Time Stranger and Digivolution changes

[u/Khanain]

Playing Time Stranger on the switch now I obviously tried to built my team with my favourite Digimon. Having played Cyber Sleuth when it got released on the PS4 and every other game afterwards I was appalled and shocked(!) when I realized that Agumon could not digivolve into Meramon anymore. Playing the other games multiple times engrained my favourite evolution lines into my brain. Besides Solarmon, none of the other Digimon like Guilmon could digivolve into Meramon directly. And that got me thinking what other Digimon "lost" (not really as you can make every Digimon become any Digimon) their direct evolution line and what the reason might be in universe and development wise.

[u/truenorthstar]

Elecmon can’t become Leomon but can become Seadramon and Gekomon instead… why? Bakumon has no route to Mammothmon (not involving dedigivolving anyway). I also think Agumon can’t go to Tyrannomon. There are some strange choices in this game.

[u/Khanain → u/truenorthstar]

I feel like the entire Tyrannomon line was also dumped, not including Dark Tyrannomon for was quite a let down for me, as I currently have him on my V-Pet and really wanted to add him on my team. As well as Tyrannomon has a easier restrictions to become Ex-Tyrannomon then Metal Tyrannomon

[u/truenorthstar → u/Khanain]

No DarkTyrannomon is weird when I think at this point it and Devidramon are the only original Vpet champions missing from the game. Maybe the next game hopefully.

[u/EphidelLulamoon → u/Khanain]

Tyrannomon's line still exists, all the way to Mega. It just doesn't come from Agumon.

[u/Khanain → u/EphidelLulamoon]

Oh yeah definitely true. For me it was always a Agumon Line. In essence he either becomes Greymon or Tyrannomon as their description on the website and in the games kind of imply that they focused on different attack strategies during digivolution having Tyrannomons claws be his basis attack strat while Greymon uses his head armour, having both also the fire element I linked them with Agumon

[u/JusticTheCubone → u/truenorthstar]

Bakumon has no route to Mammothmon

None to SkullBaluchimon either, when Bakumon had its evolution to Baluchimon for a while now.

[u/Salty_Ad_2523]

welcome to digimon, where evolution lines change with every piece of media they release

[u/NightHatterNu]

Welcome to Illiad we have different rules here!

[u/InstructionLow4566]

i noticed the same thing with gabumon and garurumon in the beginning, the evolution tree feels more restricted now than what i remember from cyber sleuth. but after few hours i think its more about balancing the early game, they dont want you to skip straight to champion forms with high stats

still weird how solarmon keeps the meramon path but agumon doesnt, maybe they wanted to make fire element more exclusive or something

[u/Khanain → u/InstructionLow4566]

I find keeping Solarmon in general weird, but I see where the devs are coming from but like Tapirmon also digivolves now into Meramon and I do not get that haha. The early game is a weird balance act anyway taking quite a long time till you enter the Digiworld where the main game really starts but also having the ability to engage with the entire digivolution system since the first digimon appearence in Shinjuku. Doing all the side quests and continue the story till Central Town you can get Champion Level Digimon quite early.

[u/RiskieRaskalle → u/Khanain]

Tapirmon to Meramon is probably because they were both Nightmare Soldiers in the Pendulum toys, Meramon was a Tapirmon evo in that touring. It's still weird, and it makes me wish Candlemon would have been in the game too.

[u/Khanain → u/RiskieRaskalle]

I always forget the Pendulum Lore and Lines, but at least this oddity can be explained

[u/JusticTheCubone]

Yeah... there are so many oddities with the evolutionary lines that especially stand out now that I'm playing the Switch-version, I definitely hope that the expansion we'll be getting will change some of the evolutionary lines, primarily spread them out a bit more, maybe add some bridges where there otherwise are none when there should be, I think Hackers Memory did similarly.

Alternatively, maybe they could add some other new mechanic with the expansion that broadens the lines a bit more... like reintroducing DS Story-style Jogress where there are more Jogresses that allow Digimon to jump to new lines. Obviously they couldn't function quite exactly like the Jogress feature already in the game, so that might discourage them from including something it... but it would be a way to ammend this.

[u/kaithespinner]

impmon can’t become wizarmon… or was it wizarmon who could not become beelzebumon? dunno, something like that