Digimon World: Dawn

 DS
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
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  1. Game Chronicles
    80
    An awesome game. There was very little that I found wrong with this game.
  2. GamerNode
    75
    If you're looking for monster RPG different than Pokemon this is your game. Just don't expect it to be as good as Pokemon, despite the cooler looking evolved monsters.
  3. RPG Fan
    75
    Give this one a chance, especially if you're into this unique brand of games. If you were surprised by the quality of the new Pokémon games, or if you're a long-time Digimon fan, this might be a game worth playing.
  5. IGN
    70
    It feels more like an expansion pack or parallel game than a true sequel. There are a ton of Digimon to collect, it's just unfortunate that players are forced to progress through a fetch-quest storyline.
  6. GamesRadar+
    70
    Sure, the story isn't high-concept, but this gameplay is really all about fighting and collecting increasingly mean and exotic critters. And on that level, Digimon World Dusk/Dawn delivers in spades.
  7. Cheat Code Central
    66
    The online trading will allow you access to Digimon in both the Dusk and Dawn version. If you're a fan, expect a lot of game.
  8. GamePro
    65
    Series fans'll eat it up , but others may want to contemplate whether learning the Digiropes is something they're really willing to invest in.
  9. GameSpot
    60
    Digimon fans will find the multiplayer worthwhile, but the dull story mode is basically just a rehashing of the previous Digimon World.

Awards & Rankings

71
#71 Best DS Game of 2007
51
#51 Most Discussed DS Game of 2007
60
#60 Most Shared DS Game of 2007

User Reviews

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User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 44 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 44
  3. Negative: 8 out of 44
  1. ND-Bringer
    Jan 14, 2022
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Digimon World DS was a pretty miserable experience for me, but this game might be worse. Granted, the grinding isn't as bad, theirs more Digimon to collect, and the plot is more interesting...but I swear to Seraphimon that these Dawn and Dusk sequels were really poorly designed. The game opens up with a big tournament, with the new recruits of the rival Digimon Tamer Teams...Light Fang and Night Claw, duking it out in the arena. Like the previous games, presentation has always been this series' strongpoint. Even if the games aren't that enjoyable mechanically, the "mysterious-computer-world-sci-fi" theme is really enjoyable and can lead to some great world building. And even though the DS games were designed for younger audiences, it's easy to get psyched up for an ultimate monster tournament. Before getting started, you get to select a team of 3 gift Digimon. Now that's more like it! Like Mystery Dungeon, its important to put in mechanics to encourage the player to re-experience the game and try out new strategies. Its a shame that all the starter packs require you to use Coronamon and Lunamon, but its nice to know theirs variety. After getting familiar again with the battle system during the Bronze Tournament Tutorial, a Jolly Roger virus breaks into the hub area, knocks all of the tamers, and turns all of the Digimon into eggs. While this scene is exciting, sadly this where the game loses its luster, dark times are ahead! Your Digimon are all turned into level 1 rookies, except for Chronamon/Lunamon because the game says they're special. And it's up to you to save the chief from the attacking virus. I have a lot of problems with this boss fight. If your Digimon were knocked out during the tournament tutorial, they'll disobey sometimes, making this fight a lot harder than it should be. And you can't train before this fight or collect new Digimon either. So if you don't win these fights with style you'll be stuck on this boss fight for a while. Afterwords the real game starts, where you must explore the Digital World and try to find out who's threatening the peace of the Digital World! By slaughtering all the wild residents in order to strengthen your your forces! Yes protect the peace! The grinding required for game completion is still as tedious as ever. You know these DS games had a TV show tie-in with Digimon Data Squad. I remember the main Kurata would kill countless Digimon and use their data to create armies of living weapons. THAT'S WHAT THIS GAME IS. Digimon don't just faint like in the past games, they disappear from existence. If you think that's weird, the ESRB rated this an E-rated game, while the previous title was E10. You know there's a goddess of lust Digimon in this game, right? As for the overall levels, their pretty underwhelming honestly. Excluding Thriller Ruins and Chip Forest, all of the level themes are completely identical to the stages in Digimon World DS. COPY AND PASTE. I was originally going to praise this game for trying to better a previous game mechanic since it was rare at the time for Digimon World game to stick to a battle system, but this game is just an altered clone. Even the final boss dungeon is identical to the last. The story and characters may be different, but this is boring. I've done this levels before! The final boss fight has you fight the Chrono-Virus, man I haven't heard such a controversial name since Eggman NEGA. Now merged with his minion Grimmon, he has transformed into the ultimate Digimon, and Digivolves further into a Tyrant Kabuterimon knockoff. This fight is challenging, but also really boring. I like the final battle music a lot more than the last game's, but because the story is simple-minded for a 2nd time, it ain't going to cut it. I'm just mashing the A button and healing my team until the fight is over. Its draining, I've been fighting enemies like since Digimon World DS and the fights are still downright lifeless. The Chrono-Core is destroyed and the game ends With a 7 minute long cycle of your Digimon walking back and forth while the credits roll. It just goes on and on and can't even skip them. The post game gives you some brand new missions, including the Gaia Origin challenge against the Royal Knights of the Digital World. To reach them you have to cross the Transfield. Which has the exact same freaking level theme from Digimon World DS' post game dungeon. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Egyptian ruins, outer space, a fancy place...just give something NEW to explore! Ok, the boss rush at the end is actually pretty good even though a ridiculous amount of grinding is required to survive and there's that troll enemy Babamon. Fighting against some of the coolest Digimon in the series actually put me in a good mood. And you get some rare Digimon scan data as a reward. To quote Omnimon and Alphamon, "It's been a while since I've has such a satisfying battle". If the game was easier and included more originality, I would have given it a higher score.… Full Review »
  2. Yojimbo2015
    May 24, 2023
    5
    More Tamagotchi battling that's superior to World Championship if only because you actually get to direct the fights in this one.
  3. OmegaChase1002
    Apr 29, 2023
    5
    why is every sidequest in this game "find the random npc in this huge maze-like dungeon with cryptic or outright misleading clues"?
    i'd    why is every sidequest in this game "find the random npc in this huge maze-like dungeon with cryptic or outright misleading clues"?
    i'd ignore them if not for the fact you really need the extra exp for the main quests.
    the game feels like a slow slog to play, for that alone.
    and if that wasnt bad enough, the boss fights are total HP-sponges who dont even put up a fight.
    you'll get like one fun challenging boss battle for every several nothing-fights.
    i... kinda hate this. please play literally any other digimon game, just stay away from dawn/dusk.
    its a shame too, cuz the starter digimon is awesome and should be in more games.
    and the fact that some ultimate digimon simply cannot evolve to mega is an insult.    … Full Review »
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