[TGS 2016] Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters Cyber Arena impressions

Nintendo Everything was at this year’s Tokyo Game Show! We had a low-key presence at the event, but we did manage to try out several upcoming Japanese 3DS titles. Look for our impressions in the coming days.

Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters Cyber Arena is a free-to-play preview version of the upcoming 3DS game Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters. It just came out yesterday – September 21 – on the Japanese eShop. The full product will be released December 1 in Japan, though we’ve given the new download a test drive.

If you’re a Digimon veteran, don’t expect past Digimon creatures like Agumon to appear here. This adventure takes place in a brand-new universe where current trending technology like smartphones and augmented reality are prevalent. The new Digimon are called Appli Monsters, or Appmon in short, and are based on smartphone apps. As of the Cyber Arena version, there are a total of 147 Appmon available.

One of the interesting features in Appli Monsters is that you can activate an AR Field, which will send you to a digitized version of the map, and you can also enter AR dungeons from certain appliances. It’s certainly reminiscent of Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Star Force.

To obtain Appmon, you first need to encounter and defeat wild creatures while roaming around AR fields and dungeons, allowing you to collect their fragments. Once you have 100 fragments of the same Appmon collected, you can convert them into an Appmon chip. Some obtained Appmon will even provide new apps to your device which will definitely help in game progression.

Appmon ‘digivolve’ after two compatible monsters go through App Combine. In classic Digimon terms, that’d be like DNA Digivolution. App Combines are temporarily accomplished during battles, but there are ways to permanently combine the monsters. You can even collect the ‘digivolved’ Appmon fragments under certain circumstances.

As for the battle system, it uses a deck that can house up to 60 Appmon chips maximum, but there is also a cost limit that will keep increasing as you raise your level and complete sub-quests. You send out one Appmon together with an assist (called App Link), and from there you can either use the other Appmon chips as attack moves, or substitute with another available Appmon chip on hand when necessary.

The main lifeline in Appli Monsters’ battle system is the user’s device battery, known as the Appli Driver. A battle between two Drivers will end when either side runs out of battery. You can send out as many Appmons as you want until the battery runs out. The battery will deplete when either your Appmon gets damaged, or your deck runs out and needs to be replenished, which will consume some energy.

Unlike most free 3DS demos, Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters Cyber Arena does not have a limit of play times. Also, there are different bonus items available if you give it a go every day. Cyber Arena additionally includes the prologue story, and there are both offline tournaments and online versus available in the Cyber Arena for you to test your deck strength.

If you do have a Japanese 3DS and understand basic Japanese language, we recommend looking into this addicting RPG, which also has highly strategic battles. You can play the free preview version for as much as you’d like, and can also use the time to consider on whether you want to get the full game Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters.