if takuma is the gangs designated therapist, then who is the therapist's therapist? (i know agumon helps but he is his partner so of course he would)
I feel they'd all be willing to listen to him since he always listens to them, but as for who I think he'd probably talk to most...
If Takuma needs actual solid advice on what he's going through, he'll talk to Aoi. Like,,,"I'm having problems with someone at school and don't know what to do" or "I think I did something to upset my mom but I can't figure out what" type problems. Or even advice on how to manage his emotions if they're runnin wild.
If he needs someone to just listen and/or take his mind off of it, he'll talk to Minoru. The go to guy for when he's overwhelmed by life, sad for no reason, or if he remembered something he'd rather have forgotten and needs to get it off his chest. Designated impromptu feelings jam friend.
If he knows he's being stupid about something but needs a good push to get his shit together, he'll talk to Kaito. Times where he knows deep down that he fucked up and needs someone who isn't afraid to tell him he fucked up. Times when he knows he's anxious over nothing needs to hear that it truly is nothing.
Anxious over real problems vs anxious over nothing in particular vs anxious for literally no reason
I think they're all good people to talk to if he's ever feeling too hard on himself, cuz they'd all have their own ways of cheering of him up.
I think he'd avoid talking to Saki and Miu because they're younger and Shuuji because he's so busy and stressed out. Ryo is the backup advice friend if Aoi is busy or it's more of a guy thing.
Overall, I do think that (other than Agumon) the one he'd talk to the most would be Minoru. They're best friends and go to school together, if something's wrong, there's an 80% chance Minoru already noticed and asked if he's okay.
...It would also be kinda cute if he talked to the other Kemonogami sometimes. Like if it's something he's too embarrassed to tell his friends about, he'll tell their partners instead but swear them to secrecy XD
"You ever think about dying?"
"Kewkew."
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One thing that I've grown fond of recently is Scars AUs, where stuff that happened in canon actually left a scar instead of being brushed off.
Are there any Scars you think the Survive kids would have from their adventure? They don't get injured too much unless they're actually going to die on a route, but still fun to think about.
Maybe Aoi has a small one from being captured by Dokugumon or Kaito got one from Dracmon's first Sangloupmon digivolution off screen?
ooh I love those ideas
I feel like Kaito's hand might also be a little messed up from that time he punched a brick wall and then neglected basic first aid bc he didn't want Aoi to get mad at him for doing something stupid. And maybe one from that time he tried to fight Garurumon.
In the same vein as Aoi getting hurt by Dokugumon, Miu could have a scar from getting kidnapped by Arukenimon that she hides to keep Kaito from freaking out about it.
Speaking of Aoi like this isn't from battle or anything but maybe she would have scares from cuts or burns from cooking that she looks at fondly because they remind her of how much she did to help everyone.
Ummm Ryo I imagine would have a few scars from that nasty fall he took in part 3.
You know how Shuuji tugs at his hair sometimes? I could see him being the kind of person who gets the anxious scratchies (but only when no one's looking) and having scars from accidentally breaking skin. So not technically an injury from the adventure but definitely a result of it.
I think Minoru would definitely have one from that time he jumped in front of Falcomon during that fight in Falcomon's first evo scene.
The game barely started and Takuma already got attacked by a Gotsumon and got caught in a landslide, so maybe one of those things left a mark on him. You know actually I think there would be angst potential if in the truthful route where Agumon attacks him it left a scar.
I know I still have a scar from just...landing really hard on my knee once. So maybe Saki would have a scrape that never quite healed properly from when she fell running from Fangmon or when she got hurt saving Miu when the amusement park castle was crumbling.
The Professor. Dear God the Professor. So many things happened to that man I'd be more surprised if he didn't have any scars from it ToT
SAME WITH MIYUKI TBH LIKE SHE WAS JUST REALLY GOING THROUGH IT
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So, I just finished Digimon Survive. And sometimes when I finish games I like to write up some of my thoughts about them, so here’s my thoughts on Digimon Survive.
Generally speaking, as a game, it was solid. Nothing too amazing, but for fans of digimon definitely worth checking out. If you’re not into digimon, though... probably not necessarily amazing.
To get into more specifics, and more spoiler-y territory, there’s a couple things I find interesting that I really wanna talk about
Aight so I’ve been a fan of digimon since I was a kid. During the Pokemon craze of the late 90′s/early 2000′s, I was a child in the perfect demographic to be into pokemon, and with the pokemon anime there was also the digimon anime on tv. And like most kids, I thought digimon was probably just a knock-off of pokemon. But unlike some kids, I still watched digimon and fell absolutely in love with it.
The franchise has certainly not gotten quite as much in terms of successes as some other iconic big franchises, and its animes and games have had mixed levels of quality, but there’s something kind of fascinating about every iteration of the franchise even in that case
And I think one thing that’s really interesting about it is the way each iteration of digimon kind of takes a slightly different approach to the subject matter. I think every digimon media, or at least all I’ve consumed, has a few general traits - there are digital monsters, that live in a digital world, and kids who end up getting involved in this world in some way have a specific partner digimon that they are destined to be partnered with. Well, some games take it slightly differently - the Cyber Sleuth duology doesn’t have the destined partners thing, from what I remember, focusing instead on being able to get multiple different partners a la a monster catching type game like pokemon
And each series takes a slightly different approach with exactly how the digital world and the real world are connected, what exactly digimon really “are”, and how it all fits together.
Within the world of Survive, Digimon are referred to as Kemonogami, at least as our story starts. They are apparently something akin to gods that were once worshipped at a small shrine in the middle of nowhere
As our main characters in this story get lost in the woods near that shrine, they end up in the digital world (as it would eventually come to be called, though that’s not how it’s referred to at first), and as we get into this I wanna talk for a bit about... parallel worlds.
A lot of Survive reminded me, at least in certain ways, of a Persona game. The digimon of Survive are destined to be with their human partners specifically because those who are partners are linked together by their emotions. Digimon evolve in survive - at least those who are partnered with a human - through strong emotions and force of will from their human partners.
This works in a really cool way to allow the digimon of Survive to act like metaphors for their human partners’ mental states. As our characters grow stronger in terms of their strength of character, their digimon are able to evolve into stronger forms and face tougher foes.
During the course of our journey, this also results in some unfortunate side effects, including characters who are unable to come to terms with themselves seeing their partner digimon turn into horrible dark monsters, resulting in what is probably still to me one of the most memorable parts of the game - about halfway through, when one of the human characters gets swallowed whole by their dark digivolved partner who has gone berserk.
So that’s a really cool metaphor, right? There’s this parallel world that our party get stuck in, where they bond with creatures that physically represent a part of themselves, they are able to grow stronger, and then able to overcome any challenge.
And of course the big point of comparison that comes to mind for me is... Persona. Especially Persona 4, where each dungeon of that game features you saving a character from their “shadow” - a dark reflection of some part of their heart - thus helping them to become a more complete person. And it’s a great metaphor, and I love it a lot!
Persona does way better with it, though. Survive is decent enough in this respect, but I think there’s definitely something lacking in the department of writing here that makes it just a lot weaker than something like Persona.
I think the game also feels a little worse in this respect because we start Survive with a much larger cast than Persona does - Digimon Survive starts with a large cast of survivors who are trying to find themselves, which runs a bit too wide to really be too noticable in a lot of ways. Persona, focusing on one character at a time, can spend a lot more focused time exploring each individual’s main emotional conflict(s), and sorting through them.
In its finale, the game makes some interesting... points, I guess. The claim seems to be that these kemonogami, creatures that have existed for many years in their alternate world, are likely to be referred to as digimon in the future, due to the connection they have in the modern day with the internet - our party spreading rumors on the internet about this alternate world and the creatures that live within.
I think a metaphor that could be drawn, though I don’t know how specific I’d say it is, is that the internet acts as a sort of subconscious for humanity - it is a reflection of our world, and at the same time things that happen there also impact our real world.
It’s an interesting metaphor, I think, though the game certainly doesn’t dwell on it at all
‘Course, as I’m typing this up while the credits scroll, I get this pop-up after the end of the credits... I don’t know that I necessarily have it in me to play through another time, though and save that character. I’ll have to look in to exactly how big of a change that’d be
Cause here’s the thing.
This game’s mechanics come in two flavors: visual novel storytelling with rare choices that impact other characters’ opinions of you; and very simple and not terribly difficult turn-based tactical strategy segments where you slowly march your digimon across a battlefield and wipe out everything in your path
Neither makes for the most engaging of gameplay
The visual novel aspects are not bad. The story’s fun, and the choices that impact other characters’ opinions of you can change how your own and everyone else’s digimon evolve, with your partner agumon having multiple different possible evolutions at each stage of evolution
The strategy segments can be kind of grueling, though. It feels like your partner digimon don’t move very fast and there isn’t a ton of interesting strategy to necessarily be had. There aren’t really a ton of interesting choices to be made, with each digimon having 2, maybe up to 4 choices for what kind of attack to do on their turn, and one being a strictly better option than the other 99% of the time. How you move doesn’t have a huge impact on how things play out, either - good positioning helps, for sure, but I really didn’t find it necessary nor interesting to make terribly complicated decisions on where to place myself.
A speeding monster is charging down a track. Next to you is a gun you can use to kill the monster. If you let the monster continue its path, the entire world is going to be destroyed. If you kill the monster, one person is going to die instead. Do you kill the monster?
The game does the classic thing a lot of stories do, especially in jrpgs, tackling the trolley problem on a unique scale. In the case of Survive, you have this part in the middle of the game where you are threatened with a world-ending monster that has possessed a person to use them as a vessel.
The game’s story involves you trying, again and again, to find a third option - a way to save the world and the one possessed person.
It’s a thing a lot of jrpgs do, I feel, and it’s not a bad idea. As a leftist, I certainly see the value in trying to think of a solution outside of the two prescribed ones and implementing that
And I don’t know that I have it in me to fully elaborate on my thoughts about this right now, but there’s something to be said for what the trolley problem, taken to extremes, can represent when it comes to, like... trying to find a third solution when you don’t have the time to do that. The way things are talked about during that portion of the game, it feels like time is running out and saving that person just isn’t going to be possible, but still the characters insist on trying to find a way to save everyone, but the longer the party waits, the worse things are going to become.
I don’t know, I don’t have the words to elaborate on that very well right now, so moving on
I will definitely praise the game in terms of aesthetics, though - the visuals and audio all look and sound great, the character designs are fun and distinct without being annoying, and just overall aesthetically it’s great
The UI and controls lack a little, though, at least playing on PC. Might be better on console, though, I’d imagine. Being a japanese game, it was most likely developed with console in mind first and foremost
Speaking of development, though, this game’s been a long time coming. If I remember right, this game changed developer hands halfway through its development -
okay, did some super light research on that topic and can talk with some definitive opinions.
Game was originally on a smaller budget and an entirely different game engine than it is now, but as it was developed they realized it was a bigger design than initially planned, thus why the game was delayed from its original 2019 release date to 2022, and why it changed development hands partway through.
With the scope of the project and the team changing up midway through development, as well as the whole global pandemic thing causing problems with development, I absolutely do have to make the point that this is a great product. I may have some complaints with certain aspects of it, but it was definitely enjoyable in a lot of ways
As a long time fan of Digimon, the game really does feel like it is your own form of Digimon Adventure. A new Digimon Adventure, taking a new look at the series’ original narrative structure.
And... I don’t know, I think that’s most of it. Here’s some other screencaps I took and maybe a couple notes on my feelings about them:
My gay brain gettin fired up about my girls. Love Saki, love Aoi. They’re great <3
A definitely interesting question that would be cool to explore in a game that took more time to focus on each individual character’s psyche rather than on the adventure the group as a whole takes
Digimon are cool because, yeah, they can be used as a metaphor for their human partner’s psyche, but they can also just be... partners. Not even a metaphor, per se, they can act really good as just characters in their own rights and interact with their human partners in really nice ways. Each pair’s gotta figure out their own ways of trusting and finding each other.
Something something digimon as a transgender allegory.
There’s a point the game, like, briefly touches on religion, and the way belief works. It does make sense with the end point of the game being the main characters trying to keep the digital world alive by having people believe in it, which is not a connection I had made until just now. Huh
An important point about self-realization. Other people can help move you in the right general direction, but ultimately people have to come to their own sense of self by themselves
Clearly the most controversial statement in history
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Alright, I think that’s it for real. I did overall have a pretty good time with Digimon Survive. I may or may not try to replay and max out everyone’s relationships, see how that changes things, but first and foremost I’m gonna take a bit of a break.
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