#(This has Been a rYO AKIYAMA Positive Post)

[o-w-quinlan]

Game Journal: Anode/Cathode Tamer - Entry #01

A couple weeks ago I posted about wanting to play Tag Tamers (the game that’s basically Ken Ichijouji’s backstory for Adventure 02) now that it had finally been translated to English, but there’s just a little problem: I never played Anode/Cathode Tamer, so how can I play the sequel?

So, to remedy that, I’ll be playing through Digimon Adventure: Anode/Cathode Tamer for the next few weeks. I’ll use this “journal” to give my thoughts on the game, its characters (particularly Ryo Akiyama, though also how it sheds light on other Adventure characters) and its story. Each of these entries is going to be detailing 2 hours of gameplay, but given how big the exposition is at the start of the game, this first one is just going to be the tutorial.

The game starts with this little introduction. It seems about 5 months have passed since the end of Digimon Adventure, and it’s still 2 more months until the events of Our War Game.

We get our introduction to our hero, Ryo Akiyama. Like so many other children, he’d rather spend New Year’s Eve chatting with his friends in the computer than interacting with his family. Through those conversations, we learn that strange phenomena (like earthquakes!) have been ocurring lately, and that a boy named Taichi has been saying in his school that this is due to the digimon. Doesn’t exactly fit with how he acted in 02, but we’ll assume there’s character development in-between.

Of course, fate strikes and there’s a blackout, after which a mysterious message appears in Ryo’s computer. Agumon begs for help, claiming that Taichi and the other have been defeated. Ryo is extremely confused, but agrees to help the strange creature and is promptly faced with a digivice.

Following Agumon’s instructions, Ryo grabs it and soon disappears, after which we hear one of his parents asking him to go check why the lights went off, getting a bit worried when there’s no answer.

In a scene reminiscent of the first episode of Adventure, Agumon greets Ryo and introduces him to the Digital World, though this time with a much more concrete answer as to what it is and why Ryo has been brought here (go character development!). Agumon explains that his adventures are supposed to be over, but a new enemy emerged and somehow “broke” time, also kidnapping the Chosen Children. After the brief appearence of a giant killer wave out of nowhere (go Adventure references!), Agumon explains that this kind of phenomena have been going on in the Digital World and that they have to stop their new enemy to save it. Ryo, obviously, questions whether this is a dream or a game, but he doesn’t seem to be freaking out too badly.

Not freaking out is obviously a mistake in the Digital World,, I guess, because a Shellmon suddenly appears to attack them. We get to the tutorial battle of the game (which is automated and confusing and I learned nothing from it), after which Agumon tells Ryo they’ll go to a nearby village to better explain this.

We meet our favorite vaguely useful mentor figure. Ryo asks him if he has also been brought to this world against his will (good to see Ryo’s aware of how messed up this is), but Gennai simply tells him he’s digital lifeform too. He proceeds to introduce out new villain:

Meet Milleniummon, the fusion of a Mugendramon and a Chimeramon Taichi had defeated (so NOT the Chimeramon Ken created later). With its fearsome powers, it broke time and created a new world where the previous Adventure has been reset and the old villains brought back to life. Gennai “asks” him to help them save the Chosen Children and defeat Milleniummon. Agumon and some other child-level digimon question what they will be able to do against such a powerful foe. The answer is simple: they’ll defeat them together, along with whatever allies they’ll gain along the way. Gennai instructs Ryo to go defeat a nearby nest of enemies, and the game officially starts:

This is the view outside of Gennai’s house, by the way. Good to see he has finally moven outside of the lake. Moving west, we immediately find a Digimon Village, full of houses where the most popular topic is Variable Moves, a couple shops, a place run by Datamon which seems to be akin to a Pokemon Daycare, and (most interestingly) a tree whose leaves give gameplay advice. I’ll call it the Wisdom Tree from now on. Anyway, we make our way to the cave at the north of the village, starting a battle immediately after entering it.

To fight in this game, you’re given a grid of movement. You can only attack your opponent when you’re directly next to them, and can move away at any point. I assume that once I have 3 digimon, every fight against multiple oponents is going to depend on my skill to position my digimon, corner my opponents and move away when I’m in danger. As of now, though, I have only one digimon, so the strategy is ATTACKATTACKATTACK.

Oh, and my opponents are babies. Three babies, to be precise.

Following our heroic slaughter of infants, Gennai congratulates us as if we had just saved the village. As a reward for our service, he grants us a gift:

Taichi’s digivice! And yes, it’s specifically Taichi’s. He says that, since it’s not Ryo’s, we will not be able to use its full powers, but since Ryo is still a Chosen Child, he’ll be able to use one of the abilities of the digivice. Namely, he’ll be able to recruit the enemies he defeats for his team. And here I am thinking about how much such an ability would have helped the Chosen Children in Digimon Adventure. Or why Gennai insists on telling a kid who volunteered to help that he’s not the one they actually want.

Afterwards, he brings us to the edge of the village and says that Taichi had already cleared every obstacle in our path, but then Milleniummon did what it does best and reset it back to the start. Gennai promptly leaves telling us that he’ll be in his home if we want his help.

Oh, and when he was describing the events of Adventure before, he made sure to only ever mention Taichi and say that it was Agumon, Gabumon and Patamon who saved the world. Way to minimize most of your saviors, Gennai.

This is it for the tutorial. Next entry is going to be about what I hope is the first level. See you!