In most ways, Digimon Story: Time Stranger isn’t a complicated RPG. The turn-based monster tamer’s battles are mostly straightforward, and it’s got waypoints telling you where to go for most missions. However, after spending 40 hours in the game, I do have a few quick tips for those of you heading to the Digital World now that the game is out. Grab your Digivice and let’s go.
You will lose access to side quests for dozens of hours
Easily the most frustrating thing I encountered in my first playthrough of Time Stranger was the way it gates side quests. Without getting into spoilers, there’s a point when the game will warn you that some of the side quests you’ve been doing will be inaccessible for an undetermined amount of time. Years of playing video games had me expecting this meant I wouldn’t be able to complete those quests until I finished the story mission I was about to embark on. As it turns out, it would be dozens of hours before I could go back to those quests. This would normally have been fine, but side quests have a lot more to offer in Time Stranger than just a side story and some loot. Throughout the game, you’ll get Anomaly Points that raise your Agent rank. Digivolution levels are gated behind leveling up this rank, and if you can’t complete more quests, you might be stuck at a lower rank and unable to level up your party until much, much later in the game. So heed this warning when you hit it, because it really fails to adequately warn you just how long it will be before you can go back to those missions.
Using items doesn’t cost you a turn
One of the merciful things Time Stranger does is that it allows you to use an item and attack each turn, rather than choosing between them. This means you’ll be able to heal up your team, raise stats, or remove a status effect without having to give up doing some damage as well. A lot of other turn-based RPGs tend to make you choose between these options as a strategic challenge, but you’ll be glad Time Stranger doesn’t when you endure one of its long, drawn-out boss fights.
Upgrading your Agent rank helps circumvent grind
Those Anomaly points you get for completing quests are used to upgrade your Agent rank, which enables you to unlock Agent skills on a skill tree. Some of these perks are universal, such as giving you access to new high-impact Cross Arts abilities that can benefit your whole team. However, some of them are applied only to certain Digimon with different personality types. If you go down one skill tree, you’ll be able to raise stats and experience for the friendly Digimon in your team, while another path will grant you those perks for brave Digimon. So don’t just go down these skill trees without some plan in place, as they can help you reach powerful new heights if you target specific traits and personality types. It’s much simpler than grinding random battles.
Don’t get precious about saving your Cross Art
Cross Arts abilities can have a wide variety of uses in battles. They can heal your team, raise their stats, or they can take a chunk of your enemy’s health bar down and leave them with debuffs for a few turns. Since they can be so impactful, you might feel like you need to hold your Cross Art for a big boss fight, but this ability charges up fast when you do pretty much anything in battle. Attacking an enemy or using an item can give you points toward your Cross Arts gauge, so it’s pretty easy to fire off multiple uses of this in a longer fight. Feel free to use it often, and keep in mind that the more actions you can do in a turn, the more charge you’ll get toward using it again.
Try to have a rideable Digimon on your team at all times
Some Digimon can double as both a party member and a rideable mount. I rode my Growlmon for much of the game, but when he digivolved to WarGrowlmon, he couldn’t carry me on his shoulders anymore. Thankfully, WereGarurumon stepped up and put me on his shoulder, and later, when he became MetalGarurumon, I was able to ride on his back. Riding your Digimon gets you places faster than walking on foot, but as they transform into new, stronger versions of themselves, they might lose the ability to carry you around. Just be mindful of this as you move throughout the evolution tree.
