Forum - View topicCollect 'Em All: Other Video Games About Catching Monsters
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LinkTSwordmaster
 Posts: 381 Location: PA / USA |
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For folks interested in some of these, Digimon World Next Order is a really solid alternative to the modern 3D Pokemon games and has some Harvest Moon-ish elements to it. Thing is, it's a sequel to the original Digimon World on PS1, so if you are interested in giving Digimon a go, be aware that you will benefit from playing the UK release of Digimon World 1 for the PS1 if you want to see how the games got their start.
If you want to dip your toes into Digimon games for the first time, Digimon World 2003 for the PAL PS1 is actually one of the best places to start the retro games, as it feels like a mix between a classic Gameboy Pokemon game and MegaMan Battle Network due to how it's setup and presented. Just be aware that if you're playing on PS1, you want to avoid the USA releases of these PS1 games because they are often riddled with crashes and have massive chunks of cut-content if you're not playing the aforementioned version of either PS1 game. If you are interested in a taste without the time commitment, Wayneisboss over on YouTube did an amazing "documentary" of the entire game from front to back. Give his video a look, and maybe either try out Next Order or hunt down a copy of the PAL Digimon World 2003 if you wanna see what Digimon are all about. |
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Villain-chan
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https://dev.metalkid.info/DigimonWorld2/Digipedia/Details/Numemon https://dev.metalkid.info/DigimonWorld2/Digipedia/Details/I-dramon https://dev.metalkid.info/DigimonWorld2/Digipedia/Details/Omnimon https://dev.metalkid.info/DigimonWorld2/Digipedia/Details/Baihumon https://dev.metalkid.info/DigimonWorld2/Digipedia/Details/Diaboromon Digimon World 2's problem is its flaws in the grind is seriously the worst in the entire franchise, the Mystery Dungeons btw (Called Domains in the game but the rooms minus select floors always change), not dungeon crawler, come with their own set of probs as the game progresses. Even though most (or all, I forget which) Domains b4 u beat the game (And theres only one in the post game thats 99 floors) have 20 floors, the prob is the traps u can encounter plus NO indication on what to bring and how much of each type of disable x trap there is and if THAT wasn't bad enough, traps have LVS! So ur disarmament item u need to bring ALSO needs to be high lv too (Which means more grinding cus u need money, or BITS in the games) so OFTEN u'll encounter a scenario during thsoe 20ish floors or less where u need to have a rock destroying trap at x lv, oops, am out. Let me auto pilot back to the city and try again... or OOPS! I hit a return bug... now randomly x mons in my party are being returned to the city... aka u CANNOT use them until u exit the dungeon becus they didn't think that adding a way to get them back after x floors or on boss floor would be ok to do so sucks to be u if u OFTEN hit such a bug (Fyi, most traps are INVISIBLE until u run into them, bugs and the next one included and theres lots of dif bugs such as EP Drain bug, bit drain bug to name a few, EP drain bug, remember that one) or OOPS, this Electro barrior I JUST ran into either drained the last HP my DigiBeetle had (What u traverse Domains in) so am auto piloted back to the city or dang, I don't have the missile (+ at lv needed) needed to destroy the trap and this is the only way forward! Auto pilot back. OOOOR Woops, hit another bug, which bugger is it THIS time? -_- EP bug? Ok, thats not too bag, I hope... just hope i'll have enough EP (The energy power ur digibeetle needs to move and thus traverse the domain...) to make it to the boss so i can clear this domain... *x time later* DANG IT ALL!!! I ran outta EP! WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR!!!!? ALL that, and more, in JUST the 20 or less floors to reach each domain's boss... and since floors are randomized, this does not help u either as the TRAPS are ALSO randomized too. There are ofc, ways to avoid traps, after running into them x times, u start to pick up on ther patterns, e.g. bugs are OFTEN in the open space of floors, electro barriers are often at the start/exit of a room (Sometimes can be anywhere in the room though...) and if a Chest (Which has no mimic but might as well be as they can the following) says its got a trap on it, u can risk opening it (Hey, u might need whats in it, often missiles etc. are in them and will help u, the devs weren't complete sadists :P) so u have a risk vs. reward (or half the time risk vs I need u to drop this to either maybe proceed later or for sure to proceed later). do u wanna risk ur beetle/mons taking damage (I forget if it has other traps besides damage but the damage is often HUGH so keep that in mind...) and thus maybe getting the item needed to proceed if u run out or items for future domains, or do u wanna not chance it and pass on the chest? speaking of, It various on the domain and the mystery dungeon floors (aka randomly generated floors) u get but, do u risk trying to explore as much as u THINK u can (Might be best to bring some EP restoring items) while opening chests and fighting Digimon along the way for EXP and BITS (while OFTEN avoiding the mons cus u cannot fight them all, ur mon's MP WILL run out and eventually the EXP/lv will cap till u dna devolve them) WHILE risking running into more and more traps and using up resources along the way of exploring, or do u just move onto the next floor as soon as u find the stairs? U can never go back to prev floors while in the domain btw, only by exiting through any means and reentering can u can back to past floors but its always dif minus certain floors like the final boss (aka last) floor. Much as I LOVE Digimon world 2 (Its where the Cyber Sleuth games got their game play from, but improved upon it INCLUDING on how much u need to grind and even added in ways to speed the grind up, unlike DW2), as I said, its got its probs. Its fun, its frustrating at points, its a slog of a grind and it really needs cheats to make it a more faster and fun game (cheats like game shark cheats). If I were to ever replay DW2, it'd need to be with them cheats, the stuff I spoke was from no cheats and no guides exp beating the game TWICE I'll add which took me over 100 hrs each time. It can be beat in 67 hrs apparently but I went the completionist route which says 106 hrs, sounds about right... due note completionist for DW2 does NOT mean getting every Digimon. Dear Lord no, don't, this isn't Digimon World Dawn/Dusk/Cyber Sleuth here. The grind is SERIOUSLY that bad and theres TONS of mons u can get (That and I want to say u might not can get them all anyway as u have x space in the city's storage system/ur party, though i forget how much, party is small as expected though) One last thing about DW2, while u can pick up on the traps and do things (Such as just moving to the enxt floor which prolly is the better choice long as u have enough of each item) to makke the exp better, theres never a way to outright avoid them all together. The devs made sure of that. Whether u can see the traps or not, be on ur guard, its survival of the fittest in these domains and my last tip to any would be players or Tamers I should say is, don't let ur guard down just cus the game is stupid easy at the start, the traps and floors only ramp up in difficulty the further u progress the game's story. GL! I still hope for a DW2 and 3 remake and sequel... at this point I'd take a sequel over a remake...
So, what was cut and changed for DW1 in the US thats in the PAL ver? This is the first I've heard of this, or was it just bugs and crashes? I already knew about DW3's cut post game (And other stuff I won't bother mentioning) in all vers except the PAL ver but great shout out for it. Usually when people talk about the game they fail to mention this detail (Likely becus they didn't know) I uh, hate to say this but the combat in DW3 is lack luster, esp when u compare it to the superior combat in DW2 which it was coming off the heels of... On top of no VA, and a VERY SMALL POOL of mons u can have (Unlike DW2 which let u play and have every mon in the game besides a limited number of bosses), the combat was just, not as fun as DW2's... they even added a lame atk option which just has the enemy/u lunge at the boss, often the same atk lung too I'll add. Blast gauge was there to make some fights less tedious but annoying to build up too and the actual special move iirc, (or maybe this is just how it felt to me?) had so low damage/MP that u couldn't use it as much as u could like in DW2. To me, DW3's combat is almost soulless, which is a shame becus I LOVE DW3. That said I got side tracked going down memory lame there. I'd argue the best places to start are Cyber Sleuth, Digimon World Dawn/dusk and Next Order. After those, though may need cheats to better enjoy (I sure hope for DW3 theres a turn off random encounters or at least LOWER it cus its BAD...) the games but DW2 and DW3 would be the next I suggest, followed by (with a guide for evo at least) DW1. I'd say Digimon world DS but, I recall that being rather boring but its there if anyone wants it. (Its game play is like DW dawn/dusk but not as crisp for lack of a better word and its story i recall being meh but its been a LONG time sicne I last played so maybe am recalling wrong) As for DW3 itself... its a good game despite its lack luster combat and IRONICALLY has a mega addicting card game u get to play throughout the game! I swear thats where the REAL dev for combat went too as it shows just how well thought out they made the card battles when u compare em to the MEH battles in the game. As for DW3 being like MMBN... it is not in any way shape or form. I'm betting the only reason u mentioned it is becus it takes place inside an MMO game called Digimon Online. In which case an actual comparison would be its like .Hack//Sign or SAO (Minus the u can die irl bit) but u are right, its like Pokemon in DW3. Where as DW1 and 2 never felt like Pkmn. Even DS/Dawn/Dusk/Cyber Sleuth while having a few (emphasis there) elements of Pkmn's design/game play, didn't feel like Pkmn. But DW3 actually feels like a take on both Pkmn and the .hack//sign anime with its story and game play WHILE making itself still Digimon ofc. |
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LinkTSwordmaster
Posts: 381 Location: PA / USA |
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Also specifically the way that the map is navigated. If you look at an MMBN game, especially later ones, the way that you interact with the world itself has a very similar feel to the way that you had to navigate the net in any given MMBN game. It's important to try and simplify down the series for anyone that only sees it as a generic Pokemon clone, Bandai is doing a terrible job with the Digimon IP in the west, and the likelihood we will get proper compilations of some of these retro games on modern systems is highly unlikely. Especially when Digimon has some incredibly busted and unplayable landmines in its catalogue that unsuspecting new players might not have been warned of. |
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Wack Sage
 Posts: 28 |
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Palworld is really fun and what I'm playing currently. I'm waiting for a PC port of the recent Dragon Quest Monsters. Other similar games I enjoyed were World of Final Fantasy. My favorite monster collecting game of all time is probably Azure Dreams though. A good combination of monster collecting and mystery dungeon, with town building, dating sim, and other stuff. The first Jade Cocoon was pretty interesting and experimental from what I remember, maybe a bit too much so.. but the sequel was more straightforward.
Persona/SMT always seemed like the opposite of a monster collecting game to me. It actively encourages you to replace your demon and sacrifice and fuse them since they get progressively stronger and you need to keep up with the enemies... unless you want to do a challenge run and only go through the game with 1 starter demon. Persona is more casual and the more recent games let you buff them up with skill cards and incense to get their stats maxed if you really wanted to on NG+, but it was generally always optimal to replace demons in SMT as you went along and never get attached to them. |
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LinkTSwordmaster
Posts: 381 Location: PA / USA |
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This is one of the reasons I'm really sad that Megami Tensei Imagine isn't around anymore - it was an MMO that used Nocturne's assets to allow you realtime control of both your character and your partner demon. The controls for jockeying two whole characters onscreen at the same time (gets even crazier in a 4-player party) were rather complicated to pull off, but hotdamn, if you were good at it, it was one of the most amazing Megami Tensei worlds to run around in an experience. Catching demons just to fuse them was still a thing, but you would start being able to stack special buffs and abilities on them to let them stick around unnaturally a lot longer than a typical offline MegaTen game would have. |
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Zimmer
Posts: 178 |
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funkfoot
Posts: 42 |
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Digimon's games were always hit and miss, but I applaud them for trying new things compared to Pokemon and other series. My favorites are probably the original Digimon World/Next Order because they're the closest to the original Digital Monster pet in terms of raising your Digimon. The Cybersleuth games are great as well for their characters, story, and the overall monster collecting gameplay.
Monster Farm felt like one of those series that lost a lot of it's identity as technology moved forward. Half the fun was using your own CDs to make monsters. Once the CDs went away and later games ended up using codes and whatever it lost something. I remember really liking the monster raising system in FFXIII-2 despite it not being a real focus of the game. The dedicated monster game of World of Final Fantasy used an entirely different stacking system which was... interesting. |
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UltimaShadowfax
 Posts: 288 |
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In memory of Toriyama, I recently pulled out my Game Boy Color and copy of DQM1. After getting over my amazement that both still work perfectly fine, I was surprised by just how much this game holds up. It was released at the height of the Pokemon craze in the U.S., so I think as a child I was put off by how unlike Pokemon it was and never finished it. And yeah, compared to Pokemon, the monster-catching mechanics are just not that great. But the breeding system, which I suspect may have influenced Pokemon to do its own, is the real draw. It's a shame this game isn't really available to right now unless you managed to keep your Game Boy and your cartridge (miraculously) still has a working memory.
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LinkTSwordmaster
Posts: 381 Location: PA / USA |
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Definitely agree, the anime they put out with it was a blast too, back in the day. The remasters that got released recently are still worth looking into however, because you can do stuff like "Monsters from Rock albums only" or "Elvis/Beetles only" monster runs by searching albums on the database. Obviously, you can steamroll the game if you look up guides and only use the best monsters, but it's still a ton of fun to just randomly say "here's this album I used to listen to a lot as a kid, I wonder what monster it makes..." - and playing that way. |
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fuuma_monou
 Posts: 1817 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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Isn't it possible to refurbish the battery in the cartridge so that save game memory works? |
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light turner
Posts: 121 |
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It's very easy to replace the battery in a cartridge to let it save again. The only tricky part is doing it while you have a save and want to keep it but if it's already dead then there's not really anything to bother with. |
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