The New Digimon Idle Game You Should Play

Copyright: Digimon and Digimon up are property of Bandai Namco

brevity and ethics: I have no affiliation with Bandai Namco or Digimon, Im just a fan, 

Digimon Up is a 2D beat-'em-up idle RPG based on the Digimon franchise. You play as yourself, exploring the Digital World while battling familiar Digimon like Garbagemon, Red Vegiemon, and LadyDevimon (who, sadly, cannot be your starter or support... a fact I will absolutely not let go of). If you're looking for a new Digimon mobile game, Digimon Up combines idle RPG mechanics with beat-'em-up gameplay and a roster of familiar Digimon.

]The game begins by giving you a DigiEgg that hatches into one of several iconic starter Digimon spanning multiple generations of the franchise. You'll find fan favorites like Agumon, Guilmon, and... Renamon. Or, as the internet calls it, the furry awakening. Yes, I am judging your taste when it comes to Digi-waifus (LadyDevimon and Angewomon supremacy).

Character customization is fairly basic. Female characters get the cooler cosmetic options, including black dresses with skull motifs and other edgier outfits, while male characters mostly get the classic "anime protagonist with goggles" wardrobe. It gets the job done, but it definitely feels like one side got the better deal:

 

(literally me)

As expected from an idle RPG, there's a gacha system for unlocking and upgrading skills, recruiting support Digimon, and collecting SD-style support characters. These SD characters fight from the backline and feature iconic duos like Tai & Agumon, giving you extra bonuses while your main Digimon handles the frontline. You'll also find clan features and a handful of mini-games to keep you logging in between battles. If you're wondering how the Digimon  gacha system works, this is where a lot of the game's progression and collection mechanics come into play. Every pull from your support, skills, buddies and etc will gain experience with every pull you get. (Except flash drives which just absorb other flashdrives.. some reason)

you have passive buffs given through different items and mini games:

Passive Buffs:

Digivice:

Crest:

(Grinding Crests is so fucking impossible)

Flashdrives:

Your Support party: 

(Your pulls will never be good without money or a ton of currency)

And training:

Gaccha:

Skill cards:

 

Support team:

there is also some grinding for items in the digital world search:

and different dimension boxes:

Also eating stat increasing meats:

One thing to know going in: there isn't much of an overarching story. If you're hoping to save the Digital World from Apocalymon or experience a narrative-heavy adventure, this isn't that kind of game. You're better off playing games like Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth or Digimon Story Time Stranger if you're looking for a more story-focused Digimon game

Also... Both let you use LadyDevimon.

I'm just saying.

Overall, I'd give Digimon Up a 7/10. It has a solid gameplay loop, recognizable Digimon, and enough side content to stay entertaining. As a Digimon idle RPG, it does a decent job of mixing passive progression, combat, character collection, and the franchise's huge roster of monsters. The game still feels like it's in its early days, so I'd expect the roster and features to grow over time. They also say you can switch your partner, but when changing my partner to Viximon its still Best girl Angewomon, im unsure if its a later feature or just absorbed data, but it'll still let me digivolve to Furrybait renamon. 

That said...

Bandai. Developers. Whoever's responsible.

You already put LadyDevimon in the game as an enemy. You let me fight her. You let Andromon be a support. Stop being cowards and let me recruit LadyDevimon already.

Editors Note: When writing this review, Bandai released a Collaboration event  with Digimon Time Stranger adding Aegiochusmon as a buddy, and Inori and Aegiomon as support