Digimon World: Next Order — Our Review

TamerDex's honest take. Short version: raising two Digimon from egg to Mega is genuinely heartfelt and deep — but it's wrapped in a slow, grindy, old-school game that asks a lot of patience before it clicks.

What it gets right

The heart of Next Order is the bond. You raise two partners at once — feeding them, training stats, correcting mistakes, chasing a specific digivolution — and when a scrappy In-Training finally becomes the Mega you planned for, it lands. The digivolution system has real depth: every form has exact requirements, so there's a satisfying optimisation puzzle under the cuteness. Rebuilding Floatia by befriending Digimon gives the grind a visible payoff, and the loop of life, death and reincarnation is oddly touching.

Where it drags

It is a grind, and it doesn't apologise for it. Training is repetitive, the pace is slow, and difficulty spikes unevenly — bosses can wall you until you go away and grind stats. The open world feels a little barren, and the game explains its many systems poorly, so the first several hours are rough for anyone who didn't grow up on the original Digimon World. Combat is more about your raising than your inputs, which won't suit everyone.

Who it's for

Longtime Digimon World fans will happily pour dozens of hours into it — this is the raising sim they've wanted. Newcomers should go in knowing it's a slow burn that rewards patience and a good guide. Reviews landed mixed (mid-to-high 60s on Metacritic and OpenCritic), which feels right: a game people either sink into completely or bounce off early.

Our take: a warm, deep monster-raiser trapped in a dated, grindy shell. Worth it for the bond — lean on the Digivolution Guide and a strong starter pair to smooth out the early hours.

This is TamerDex's own opinion, not a scored outlet review. Reception figures via Metacritic and OpenCritic.