Release Date: October 3, 2025
Platforms: PC (Steam), Xbox Series, PS5
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Developer: Media.Vision
Price: $69.99
Bandai Namco and developer Media.Vision have shared new gameplay details for Digimon Story: Time Stranger, highlighting its expanded combat mechanics, new training systems, and the role of the player as an ADAMAS agent.
Core Concept
Set across the human world, the Digital World of Iliad, and the flow of time itself, Time Stranger casts players as an agent of ADAMAS, a covert organization investigating supernatural disturbances.
As in past entries, the gameplay centers on raising Digimon, strategic turn-based battles, and branching evolutions, now enhanced by several new systems.
Attribute + Element System
Combat builds on a familiar attribute triangle, but now layers in elemental resistances for deeper planning:
- Attributes: Vaccine, Virus, Data, Free, Variable, etc.
- Elements: Fire, Water, Plant, and others (11 in total)
Vaccine types deal 2× damage to Virus types, with elemental weaknesses further boosting or reducing damage.
Players will need to strategically use Conversion, Digivolution, and De-digivolution to adapt their team to different situations.
Digimon Personalities
Each Digimon now has one of 16 personality types, which influence stat growth, learned skills, and Digivolution paths.
- A Daring Digimon, for example, gains faster Attack and Defense growth and learns more aggressive skills.
While a Digimon’s personality is set at conversion, it can later be changed through training or Digifarm items, letting the same species fill different combat roles.
Agent Skills & Cross Arts
Players also level up through their Agent Rank, unlocking Agent Skills that grant passive bonuses like:
- Faster XP gain
- Buffs for certain personality types
- Reduced evolution requirements
Also new are Cross Arts, special techniques that fuse the player’s Digivice with a Digimon’s power mid-battle. These can trigger support effects like stat boosts or assist attacks, adding another layer to combat strategy.
Editor’s Take
Digimon Story: Time Stranger is shaping up to be one of the strongest entries in the series to date, which says a lot considering how well Cyber Sleuth was received. Bandai Namco once again brings back composer Masafumi Takada and artist Suzuhito Yasuda, two key creatives who helped define the tone and aesthetic of the last two titles.
With more flexible evolution paths, customizable personalities, and deeper training tools, the systems look like a real leap forward. We are looking forward to the October release, especially to hear what Takada brings to the soundtrack this time around.
Source: Information via Playstation.Blog
