VideoGame Mediocre in every aspect
Story and characters? They suck, and for an RPG that's pretty bad. Not once was there any kind of tension or emotion brought up by what little story this game has. The characters are pitifully one-dimensional, and you won't give a single fuck about anything that happens to them, or anything that happens around you for that matter (server is under attack by the X Virus? Oh noooooooo, how awful. Fucking whatever, man). The only characters you might care about even slightly are the female Digi-Elves, who are actually kinda cute-looking and fill your cold heart with warm, tender feelings, but that's not enough to save this game.
Gameplay? Boring and tedious. After the training level, you're thrown into the first world, where you WILL get your ass kicked, forcing you to constantly warp back to the main hub and re-enter the first world time and time again until you level up enough to afford making mistakes. Controls aren't actually too bad, to be fair; guarding takes a while to get used to, since you have to block just as you're about to be hit, but it works. Unfortunately, this game includes collision damage, which not only doesn't make sense from a logical perspective (last I checked, skin-to-skin contact doesn't cause spontaneous bleeding), it makes combat frustrating until you're strong enough to one- or two-shot enemies, because most of the time you'll be up close and personal to kill them; none of the starter Digimon are proficient with guns, and MP for projectile attacks drains very quickly at the beginning of the game. And don't even get me started on levelling up your techniques, which take fucking forever, especially for MP techs. Ultimately, the combat quickly becomes unfulfilling; there isn't a real goal to aspire to, and you just feel like you're grinding for the sake of grinding. When playing a game feels like a chore, something's wrong.
One other thing that bugged me was how you could replace all the Digimon models with something completely unrelated to Digimon, slapped a piece of paper saying 'An Action RPG' on the game cover, and it wouldn't make any difference to anything in this game. It's Digimon In Name Only.
Is Digimon World 4 good? No. Will you get bored of it after a few hours, unplug your machine and walk away disappointed? Yes.
Your mileage may vary, though. Play it yourself and make your own damn opinion.
VideoGame Mediocre in every way.
Story and characters? They suck, and for an RPG that's pretty bad. Not once was there any kind of tension or emotion brought up by what little story this game has. The characters are pitifully one-dimensional, and you won't give a single fuck about anything that happens to them, or anything that happens around you for that matter (server is under attack by the X Virus? Oh noooooooo, how awful. Fucking whatever, man). The only characters you might care about even slightly are the female Digi-Elves, who are actually kinda cute-looking and fill your cold heart with warm, tender feelings, but that's not enough to save this game.
Gameplay? Boring and tedious. After the training level, you're thrown into the first world, where you WILL get your ass kicked, forcing you to constantly warp back to the main hub and re-enter the first world time and time again until you level up enough to afford making mistakes. Controls aren't actually too bad, to be fair; guarding takes a while to get used to, since you have to block just as you're about to be hit, but it works. Unfortunately, this game includes collision damage, which not only doesn't make sense from a logical perspective (last I checked, skin-to-skin contact doesn't cause spontaneous bleeding), it makes combat frustrating until you're strong enough to one- or two-shot enemies, because most of the time you'll be up close and personal to kill them; none of the starter Digimon are proficient with guns, and MP for projectile attacks drains very quickly at the beginning of the game. And don't even get me started on levelling up your techniques, which take fucking forever, especially for MP techs. Ultimately, the combat quickly becomes unfulfilling; there isn't a real goal to aspire to, and you just feel like you're grinding for the sake of grinding. When playing a game feels like a chore, something's wrong.
One other thing that bugged me was how you could replace all the Digimon models with something completely unrelated to Digimon, slapped a piece of paper saying 'An Action RPG' on the game cover, and it wouldn't make any difference to anything in this game. It's Digimon In Name Only.
Is Digimon World 4 good? No. Will you get bored of it after a few hours, unplug your machine and walk away disappointed? Yes.
Your mileage may vary, though. Play it yourself and make your own damn opinion.
VideoGame Do NOT Play This Game By Yourself
This game is what happens when you mix Digimon with Dungeons and Dragons...and done poorly. Pushing aside the odd choice of giving Digimon Weapons when, well, we all know that they can shoot fireballs and sometimes even have weapons on their own. But, let's look past that little nitpick.
The game controls well enough, but combat is tedious and repetitive. There are three basic attacks: basic attack, charged attack, and magic. Do not EVER use the charged attack for anything but breaking barriers. Because when used against enemies, it's no different then a normal attack.
The difficulty spikes in this game very frequent. This game gets hard and fast. The first level is pretty tough on it's own merits. The second level is nearly impossible. Of course, true to the Digimon name, you can Digivolve and get stronger. When you Digivolve, the new Digimon your using is set back down to one-with new and improved stats, sure, but it's almost pointless. With how fast the difficulty increases, you'd be better off just using the starting Digimon instead.
The enemies in this game come in by the dozens and take a lot of hits before they fall. Meanwhile, if you take two-three hard hits, you're as good as dead. You CAN use a Gun-Weapon, it even gives you the option in the start of the game. HOWEVER, all Digimon have a preferred weapon, so if the Digimon you chose isn't good with guns, then it's gonna be an uphill slope for quite some time. But, the game gives you the ability to master any weapon and magic, so you'll get it eventually.
Lastly, the story is...forgettable. You're a member of the Digital Security Guard and the Server-or the World-is attacked by the X-Virus and is infecting Digimon. And you gotta save the world. And...that's all, really. You don't really get the chance to build any kind of relationship with the Digimon around you and they're all pretty forgettable. That's quite the shame. An RPG where the world you're saving is not worth saving.
Despite ALL those flaws...the game is okay. Like I said in the title, you should NOT play this game alone. If you can get just one person, anybody at all, to play with you, it'll be a LOT more enjoyable. It's a bare-bones Action RPG with Digimon painted on it. It should never be played by one person. But with friends, it's a tolerable game at worst and pretty okay at best.