The Producer of Digimon Story: Time Stranger admits that even they don't know how long it'll take to 100%
After our time playing Digimon Story: Time Stranger at Summer Game Fest, we had the chance to ask Producer Ryosuke Hara several questions about the upcoming title. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the latest Digimon turn-based RPG that recently announced that it was coming on October 3rd to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).
We also got plenty of brand-new screenshots for Digimon Story: Time Stranger that's available to view in the gallery down below. Here is our interview with Ryosuke Hara, Producer of Digimon Story: Time Stranger.
RPG Site: This is quite clearly a massive step-up from the Digimon games we’ve received in the past in scope and production values. What led to the decision to dedicate so many resources into Digimon Story: Time Stranger?
Ryosuke Hara, Producer of Digimon Story: Time Stranger: We, as a company, believe that Digimon is full of potential. We definitely want to continue working on these Digimon games, and we’ve been working on this since Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory came out. So if you do the math, it’s been a long time.
Ideally, we could have released it earlier; we apologize for Time Stranger coming out so late. That being said, we were able to spend a lot of time on it, and the world setting in this game ended up being very robust. We definitely spent a lot of time and effort on it. That part of the game will be very enjoyable for our fans.
Ryosuke Hara, Producer of Digimon Story: Time Stranger: We, as a company, believe that Digimon is full of potential. We definitely want to continue working on these Digimon games, and we’ve been working on this since Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory came out. So if you do the math, it’s been a long time.
Ideally, we could have released it earlier; we apologize for Time Stranger coming out so late. That being said, we were able to spend a lot of time on it, and the world setting in this game ended up being very robust. We definitely spent a lot of time and effort on it. That part of the game will be very enjoyable for our fans.
RPG SIte: Time Stranger depicts the Digital World as an explorable zone with lots of different locales, such as a beach environment in earlier promotion material for the title, along with other biomes. What were some of the inspirations in designing the different environments of the Digital World in TIme Stranger?
Hara: For Digimon Story: Time Stranger, we wanted to really center the story on the Olympos XII Digimon. They are the guardians of the Digital World: Iliad, and we really wanted to show off the different environments inside this world of Iliad by allowing players to explore it.
Hara: For Digimon Story: Time Stranger, we wanted to really center the story on the Olympos XII Digimon. They are the guardians of the Digital World: Iliad, and we really wanted to show off the different environments inside this world of Iliad by allowing players to explore it.
RPG Site: Is there DNA Digivolving? (Editor’s note: DNA Digivolving is the process of merging two different Digimon together to form one new Digimon.)
Hara: Yes, of course.
Hara: Yes, of course.
RPG Site: I’m curious about the premise surrounding the main characters. They seem to be part of a professional agency or organization this time around in Time Stranger. I’m interested in how these ended up being the main protagonists for this title.
Hara: As you probably know, the overarching theme of all things Digimon focuses on the bond between humans and Digimon. When we were creating Time Stranger, we really wanted to highlight that theme. We thought that the best way to do that was to make the main characters an agent of this secret organization.
As you can probably guess, time is also a very important aspect of this game. That’s another thing we implemented to further highlight the bond between humans and Digimon.
Hara: As you probably know, the overarching theme of all things Digimon focuses on the bond between humans and Digimon. When we were creating Time Stranger, we really wanted to highlight that theme. We thought that the best way to do that was to make the main characters an agent of this secret organization.
As you can probably guess, time is also a very important aspect of this game. That’s another thing we implemented to further highlight the bond between humans and Digimon.
RPG Site: Handheld platforms are a huge part of Digimon’s history as a franchise. I’m sure you’ve been getting this question a lot. Is there any chance that Digimon Story: Time Stranger is Steam Deck compatible?
Hara: So far, it’s looking like yes, it should be compatible with Steam Deck.
Hara: So far, it’s looking like yes, it should be compatible with Steam Deck.
RPG Site: There’s different sets of Digimon series that Bandai Namco has developed over the years such as the Digimon World series, and most recently Digimon Survive. From your perspective, what are the defining characteristics of the Digimon Story series that sets it apart from the other Digimon games?
Hara: For Digimon Story, we definitely focus on exploration, battle, and training. We feel that it has a good mainstream appeal, compared to something like the Digimon World games which primarily focuses on the training aspect of Digimon. In World, Digimon have lifecycles and reincarnation systems.
We have to be careful with how we say this, but we feel that the audience for the Digimon World games, for instance, can be a little bit more limited than something that is more mainstream targeted. I think that mainstream appeal is one of the Digimon Story series’ strengths relative to other Digimon titles. Of course, this doesn’t mean that any of the other Digimon series and titles are bad or anything.
Hara: For Digimon Story, we definitely focus on exploration, battle, and training. We feel that it has a good mainstream appeal, compared to something like the Digimon World games which primarily focuses on the training aspect of Digimon. In World, Digimon have lifecycles and reincarnation systems.
We have to be careful with how we say this, but we feel that the audience for the Digimon World games, for instance, can be a little bit more limited than something that is more mainstream targeted. I think that mainstream appeal is one of the Digimon Story series’ strengths relative to other Digimon titles. Of course, this doesn’t mean that any of the other Digimon series and titles are bad or anything.
RPG Site: Can you share an estimate of Digimon Story: Time Stranger’s game length? How long will it take to beat the main story, along with optional content?
Hara: If you were just focused on the main story, then it’d be around 40 hours. If you wanted to complete all the subquests and properly train your Digimon, probably add another 10 hours to that. Now if you were to try and 100% the game as in collecting and raising all the different Digimon and getting everything in Time Stranger… we don’t even know how long that will take.
RPG Site: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about Digimon Story: Time Stranger, Hara-san! We look forward to it when it releases later this year.
Hara: If you were just focused on the main story, then it’d be around 40 hours. If you wanted to complete all the subquests and properly train your Digimon, probably add another 10 hours to that. Now if you were to try and 100% the game as in collecting and raising all the different Digimon and getting everything in Time Stranger… we don’t even know how long that will take.
RPG Site: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about Digimon Story: Time Stranger, Hara-san! We look forward to it when it releases later this year.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger - New Screenshots
