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Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory Review

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory Review

Most JRPGs are standalone affairs, which is understandable in franchises spanning two decades, so when a direct sequel is released it piques my interest. Especially when it’s a sequel to one I reviewed and, despite the score, quite adored. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory is billed as a prequel to Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, which was released in 2016, although it’s more than that.

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Woah, I didn't mean THAT!

Your character, Keisuke Amazawa, joins the Hudie hacking group in an effort to get back his EDEN (basically this world’s internet) account, as it was stolen from him. Without his normal EDEN account, people think he’s a hacker, so the obvious way to dissuade this notion is to prove it absolutely correct. The other members of the group are the leader Ruiju, his sister Erica, and the second in command Chitose. Hudie take jobs from the bigger hacker group Zaxon to make ends meet - mostly firewall construction and tracking down bad hackers.

Before I get too far, I should mention that you can import your Cyber Sleuth save to Hacker’s Memory. It will give you some bonuses, such as a few items and unlocking whatever Digimon you discovered in the index. It does also decide whether you will encounter the male or female version of Aiba as you go through the story, which intersects with Cyber Sleuth’s in certain places.

Along the way to recover your identity you’re given a Digimon and the chance to take on “cases”. In the last game, that made sense - you were working for a private detective. In Hacker’s Memory, you’re just doing odd jobs posted onto a forum, so calling them “cases” is a misnomer. Most of these are side quests for XP and hacker rank, but a lot of story missions also start off as cases.

325

Honestly, I loved that these guys were back

You will meet most of the characters and travel to the same places that appeared in Cyber Sleuth, as well as new sections of EDEN and Tokyo. Other changes include 85 new Digimon (bringing the total to 327), and new music - although some of the old music makes a return, but a key or two higher. Also, there is a new type of battle called Domination Battles, which take place during some cases.

Domination Battles take place on a grid, with each space being worth a set amount of points, with the aim to reach a certain total before the other team. You take turns moving up to two spaces at a time to take over a space, and if someone is already stood on a spot, you fight. Each Digimon does one attack and if you defeat them then you take over the square. If you're attacked and lose, you respawn on the next turn. I assume.

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It's simpler than it looks

The thing about Hacker’s Memory is that it might be too easy. For the majority of my playtime I used three Digimon, and their digivolutions. I had other Digimon, but because each one costs a certain amount of memory, for a few hours I had managed to digivolve my main three so much that they were all I could afford out of nine possible spots on my team. The only times I lost a match were near the beginning when I only had a single Digimon on my team. The moment I had three, I didn’t lose again. I’m the first to say that I’m not exactly amazing at videogames, but I must be doing something right to never lose. Only one of my Digimon has been knocked out, too, and that was during a boss battle.

The other thing that annoys me is Keisuke Amazawa’s design. His eyes are the anime equivalent of having a movie character played by Malcolm McDowell. You know that shifty bastard is up to something, and he’s probably going to destroy a solar system to accomplish it. In honesty, I’ve not completed the game yet, so that’s not a spoiler, but because of those eyes, I’ve had the “He’s evil!” feeling since the first trailer for this game. Whilst playing, I can’t take my eyes off of his…

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This is his resting expression

My complaint about the masses of XP overpowering my Digimon aside, there are some quality of life changes. Aiba was able to hack firewalls, become invisible and such whilst in EDEN, Amazawa has those abilities and more, which results in some nice level designs and hidden objects to interact with. Most notable amongst the new abilities is that you can “hack” yourself to run faster - and given the amount of backtracking involved in the nature of JRPGs, it’s a great idea.

Another improvement is in the textures because I noted that some Digimon, such as Tankmon, looked pretty bad in Cyber Sleuth. Unfortunately, not every texture has received the same improvement, as some are blurry as heck. For instance, since a lot of the game takes place in a manga café, there are a few signs on the counter. It’s distracting to see things literally next to each other as radically different resolutions.

329

I mean, they are RIGHT next to each other...

I will give developer Media.Vision props for managing to avoid the same number of typos and Engrish as was in Cyber Sleuth. It’s not perfect, with some of the conversations you have via text message being absolute nonsense, but it’s much better. There are also a number of references and in-jokes you won’t really get without having played Cyber Sleuth, which is something I always enjoy. This is why I never play the sequel before the original, kids!

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Though if you avoid the other game, you would also get to miss out on Jimmy KEN

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory is a fun return to the Cyber Sleuth world, and although giving less of a MegaMan Battle Network vibe than the last game, it retains the fun elements while making improvements. I just wish the difficulty curve was a bit sharper.

7.50/10 7½

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory (Reviewed on PlayStation 4)

This game is good, with a few negatives.

It manages to improve upon the previous game, and thankfully fixes some of it's problems. Since you can import your save from the last game, you should probably check that out first - it will help give you a deeper understanding of the story too.

This game was supplied by the publisher or relevant PR company for the purposes of review
Andrew Duncan

Andrew Duncan

Editor

Guaranteed to know more about Transformers and Deadpool than any other staff member.

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COMMENTS

Renaldi Saputra
Renaldi Saputra - 05:55am, 23rd January 2018

I'm playing hard mode, even with 3 digimon or more, I made 3 game overs up to chapter 5. So I assume that you might be at the normal mode now. If you want challenges, you can try hard mode. It's been much better than last CS.

Domination battle might look simple, but the requirement of each battle is what challenges you, especially if you're limited by turns you need to accomplish. If you don't have digimon that is able to do one hit kill the enemy, then it will waste the turn. Also if you aren't awar enough, enemy can take your spot without having to battle, you will lose point and the point goes to them.

Reply
Acelister
Acelister - 07:26am, 23rd January 2018 Author

I should probably knock it up to Hard Mode, you're right! Normal is far too easy.

Reply
Chloe Lachlan
Chloe Lachlan - 04:25pm, 5th December 2022

gud revew

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Stefenie
Stefenie - 08:27am, 6th December 2022

tasty

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Rebecca Paul
Rebecca Paul - 12:20pm, 16th December 2022

I'm so happy to be able to share this testimony with all of you, I like review

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Sue Hank
Sue Hank - 02:50pm, 29th December 2022

Have you ever been a victim of a romance scam? well i fell in love with this game

Reply
Giorgio
Giorgio - 12:38am, 4th January 2023

i love jimmy ken

Reply
Steven Ashley
Steven Ashley - 01:55am, 5th January 2023

Binary trading has caused many people to lose their hard-earned money, but I don't care I played this game instead

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Jon Maldonado
Jon Maldonado - 06:19pm, 20th February 2023

My profound gratitude 

Reply
Reuben Baker
Reuben Baker - 10:12pm, 19th April 2023

Do you require hacking services to improve your school rankings, everyone? Then play Digimon!

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Etienne Rejane
Etienne Rejane - 03:34pm, 27th April 2023

I only respect hackers who will fight to protect me, and digimon do that

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Abigail Garcia
Abigail Garcia - 05:55pm, 2nd May 2023

Because Digimon is the only group of hackers with no extraneous activity and complete openness and integrity throughout, I would like to publicly convey my gratitude to them. 

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Daniel Schmid
Daniel Schmid - 11:35pm, 4th May 2023

I got a message from a trader on my whats app who told me about this awesom review

 

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Lachlan Narelle
Lachlan Narelle - 12:10am, 5th May 2023

After I suffered a significant loss at the hands of fictitious online BTC investors, I played this game because of your review

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Thomas Patricia
Thomas Patricia - 01:53am, 5th May 2023

It's really unfortunate to have seen people losing their BTC, Ethereum and USDT. anywy good review

Reply
Louise Shelley
Louise Shelley - 02:19am, 9th May 2023

Bitcoin recovery has raised a dilemma for many, since people believe it's very difficult whether it's recovered or not. But I can testify it's recovered, I lost my Bitcoin, but by good luck I met Digimon

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Willa Robinson
Willa Robinson - 11:26pm, 11th May 2023

The idea that a marriage partner is unfaithful is never comforting. In contrast, Digimon will always love you

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