A platinum two and a half years in the making, with over 250 hours playtime. Digimon World: Next Order is a deeply flawed yet oddly addictive experience. It's obvious from right out of the gate that Next Order had very little budget, as there are small glitches that happen frequently. Some of these glitches even negatively impact your battles, which becomes quite tiresome. Another glaring issue for many players will be how oddly grindy it is, as I'd say at least 50 of my 250 hours were spent grinding to a brain numbing degree. The story mode and post-game will constantly require you to have very high stats, which force you do battle after battle after battle with minor stat gains every time. For example, Next Order expects you to have 9999 stats on your Digimon in the post-game, and you can only reliably get +26 to your stats from each battle. Since your Digimon die after a set period of days, you can already see how the limited lifespan would work against how much time it takes to grind...

However, while this all looks like an uphill battle, there's plenty to enjoy. The V-pet feel of the game is special, as very few Digimon games have tried this style of gameplay. I would argue that the game does a good job of actually feeling like a Digivice turned into a console game, as you have to take care of your digital pets in all manner of things. Not to mention the grinding pays off in dividends as your Digimon grow and turn into bigger, cooler monsters. I enjoyed seeing the over-200 monsters this game had to offer.

To put it simply, Next Order is a game I would recommend to anybody wanting to experience something like Digimon World 1 all over again, with a strong recommendation to avoid going for the platinum trophy unless you absolutely feel up to the task.