Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.3 Update

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition is a role-playing video game developed by Media. Vision published by Bandai Namco Entertainment was released in Japan on March 12, 2015, for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. Part of the Digimon franchise, the game is the fifth installment in the Digimon Story series, following 2011’s Super Xros Wars, and the first to be released on home consoles.

The game would be released in North America on February 2, 2016, becoming the first installment of the Digimon Story series to be released in North America since 2007’s Digimon World Dawn and Dusk, and the first to be released under its original title.

A sequel, titled Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory, was released in Japan in 2017 and in Western territories in 2018. In July 2019, a port of the game and its sequel for Nintendo Switch and Windows was announced for release on October 18, 2019, as Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition, although the PC version was released a day early.

At Anime Expo 2019, a port to Nintendo Switch and Windows PC, alongside its sequel, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory, was announced for October 18, 2019, as Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition, though the PC version released a day early. The Japanese version will be released one day earlier, only for Nintendo Switch.

GAMEPLAY

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is a role-playing game, played from a third-person perspective where players control a human character with the ability to command Digimon, digital creatures with unique abilities who do battle against other Digimon. Players can choose between either Palmon, Terriermon, or Hagurumon as their starting partner at the beginning of the game, with more able to be obtained as they make their way into new areas. A total of 249 unique Digimon are featured, including seven that were available as DLC throughout the life of the game, and two which were exclusive to the Western release.  The title features a New Game Plus mode where players retain all of their Digimon, non-key items, money, memory, sleuth rank, scan percentages, and Digifarm progress. The Complete Edition includes 92 new Digimon from Hacker’s Memory, for a total of 341 Digimon.

Digimon Capture: Every time Aiba fights wild Digimon in battle (not including boss fights), the program will scan all Digimon’s data. The higher leveled the Digimon, the less data it scans. When reaching 100% scan, Aiba can create their version of the Digimon. Unlike previous Story games, which max out at 999%, Cyber Sleuth scan data maxes out at 200%. Creating a Digimon with more than 100% scan data will cause the Digimon to start with a higher ABI, starting at 0 ABI at 100% scan, and 5 ABI at 200%. Aiba can also return Digimon to 100% scan data, as well as load Digimon into other Digimon, permanently deleting them, turning them into experience points for the Digimon absorbing the Deleted Digimon.

Memory: Aiba is allowed to store up to 11 Digimon in their Digi-vice at once, with three acting in the battle slots. Memory acts as a capacity limitation, with more powerful Digimon taking up more memory. As an example, should Aiba have 20 memory, they could store 10 Training I Digimon in their digivice, which all take 2 memory or take a lower amount of Digimon of higher levels, such as four 5 memory Rookie level Digimon. Memory can increased by using Memory Ups and Memory UP DX, which add 5 and 10 memory respectively, which can be found in chests, dropped from boss fights, or are rewards for completing missions.

Battle System: Like previous Story games, battles are random encounters and allow fights against up to 3 Digimon. The 3 Digimon in the active party slots will be used in battle, though should Aiba have less than three Digimon, one/two will be used. Aiba can also willingly use less than three Digimon by only assigning one or two Digimon to the active party slots. Battles are turn-based, with the attack order being based on the SPD of the Digimon in battle.

PLOT

Aiba is a young Japanese student. After receiving a message from a hacker, Aiba joins the physical-interaction cyberspace network EDEN, where they meet Nokia Shiramine and Arata Sanada. The hacker gives them “Digimon Capture” programs used to command Digimon scripts. Aiba is attacked by a mysterious creature and becomes a digital entity. Aiba is rescued and recruited by Detective Kyoko Kuremi. Aiba investigates a hospital ward overseen by Kamishiro Enterprises, which owns and manages EDEN, and finds it filled with patients of “EDEN Syndrome,” where users of EDEN fall into comas. Aiba meets Yuuko Kamishiro, the daughter of Kamishiro’s former president, and learns that her older brother is a victim of EDEN Syndrome from a failed beta test eight years ago covered up by Kamishiro.

Meanwhile, Aiba assists Arata in investigating “Digital Shifts” around Tokyo. They meet Akemi Suedou, who identifies the creature behind the Digital Shifts as an Eater: a digital entity that consumes users’ mental data, causing EDEN Syndrome and Aiba’s condition. Aiba and their allies learn that the Eaters, which were created from negative human emotions, had attacked the Digital World; the Digital World’s ruler, King Drasil, ordered the Royal Knights to stop the attacks, but some Knights advocated destroying humanity to wipe out the Eaters at their source. Rie, the current president of Kamishiro, reveals herself as the Royal Knight Crusadermon. Arata encounters Suedou, who reveals that he developed and distributed the Digimon Capture program.

Aiba’s half-digital body is beginning to destabilize, and a massive Digital Shift allows Digimon to enter the real world. The group searches for the other Royal Knights in the hopes of convincing them to favor peace. Aiba, Nokia, and Yuuko learned of the EDEN beta test eight years ago; Kamishiro sent Arata, Nokia, Aiba, Yuuko, and her brother Yuugo into the Beta, but they found a portal to the Digital World, and an Eater consumed Yuugo, leaving him unconscious in the real world and the first EDEN Syndrome victim; the other children fled back to EDEN, leaving the portal open, allowing more Eaters to enter the Digital World. To cover up the disaster, Suedou erased the memories of the remaining four children.

Shortly after, Aiba and Arata encounter Suedou inside another Digital Shift; Arata is consumed by an Eater, but Suedou rescues him. Arata is suddenly obsessed with becoming stronger and leaves with Suedou. Aiba and their friends recruit most of the Royal Knights to their cause. To defeat Crusadermon, Kyoko reveals herself as the Royal Knight “Alphamon”. Alphamon explains to Aiba that the “real” Kyoko and Rie were humans who were attacked by Eaters and inflicted with EDEN Syndrome and that Alphamon and Crusadermon possessed their comatose bodies to hide in the human world, but were unaware of each other. Despite Crusadermon’s defeat, however, Alphamon informs Aiba that Crusadermon’s leader intends to destroy humanity alone and soon.

Aiba and Alphamon are confronted by Arata, who reveals that Suedou had sparked his memory of the beta test incident and his despair at being unable to save Yuugo. Arata transforms into an Eater and attacks Aiba, but Aiba defeats the Eater and saves Arata. After stopping Crusadermon’s leader, Suedou appears and tells the group that they can stop the Eaters by traveling to the Digital World and extracting Yuugo from the “Mother Eater,” which will make it so that Eaters never existed. The group arrives to find that the Mother Eater has completely taken over King Drasil; after defeating it, Aiba rescues Yuugo, but Yuugo reveals that he had been acting as a central conscience and holding the Eaters back.

Suedou becomes the Mother Eater’s new conscience, hoping to create a world without misery. Aiba defeats it and enters the Mother Eater to rescue Suedou. Suedou amazed that Aiba would risk their existence to save him, allows King Drasil to revert both worlds to a state in which contact with the Digimon never occurred. In this reality, only Nokia, Arata, Yuugo, Yuuko, and perhaps Aiba remember the events; Rie is an ordinary human, and Suedou was never born. Later, Aiba meets Kyoko, who doesn’t remember them, and invites them to work as her assistant.