Digimon World takes the Tamagotchi theme and, using prerendered backgrounds and polygonal characters, makes an RPG out of it. I liked Tamagotchi when they came over from Japan, so it's not so much of a surprise to me that I enjoyed this monster-raising game. Food types can satisfy your Digimon for different lengths of time, but certain foods like meat can increase their weight, while others like mushrooms can decrease their weight. For example, each Digimon needs to eat, sleep, defecate, manage its weight and be treated for illness. Heavily inspired by the franchise’s origins as an unabashed Tamagotchi rip-off, Digimon World features pet management that is missing in other franchises like Pokemon. This means players can expect a lot of back and forth to various corners of the island ad nauseum. Fast travel is an option, but to do so costs significant amounts of currency and is only a one way trip. While seeing File City slowly get better and better infrastructure with more Digimon running around is incredibly satisfying, traversing the island is not. It’s up to you as the player, with one of the four available starter Digimon, to go forth and find Digimon to rebuild File City. As told by the leader of File City, Jijimon, the world once allowed Digimon to live in harmony, but now they live in segregation and their memories have been wiped.
Released before the Digimon Adventure anime first aired, Digimon World has its own unique story that sees players take the quest of saving File Island. Digimon can only reach higher levels of evolution unless the player meets certain requirements, which are different for each and every Digimon. Digimon have very short lifespans and reincarnate as eggs, meaning that players will be evolving and re-evolving their Digimon dozens of times over a playthrough. First off, the evolution process is much different to the one featured in Pokemon, meaning that newcomers might find themselves lost at how the evolution actually works. But behind the visual pleasure, Digimon World is a tough grind that may surprise players, especially younger ones.