Game Over: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory is kind of a companion to Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. However, while there are characters whom you’ll recognise from the previous entry, such as Kyoko Kuremi and Arata Sanada, there are also some new characters. For instance, instead of playing as Takumi, you’re now a boy named Keisuke, who has joined a group of hackers known as Hudie — and are essentially freelancers. They work with the group Zaxon, and while Keisuke didn’t plan to become a hacker, he didn’t have much of a choice. After his account was raided, he was desperate to get his account back (as it contains every bit of info about him; it’s basically his ID).

Joining him as members of Hudie are Ryuji, Erika, and Chitose. It’s Ryuji who encourages Keisuke to join their group if he wants to get his account back, after he saves him in Under Kowloon. Ryuji’s got a lot going on, but he’s got a lot of big-brother energy from having had to look after his younger sister, Erika. And while Erika is uninterested in Digimon, she’s quick to adopt a Wormmon who has been through a lot. Together, the four of them bond over their work, though Keisuke is uncertain about the one who supplies him with information — K; he’s reluctant to share too much with his new team. Well, in the beginning anyway.

Adopting Digimon in danger seems to be a common trend for Keisuke, as when he first met Ryuji, he went to the DigiMarket and was upset by how three of the rookie monsters were being treated. Tentomon, Gotsumon, and Betamon were all terrified by their treatment and were going to be scrapped. While you can only pick one, I feel I should say that they all end up escaping. The Digimon you pick to save first ends up becoming your partner. So in spite of my real-world hatred of bugs, I couldn’t leave Tentomon.

Unlike Takumi, Keisuke doesn’t believe he’s a main character or anything like that, and it shows in the Chapters titled “Yet Another Side Chapter”. Unlike the previous game, there’s a little more to do here. You can repair objects, purchase Digimon from the DigiMarket, and gain cosmetics by competing in the Online Coliseum.

While he’s not a Sleuth, he is a Hacker, and he can get his Hacker rank up by completing cases on the board. However, while the combat is essentially the same, there is a new addition here in the form of Hacker Battles. In these, you’re basically there to take over the other team’s territory. You have to think about what you’re going to do, and if you don’t win your battle, you lose the space. Typically, you’ll have to reach a certain number of points to win, but you can take away your opponents’ points by taking their territory.

Previously, I mentioned the DigiMarket, and as you progress, you’ll find that you can purchase Digimon from there (they’ll be added to your DigiBank). It’s a good way to add some more monsters to your Field Guide, and more will appear as you progress through the narrative. I’m not going to lie: it actually made things easier, as instead of only relying on converting Digimon you meet, you’re able to purchase those you haven’t met enough of to DigiConvert.

Of course, interestingly, you’ll find that the DigiMarket is something that you can choose to keep or get rid of with one of the cases supplied to you. Depending on which side you choose, you’ll either still get access or it will no longer be there. Personally, I did like that. You don’t get penalised for your choice, but depending on how you see the Digimon, you can choose to benefit from holding them in cages or getting rid of them.

That’s an overall theme of Hacker’s Memory, as it’s mostly a moral dilemma of whether Digimon are tools or not; it’s an interesting conundrum to have. But another aspect I liked? Territory Capture. These are cases where Zaxon enlists you to help them take back from the other Hackers, but it differs from the Hacker Battles.

See, with these, it’s essentially Capture the Flag. As you battle the other team, you’ll be hit with some kind of stat debuff, and if you try to battle the leader without taking all the other team’s emblems? Be prepared to be absolutely destroyed. Once you take all of these, you’ll still have to battle the opposing commander. However, they’ll be drastically weaker and susceptible to stat debuffs.

I’d like to note that these cases aren’t really essential, but they come in handy later, as you’ll get a bunch of items from those you defeated when you’re trying to get to the final boss.

Like Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Eaters are your main enemy, but they aren’t your main concern. Instead, it is the Digimon that is inhabiting Under Zero: Arcadiamon, a Digimon that I haven’t really seen mentioned since the good ol’ days of Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01. Seriously, I haven’t seen it for a while, so when it started possessing Ryuji and destroying a bunch of Hackers? I was hit with a different wave of nostalgia than I had for Cyber Sleuth.

With the focus more on side stories than anything else, I appreciated that while the overarching plot was closer to Cyber Sleuth, Hacker’s Memory also works as a standalone game that you could easily play without that knowledge. Does knowledge help? Oh, absolutely, especially when interacting with Kyoko Kuremi and the other side characters, but it also does a great job of making you want to play the previous game.

Overall, I really did enjoy Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory. It allows a different exploration into the Digital World than with Cyber Sleuth and does a great job of having a spin-off storyline that also stands on its own two feet. Plus, it still managed to pull on your heartstrings and provide a challenge with different forms of battles. While I get why those battles weren’t in Digimon Story Time Stranger, it made me appreciate EDEN and the world that was created, as there was a lot to explore that wasn’t in the previous game.