Professor Beef
Banned
Digimon World 1 has (IMO) aged terribly and isn't very fun if you're looking for an RPG. Others like it because it's like the actual Digivice game, but it's not my cup of tea. Plus it's confusing as hell if you're not using a guide.What were the best Digimon games? I'm really interested in getting Cyber Sleuth and eventually Hackers Memory as long as the reviews are positive.
World 2 is an RPG, but graphically its aged worse than any of the games I think lol. I remember it being fairly janky, but it's been a good decade+ since I touched it.
World 3 just absolutely completely sucks. There's a good Pokemon clone buried somewhere in there, but it's underneath tons of questionable (at best) design decisions that ruin the experience. I could go on and on about how much I despise it, but that's probably not what you're looking for.
World 4 is down there with 3. It tried to latch onto the X-Men Legends wave of success that a lot of devs were chasing after during that time period, but it didn't do so well. The Digivolving mechanic however, while very bad, did pave the way for the future games to "fix" it.
Digimon World DS/Dawn/Dusk were, until Cyber Sleuth, the best Digimon games in general. It took elements from Pokemon and Dragon Quest and carved its own identity in the process. Very straightforward JRPG with plenty of depth that's easy to understand.
Cyber Sleuth is the best one so far, if you're looking for a traditional JRPG. Mechanically, it feels like a direct sequel/upgrade to the DS games. Story-wise it has nothing to do with them, so you don't have to worry about playing the previous games. AFAIK there's no difference between the Vita/PS4 versions aside from DLC availability (someone could probably chime in because I still don't quite understand the availability issues).
The most recent game, Digimon World Next Order, is to Digimon World 1 as Cyber Sleuth is to the DS games. I haven't played it since I don't like World 1, but it looks fantastic tbh and is something you should dive into if you liked World 1 in any way.
EDIT: oop, new page, have one of my favorite censor moments: