Common Sense Media Review
By David Chapman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Monster collection brings mystery, fun in new adventure.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
What's It About?
In DIGIMON STORY: CYBER SLEUTH, nearly everything electronic is connected via network. And at the center of this network lies EDEN, an online haven for people from all over the globe to get together and interact. Recently, though, people have been plugging into EDEN and not coming out, leaving their comatose bodies behind. While exploring this online world, the player barely escapes an encounter with the strange digital monsters, or Digimon, that inhabit this virtual reality. This encounter leaves the player as a sort of half-digital creation, able to interact seamlessly with both the real and digital realms. Now, the player must act in both worlds, befriending and teaming up with both humans and Digimon to uncover the truth behind what's happening and, ultimately, to save two worlds from falling apart.
Is It Any Good?
Although the Digimon franchise has never quite reached the popularity of a certain competitor's pocket monster franchise, it's still managed to build a strong and loyal fan base. Some of these fans may have grown up a bit over the years, but that doesn't mean they've been forgotten. With Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, the series does a little growing up of its own while giving players a little bit of everything. The result is an addictive mix of role-playing, fighting, collecting, and simulation, all wrapped up nicely in a surprisingly deep mystery.
From a presentation standpoint, Cyber Sleuth doesn't look bad, but it's also not pushing the PS4's capabilities. It looks like an upscaled Vita game, which should come as no surprise since the game is also available for Sony's portable console. Some of the animations are a bit stiff, and a free-moving camera is sorely lacking. Despite this, there's so much going on from a gameplay perspective, you'll hardly notice. Between scanning and battling Digimon, caring for and evolving them in the DigiLab and farm, investigating cases, and even testing your Digimon's mettle in online matches, there's a little bit of everything here for anyone's tastes. And while the overall experience is a bit more mature of an outing for the franchise, Cyber Sleuth never loses sight of the youthful fun that first grabbed fans' attention.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about growing up and maturity. How do our personal tastes and expectations change as we get older?
Talk about themes such as friendship and caring. Are we more likely to get personally attached to characters when we're raising them and interacting with them in the game? Why?
Game Details
- Platforms : PlayStation 4 , PlayStation Vita
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Bandai Namco
- Release date : February 2, 2016
- Genre : Role-Playing
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Fantasy
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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