Digital Monsters: D Project

"Heck, in my eyes, this supercedes the PSX "World" series"

In this, the newest Digimon ''RPG'' game for the Wonderswan Color/Crystal, you're once again cast as a kid who's sent to the Digital World to save it (what else?), armed with nothing else but your partner digimon, your tamer know-how, and a machine that somehow supplies a never-ending supply of meat and medicine. Hmm, at least it beats the concept of the ''Meat Farm'' in Digimon World 1. But enough about that, let's get to the acutal review

Story - (8/10) OK, so it's nowhere NEAR Final Fantasy epic proportions, or even utilizes some of the better story-telling elements that the differing anime series employed, but I digress. Basically, as the newest chosen child (that's digidestined to everyone else outside of Japan), you are charge to raise your digimon to be strong, and then go around taking boss digimon to school. Not entirely deep, but it will do, in my opinion.

Graphics - (8/10) Nicely drawn sprites for all of the digimon types in the game, though I think that some of the previous games had slightly better art. Plus, this game loses some points by using the same graphics over and over again. I'm not asking for FF8 type of effects, but couldn't we have gotten more of a variety of attacks? Pallete-swapped fireballs get old after awhile...however, the 8 is there, if only once you see the likes ImperialDramon Paladin mode grace the screen, which is done really well imo.

Gameplay - (8/10) When I saw shots of this game, I was expecting Digimon with more of a standard type of battle engine, but Bandai sprung a surprise on me this time. In this game, you don't even get to choose what attack or technique your digimon will do. This time around, the Digimon will attack all on their own, leaving you to instruct them on how they should arrange thier order (once you get more than one), or when it's time to run if it looks like a Boss is going to hand your digi-tails to you. Also, for those of us who want more of workout for your fingers, you can do a sort of ''timed attack'' strike, a la Super Mario RPG. So, the game does a good job of involving you while cutting you out at the same time.

Digimon Allotment - (7/10) This is probably the only thing that hurts the game in my eyes. Compared to previous Digimon RPG games, this was a severe cutback. Sure, we've got the staples like Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon, Tail(Gato)mon, V-mon, Guilmon, Renamon, and Terriermon, but what about some of the other faves? I for certain would've liked to have a Gomamon on my team, and with Digimentals (Digieggs from 02) gone, that means that the Armored guys are out of the picture too. So, I was REALLY hoping that after Brave Tamer, this game would have a expansive list of Digimon, but that was not to be. Instead, I guess I'll enjoy this game as pretty much an extension of the D-Scanner.

Overall - (8/10) While not the absolute best Digimon game, it still is quite the bit of fun, and as I said in my header, it more than outdoes the PSX games. Hopefully, if this game is the start of a brand new series, perhaps Bandai will hear some of the constructive critiques, and make an even better game the next time around! But for now, I'm going to put my BlackWargreymon to the test and try and vanquish whatever challenger my friend who has a Japanese D-Scanner can make up! Later!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/02, Updated 10/24/02