Digimon Story: Time Stranger becomes Bandai Namco’s biggest PC JRPG launch

GAMING NEWS Rine Ikarus - Oct 6, 2025, 03:52 - 34 comments

Bandai Namco’s long-awaited Digimon Story: Time Stranger is breaking records and redefining expectations for the monster-collecting genre. Following its October 3 release, the game quickly surged past 80,000 concurrent players on Steam—surpassing every Persona and single-player Final Fantasy title in PC history. It’s a monumental milestone for both the franchise and JRPG fans alike.

Developed by Media.Vision, Digimon Story: Time Stranger delivers an ambitious evolution of the Digimon Story formula. It intertwines a modern-day narrative set in Shinjuku and Akihabara with the Digital World of Iliad, exploring the collapse of both realms through the eyes of ADAMAS agents Dan and Kanan Yuki. With over 450 Digimon to collect, train, and battle—and a refined symbol encounter system replacing random fights—the experience strikes a perfect balance between nostalgia and innovation for both returning fans and newcomers.

A Record-Breaking Start for the Digital World

On Steam, Digimon Story: Time Stranger’s explosive debut has positioned it among the top JRPG launches of all time—joining the ranks of Metaphor: ReFantazio and Granblue Fantasy: Relink. User reviews echo the enthusiasm, praising its quality-of-life improvements, cinematic presentation, and dynamic combat system. Many players have even compared it favorably to Persona 3 Reload, highlighting its vibrant personality system and turn-based mechanics that feel both strategic and emotionally resonant.

Adding to the excitement, Bandai Namco recently released a striking live-action trailer depicting Digimon appearing in the real world before transitioning into an apocalyptic scene—a creative touch that captures the essence of the game’s central theme: the fragile boundary between the digital and human worlds.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger marks not only a triumphant return for the Digimon Story series but also a clear signal that JRPGs centered on creature collecting still have strong global appeal. You can use our price comparison tool to find the best deal on Digimon Story: Time Stranger and experience one of the most successful JRPG releases of 2025 for yourself.

Wahenn

Oct 7, 2025, 19:19

The initial player reception for Time Stranger was overwhelmingly positive, with fans and newcomers alike celebrating its release through large online communities and impressive player numbers at launch.

Reign

Oct 10, 2025, 14:49 on dlcompare.fr

It's great to see that Digimon may have found its formula for brilliance. We've seen them try their hand at several different genres without much success. In any case, this one seems to me to be promising, not perfect, but really nice, whether in terms of gameplay, graphics, the well-stocked dex, the UI, and so on.

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Nachos

Oct 8, 2025, 21:08 on dlcompare.fr

Frankly, it's great to see Digimon Story: Time Stranger off to such a strong start! Clearly, there was a real buzz around the license, with over 80,000 simultaneous players on Steam. It's quite rare for a niche JRPG to get such an enthusiastic response on release, especially on PC. The combat system, the number of Digimon, and the mix of nostalgia and novelty all hit the mark. I just hope Bandai Namco follows up with post-launch content and a few technical fixes, because this could be the best Digimon since Cyber Sleuth!

M0ЯĐRΕĐ

Oct 7, 2025, 12:14 on dlcompare.fr

all the better for the game if it launches well, but it will have fps stability issues. i hope they fix that soon.

didi90

Oct 6, 2025, 22:19 on dlcompare.es

I was looking forward to a new Digimon since the last one (Digimon Survive) didn't convince me and I like almost everything about this one: gameplay, mechanics, story, graphics,... At the moment I like almost everything. What I don't like so much is the theme of so much DLC to put somewhat absurd missions, but well... Personally I'm glad that this Digimon Story Time Stranger is pleasing other players as much as I like it myself.

noar

Oct 6, 2025, 19:11 on dlcompare.fr

Really shocked that digimon is back with a hit like this. It just goes to show that pokemon fans may be starting to lace up and look elsewhere for something new in the capture-and-fight style of gameplay.

Uny

Oct 6, 2025, 18:59 on dlcompare.fr

Time Stranger is one of the biggest successes of the Digimon license, powerfully re-launching the saga to a wide audience and proving Digimon's undiminished popularity.

FisheyePlacebo

Oct 6, 2025, 18:03 on dlcompare.fr

A record for a license that was somewhat stigmatized and relegated to the "niche game" label, and yet, a major comeback by Pokemon's great rival, out of stock in Japan, very good press reviews and player feedback, the demo' promised quite a few good mechanics and a rather intriguing story. All that remains is to see what happens with the title, now available in its entirety!

MastroGino

Oct 12, 2025, 23:06 on dlcompare.it

Playing digimon is always a pleasure! Despite being very niche the game is made by god and is optimized perfectly. The story for what I've played seems cute, I can't wait to get going!