As you might expect from a Nintendo DS game, Digimon World DS offers a fair bit of stylus control, though players also have the option to use the face buttons, too. Unfortunately, since there are some controls that can only be done with the buttons, and because the touch screen can be a tad unwieldy at times, you’ll probably just stick to the more traditional method of doing things, and that’s fine. Apart from that, the buttons work mostly the same as you would expect, with the D-pad used to navigate, the A button for accepting, B for declining, etc. There’s nothing special or extraordinary to it, and for that reason stylus control would be my choice if only it offered a way to control the player, too, like you might find in a game like Animal Crossing: Wild World. As it is, the D-pad is just awful for player movement, but that is mostly because the game has an isometric camera that makes it difficult to get your player to go where you want, causing many unnecessary battles, but perhaps that is more a reflection on the graphics.
In terms of presentation, I think this game is decidedly last-gen...for a handheld game. Although it may be more high-end, the game looks and sounds like something for the Game Boy Advance, and, though I may have accepted it at first, I’ve come to expect more from my Nintendo DS, a system we know is capable of even the most rudimentary 3D graphics. Instead, Digimon World DS provides us with small sprites for the character and his partners - which you’ll see when they are in the farm or in his party, as they follow him around – and the backgrounds are particularly flat, though all of it, characters and levels, are quite detailed, and that is perhaps the saving grace of the game. Were it not for the fact that Pokémon has also remained relatively unchanged over the years, I might feel differently, but right now, the games are seemingly on par with one another. The music, likewise, fails to impress, as the game is scored with a rather repetitive techno mix that, to me, was borderline annoying, though others may appreciate it more. There is very little in the way of sound effects, and the game lacks voice over, with text-based conversations instead. You won’t exactly miss not having it, as too many games skimp on it today, but with so many planned encounters, not to mention long conversation, some voice work would have been a nice touch.
In the absence of Diamond and Pearl, I was actually quite excited to see that Digimon World DS supported Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Of course, once I tried it out, I found it was particularly limited and, to some extent, even a bit lame. While the game does offer the more traditional elements of multiplayer fun, such as battling and trading your digimon, none of that can be done online. Instead, connected players can match up their digimon to create eggs potentially containing new monsters, and even that requires an exchange of Friend Codes first. While it is an interesting novelty, to be sure, it also runs thin pretty quick, making you wish all the more that the DS-to-DS abilities extended to the WFC, too. So, without that, I don’t expect the game to be fun beyond a single play through. Since you can revert digimon to their most basic form and explore the other evolutionary lines, I don’t imagine there would be much reason to begin a new game, unless to do so with a new starter. However, doing so would mean losing all the hard work you’ve put into creating the perfect team, and the game goes to great lengths to endear you to them during your journey.
Bottom Line:
While I won’t jump into the endless debate over which of the two properties originated first, and who is riding the coattails of who, when it comes to exploring the Nintendo DS, Digimon certainly beat Pokémon in providing the first true installment in the series for it. Sure, there have been a variety of Pokémon games for the system already, but nothing that lets the player collect, train, trade, and battle like the past games in the series. Unfortunately, Digimon doesn’t provide us that either, at least not to the extent that I would have liked. Instead, what we get is a game that, with a few obvious features shaved off, seems like it could have easily been done on the Game Boy Advance. However, with the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl in the U.S. still a ways off, Digimon World DS found a void to fill, and it may even gain a few fans in the process...I’m just not one of them.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
|
| 7.0 |
Posted: 2006-12-21 21:32:50 PST