Introduction
This is a solid monster taming RPG. Does nothing new in the genre but take the standard monster training formula of it's predecessors (Pokémon) but adds its own Digimon twist. You won't find any of the TV characters in this game so it is the perfect even for people unfamiliar with the franchise. So without any TV tie ins to tie it down it does some new (and some old) things that you might be familiar with.

The story itself centers around your character. Seeing monsters at one of the PCs while browsing the web on one of the school's computers he is sucked into the digital world where humans and digital monsters, aka Digimon, partner together to become stronger and, eventually, digivolve. Seeing some of these monsters upon arrival your character is naturally drawn to them and quickly find yourself signing up to become a "tamer", a human who trains Digimon and takes them up as partners, yourself. Then through a series of events you are drawn into a series of events and a contest to be crowned "Tamer King".


Gameplay



Gameplay has several aspects to it. First part your party, you should be familiar with. You can have up to 6 digimon in your party and when you battle via random encounters they gain experience, level up, and at some point digivolve. There are some more aspects to battle beyond that however. Though you have 6 digimon in your party only three can battle at a time. Between those three you can set them into formations between 5 'spaces'. If they are enxt to one another certain digimon might grant each other bonuses, on the other hand that might also make them susceptible to attacks that can hit a number of spaces at once. Beyond just simply your party obviously you will be able to obtain more than 6 so the rest can stored in a "bank" of digimon. Here is where the next gameplay aspect comes in. Eventually you will obtain a DigiFarm(s) and on these farms you can raise your various digimon at the cost of food per day, which grows on the farms, and supply various training equipments for their use. As you progress through the story and misc. quests days will pass and the digimon on your farm gain EXP and the misc. bonuses associated with the equipment you provide for the farms adding another layer to gameplay as some digivolution paths may have perquisites not easily accomplished through straight battle. For example to digivolve a Tokomon into an Angemon a certain amount of Holy EXP is required which happens to be rare in the beginning of the game. To compensate training items like Phonographs, Holy Bells, and Churches may be required.

Graphics

The outside battle graphics are GBA quality(rather than the sprites, which are very well done in this game), but in battle, you will see the digimon as anime. The anime designs are very, very well done, and the background are colorful, bright, and vivid. Graphics overall: 9

Sound

The music in this game was pretty decent. In and after battle you will be easily amused by the music. Sound effects are only ok, and when you encounter a battle, the warning alarm gets really, really annoying.

Sound overall: 7

Value

This game was surprisingly good. That's all I can really say about it. If you turn down this game just because its of the digimon franchise, your missing out on A LOT. And to add to that, this game has a lot of replay value, trying to raise All the digimon and all of its multiple digivolutions.