For as long as I can remember, Pokémon has reigned supreme in damn near any category it touched. Monster catching games, card games, tricking pasty gamers to go outside with a mobile app, you name it. But back in my childhood, it had a big rival for a little while: Digimon. And you know what, he says, bracing for the vitriol? I prefer Digimon in every single way.
The Digimon anime series had a better storyline
Let’s start with anime, which was the main battlefield between the two in a way. Pokémon was a fun watch, but it was certainly more child-friendly in its themes and writing. Plus, Ash might be the dumbest protagonist of any series. Digimon was a bit more mature in its storytelling and had some properly scary villains. Myotismon was nightmarish, and there was none of that “Team Rocket is blasting off again.” Digimon just straight-up died at times.
The characters were more captivating, too. Ash isn’t really that deep. There are a few episodes like Go West Young Meowth with Meowth’s backstory, or Snow Way Out when they all huddled together for warmth, which are touching. But for the most part, it is just Ash bludgeoning everything in his way with an electric rat because he refuses to learn.
The DigiDestined were struggling with being stranded in the Digital World, facing dangers around every corner, and had some interesting character stories, like Matt turning against Tai and his friends. Even the latter series’ were fun to watch. Jeri in Digimon Tamers was a really fascinating portrayal of grief and trauma. The Pokémon series was just more of the same as it went on. Although special mention has to be given to the first Pokémon movie. Mewtwo was deep.
My love for Eevee and Lucario pales in comparison to Gabumon
Now, let’s talk about the Pokémon and Digimon themselves. Did you know there are actually more Digimon than Pokémon? A few hundred, in fact, and I think the designs of Digimon are a lot more exciting. The Pokémon Company tried to pick real-life objects and turn them into monsters, whereas Bandai loaded their designers up with sugar and Red Bull and gave them crayons. You get some bloody weird ones, but that is part of the fun.
I have written many articles on Pokémon, and as often as I can, I will mention Lucario and Eevee. I love them both so much, but I would choose Gabumon over either of them. It wouldn’t even be a question. I would punt Eevee out the window on the way to hug my new best friend. No small reason for this is Digivolutions. He can become a wolf, a kickboxing werewolf, and a mecha-wolf with rockets. And the best part? He can then go back to being adorable Gabumon. Pokémon are stuck in their evolved form. Besides Vee, for a time in the Pokémon Adventures manga. Being able to flip between forms is just really cool to me.
The biggest reason I prefer Digimon to Pokémon is the partnership. In Pokémon, you aren’t meant to have a “main”; you build your team of six and swap between them. With Digimon, though, you just have your one partner, and I love that. I love the idea of just facing trials and growing with one companion by your side, kicking evil’s ass with your buddy. Although the games don’t really capture that as well as they should.
The original Digimon World formula needs to make a bigger comeback
That is probably the hardest arena to compare the franchises on: games. You can’t really. If we ignore all the side games both franchises have, and just look at the core titles. Pokémon, you have nine generations of catching Pokémon, battling them, and earning badges. It is the same formula, and let’s be honest, it fell off a cliff when it moved to Switch. Bring back classic Pokémon.
Having said that, Digimon hasn’t killed it in gaming either. We have the upcoming Digimon Story: Time Stranger, which is an amazing series, to be fair. I love the turn-based combat, but it took eight years to get this follow-up. And it isn’t the core Digimon experience. That would be the Digimon World title, and even that has its problems.
The PlayStation 1 Digimon World game is absolutely incredible. You are a tamer stranded on an island, you get a Digimon partner, and have to train, feed, and take it to the bathroom. It is a monster training simulator. Then you explore the island, defeat foes, and cry when it dies of old age. Then you get a new egg, and do it all again. I adore it, but I don’t like the dying aspect. I understand it. You can raise different species and learn more moves, but I would like a game where you just keep one Digimon, like the anime.
The bigger problem is what happened next. It was a great base, but Digimon World 2, 3, and 4 went off the rails. They lost all the raising aspects. 2 was a subpar dungeon crawler, 3 was actually really fun, I still play it to this day, and the less said about 4, the better. It was only in 2017 that we got Next Order, which was a modern-day rendering of Digimon World 1. Except better, cause you had two partners who could fuse. Plus, by stuffing them with the right food, you could keep them alive forever. On the whole, I do prefer the Digimon games to Pokémon, but it is not a runaway victory. Bandai needs to release another proper Digimon World.
Pokémon is a staple in card gaming but Digimon tried to innovate
Finally, the card games. The domain that Pokémon has had a stranglehold on for eons. I play the game against my nephew, and I dabble in Pokémon Pocket, so I can say with very little expertise that it’s alright. Pokémon is to card games what Monopoly is to board games. It is a very safe choice, and you will have fun, but it is a standard option. It does the job well, but it’s not the most exciting.
The Digimon Card Game, on the other hand, I like a lot. There are two big reasons for this. To start with, as you Digivolve your cards, you amass passive abilities from the previous stage, and I think that is incredibly cool. Second is the energy system. It is quite innovative and lets you do some big plays.
The Memory Gauge acts like a pendulum. Quick example: If you have 2 Memory and spend 3, your turn ends and your opponent has 1 Memory for their go. You can play a big card for more Memory than you have, but any excess goes into your opponent’s pot, and you then pass the turn. So you can bring out your biggest Digimon turn one, theoretically, provided you think your opponent has nothing to counter with. Or, you can try the smart plays to end your turn, giving them as few resources as possible. I love that you can do the high-risk plays.
It is unfair to me that Pokémon grew into a behemoth whilst Digimon wilted, because I just love Bandai’s franchise so much more. I love that it took chances with a new set of heroes in each anime series or fun card game rules. And even when some of the video games missed the mark, I love that Bandai tried, whilst Pokémon just stayed safe. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t more successful, and I do like Pokémon. Digimon, though, will always be my champion.
