing against your Digimon and a lot of poop jokes whenever they get involved in the story. Other Digimon such as Veggiemon also use poop-throwing attacks.
- You use Tai to personally bring Agumon to the Mysterious Mansion's bathroom in Episode 8 so he can poop. Incidentally, Agumon realizing he could only muster a fart despite eating a lot of food with the others before bedtime was the first sign that the team's mansion was all just an illusionary trap set up by Devimon.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: The game often has breaks from the action to give the player opportunities to see the DigiDestined bond with each other, selecting between a nice and a mean response. Picking the meaner options makes the player miss out on increasing the kids' Bonding Rank, which means less of a chance of Bonding Combos in battles, and less likely to help any Digimon not named Agumon or Gabumon achieve their Mega forms later in the story.
- Weaksauce Weakness:
- Undead and demonic Digimon such as Bakemon and Phantomon take more damage from Holy Hand Grenade attacks, meaning all of the Angel-based Digivolutions that Patamon and Gatomon have are the most efficient way to kill them.
- Fire-type Digimon such as Meramon and DeathMeramon are prone to more damage against Ice-type moves, such as Ikkakumon's Northern Lights, Garurumon's Freeze Fang, and MetalGarurumon's Cocytus Breath.
