So we are mixing up a bunch of Digimon released from 2021-2022. Wherever possible, I try to group the Digimon with show roles (as far as I can tell) in Ghost Game with the respective Ghost Game articles, but there's going to be a couple of odd little standalones here and there.
And... and I do know that I'm back to being a bit negative with some of the Ghost Game protagonist Digimon, but I do have to kind of be honest about my opinions! I do like Angoramon and Jellymon a fair bit more than Gammamon's forms, but not every single one of their evolutionary stages. And that's all right! Whenever I do get around to watching Ghost Game, I might develop a huge attachment to their anime counterpart. I definitely wouldn't do so towards the cast of Tamers or Xros Wars if I didn't enjoy their animated incarnations so much.
Again, big big disclaimer: I haven't watched most of Ghost Game yet, and reviews may change after I do so.
Anyway, it's not really a hard-and-fast rule of how I'm going to be ordering these reviews, beyond having a full line of one of the Ghost Game's main cast, then fitting a couple of extra bits and bobs here and there.
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Pyonmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Baby I
- Type: Slime
- Attribute: None
We are including another one of the main cast of Ghost Game, Angoramon, and Pyonmon here is the Baby I of that Digimon. It's sure a fluffy head with a single ear sticking out of it. It's a bunny ear. That... that makes it a bit more disturbing than I should.
5/10._________________________________________________________
Bosamon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Baby II
- Type: Lesser
- Attribute: None
And Bosamon is basically a decapitated Angoramon head. It's got two bunny ears and the fur has covered its eyes, which makes it a bit less interesting but tied a bit more to Angoramon visually. Bosamon has super-good hearing, and can 'perceive sound in three dimensions' and likes to eavesdrop on other Digimon. This makes Bosamon a bit of a know-it-all, having overheard a lot of things that it itself hasn't done. Okay, that's neat.
6/10._________________________________________________________
Angoramon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Child
- Type: Beast
- Attribute / Field: Vaccine / Nature Spirits
I reasonably like this! Angoramon is based on the angora rabbits, a fluffy rabbit breed that are popular for being pets. But Angoramon is a huge chunky rabbit-man with long arms, a fuzzy fur around his eye-covered face, and two sharply-pointed ears. The end result looks like a nice mix of Terriermon and Mojyamon! My brain drawing some comparison to the latter does make Angoramon feel like a bit of a 'yeti' thing going on. It's also quite interesting that Angoramon is actually quite huge and said Mojyamon comparison does make it feel like it should be an Adult... but is still a Child-level.
Angoramon are calm pacifists, despite their appearance, and uses its hyper-sensitive ears to detect the arrival of enemies. And if enemies come... it spins its ears and flies off like a helicopter. I am sorry, what? Yeah, it's not the most obvious in this artwork, but there is a spinning hinge on where Angoramon's ears connect to the fuzzy head. That's fun! If forced to fight, Angoramon's attacks all involve spinning in some way, or sometimes just dropping its big bunny body down on the enemy as it helicopters around.
I didn't expect to like Angoramon this much, but all the descriptions about this guy has been quite charming. Its anime counterpart is a big, gentle giant protective of its more excitable human partner. It's not something that we haven't seen before, but it's the first time that the partner is so much larger and fluffier!
7/10._________________________________________________________
SymbareAngoramon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Adult
- Type: Beast Man
- Attribute / Field: Vaccine / Nature Spirits
The Adult form sheds all of Angoramon's fluffiness in favour of agility, and ends up being... well, basically a furry. It's got fancy leather pants and gloves and the remaining fuzz is treated more like a 'jacket'. I do like the ears, which have turned into spinning rigid blades with a nasty tip. I like that it retains the helicopter ears, which is at least a cute little feature it has from its predecessor.
SymbareAngoramon is one of those super graceful fighters that dance-dodges attacks, and strives for beauty in its own fighting. It's not my thing, and with how much I enjoyed Angoramon, I was definitely a bit disappointed...
3/10._________________________________________________________
Lamortmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Beast
- Attribute / Field: Vaccine / Nature Spirits
...until I saw the Perfect mode. I'm sorry, what? Digimon tends to go 'beastly Adult, more humanoid/robotic Perfect' that it's a surprise to see Lamortmon here return back to the a more bestial design. It's not even fully a 'bunny' at this point, with a very fearsome carnivorous face, and having traded in its sharp helicopter-bunny ears for two sets of bat-like ears. Even more cool are the addition of bird wings! The end result reminds me of a monster owl thanks to how shaggy and fuzzy it looks.
It's got two swords, which I completely missed until I read the profile. It sure looks like it could ravage foes even without those swords! I also appreciate the anime model, which highlights its anatomy a bit more.
Lamortmon just looks quite awesome, and I think it's meant to be based on the mythical Wolpertinger... but as a feral, savage beast. Lamortmon are constantly unleashing their feral instincts, although some are ashamed of it and despise their own impulses. Between this wording and the strong focus on the emotions that cause Gammamon to evolve, I do feel like the state of mind and controlling your darker, bestial side is a main theme in Ghost Game?
8/10._________________________________________________________
Diarbbitmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Beast Knight
- Attribute / Field: Vaccine / Nature Spirits
Eh. It's quite funny how much I swing back and forth throughout the Angoramon evolutionary line, huh? At least for Gammamon, it was expected! But Diarbbitmon is just another fellow in a suit, and I'm actually not sure if I like it more than SymbareAngoramon. It appears to be wearing a rabbit masquerade mask and has a fancy officer outfit. Oh, and two glowing swords that have fire and lightning powers. Its personality is that it really, really wipes out its enemies. Sure.
I would've liked it more if it still kept any of its Lamortmon's monstrousness or the helicopter ears of Angoramon and SymbareAngoramon, but I actually find this to be yet another uninteresting 'dude in cosplay' Ultimate. There is, apparently, a character reason to this -- that Angoramon flip-flops between wanting to be more human or Digimon... but I really feel like they could've kept more of its previous features in this final Ultimate form even then.
Again, my opinions may or may not change depending on the anime, but I highly doubt that it'll increase by all that much.
Sorry, Ghost Game fans! I do like what I see out of the anime, but it is a Savers thing where the designs just don't really speak to me. I promise I'll have much nicer things to say about the last member of the main cast, and we'll get a lot more excitement from me once we get to the glory that is Digimon Liberator!
2/10._________________________________________________________
Publimon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Adult
- Type: Mutation
- Attribute: Data
Hmm, this one is a weirdo. Publimon here is another one that had a role in Ghost Game, and it's... a little dude in a hoodie. There are some nice bits that make him a bit more monstrous, with a vaguely Agumon-esque set of reptilian legs, a too-wide grin, and the top of that hoodie just extends to a Slowking-like shell. Publimon is a riff on the whole 'social media' thing, which is, I suppose, relevant to Digimon's themes of digital monsters, the internet, hacking, and all that jazz. I get that. It's just that when not viewed through a metaphor of Diaboromons and Algomons being computer viruses, the idea of a snaggly little goblin hacking and spreading your personal information online is just... not the most appealing thing for a 'mons creature.
Publimon just reports on every single trivial thing that it sees, and often gets attacked by other Digimon because of it. Deservedly. 'There are many who detest it', says the profile. One saving grace that this little critter has is that it actually defends its readers, although it also does so by forced coverage as well.
As I find out a bit later, Publimon is actually a 'trash' evolution option for the first virtual pet that Angoramon debuted in, putting it in the same ballpark as Numemon, Sukamon and Nanimon. I... I can actually see that. I still don't like Publimon, mostly because of what it represents more than anything, but I can respect what they are going for here.
3/10._________________________________________________________
Ajatarmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Plant
- Attribute: Vaccine
Between the Algomons and the Pomumon line, we are getting a bunch of new plant Digimon these past couple of entries! I'm quite happy -- they tend to look so much more different in terms of design themes and visuals than Digimon's usual fare. Ajatarmon is based on an evil Finnish mythological 'spirit of the woods', and its design is pretty fun. It looks humanoid, but its anatomy seems to be completely made up of vines -- particularly the upper half of the body. Below those pants, Ajatarmon's legs seem to just be a set of rigid thorn-tipped leaves.
But that upper body is really cool, being designed to resemble some jungle warrior. The bright coloured leaves forming the 'hair' around the durian mask is maybe what draws the attention the most, but I particularly love that Ajatarmon has slaughtered a Parasaurmon and is using its skull as an arm-guard. Brutal! That sickle and those whiplashing thorn 'ponytails' are also neat.
Ajatarmon is described by their official profile as creating tribes deep in the jungle, do not speak much and have excellent coordination using hand gestures. Pretty standard 'savage tribespeople' tropes that I'm not the fondest of. Honestly, the monstrousness and just how clear it is that it's got vine-plant anatomy does really make me like this otherwise-humanoid Digimon a lot more than I thought I would. Having more cooler higher-level plant Digimon is definitely neat in my books!
7/10._________________________________________________________
Frozomon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Machine
- Attribute: Virus
Another random independent debut, Frozomon here is a snow-plow Digimon. I reasonably like the design here, with shadowed eyes similar to some older mechanical Digimon like Mekanorimon. It's got a nice set of details of snowplow equiment -- the plow, the treads, the snow exhaust -- but it's also got a whole set of armaments. A pair of missile racks, a grabber arm, and a superheated blade, which it uses to break through ice.
Frozomon inhabits areas with heavy snowfall, and is a bit of a contradiction itself -- it goes off to rescue people that get lost in snowstorms, but it's also hideously violent and launches missiles and gores anyone that gets in the way of its rescues... even babies. That is a detail that was explicitly noted by the official profile! What the hell, Frozomon!
I dismissed Frozomon the first time I saw him as being boring and 'another Trailmon', and while I don't like him as much as some of the other Digimon I've recently reviewed, it was certainly too harsh of an original review. Frozomon's neat! I just like him less than other mechanical Digimon. But while Frozomon here isn't neatly connected to any other mechanical Digimon, it's also something that I feel any Tankmon, Trailmon or Mekanorimon could conceivably evolve into if they find themselves stuck in icy regions. It's a neat one.
6/10._________________________________________________________
Quantumon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Fairy
- Attribute: Data
From what I can tell, Quantumon is one of the more powerful ally Digimon in Ghost Game, a being that extracts large amounts of data from its floating city Larc, and using simulations to run trillions of simulations of the future. This allows it to guess and predict the most ideal predictions for the good of the Digital World. It can manipulate time, throw people to other dimensions... typical 'Big Good' stuff.
The design is sure a person in a robe with a mask. Suddenly the repetitive archangels look a lot less boring. This could've been a 'Gennai' or a 'Yggdrasil avatar', really, just a supercomputer taking a humanoid form without having to be a Digimon. M'eh.
2/10._________________________________________________________
Ghilliedhumon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Fairy
- Attribute: Data
Debuting in the V-pet series that had the Ghost Game cast, Ghilliedhumon doesn't actually show up in the show proper. He's a Perfect-level, and apparently is based on Scottish fae Ghillie Dhu, a male fairy that protects the jungle fiercely but is kind to children. For a reason involving puns, Digimon decided to make Ghilliedhumon a forest sniper! You see, those military grass camouflage suits are called ghillie suits. So it's a Ghillie Dhu wearing a ghillie suit! Bless puns. It is still a creature fiercely protective of its territory, but it does so by relentlessly sniping at them.
That's not a bad thing, though. I like the design of this guy, who's covered in plant matter with two eyes glowing in the foliage, Digitamamon-style. What little we can see of its non-plant anatomy is... interesting. It's got beastly fingers and toes, reminding me of a reptilian Digimon like Veemon or something. But weirdest of all is that slug-like 'tail' that squelches out from behind Ghilliedhumon's back. Is that part of its disguise, or actually an extension of his inner body?
That's a nicely camouflaged sniper gun, too, being decorated to look like a bird's nest, complete with cute little bird dolls in it! I find myself actually quite charmed with this little bugger, the more I look at his details.
8/10._________________________________________________________
Vulturemon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Bird Man
- Attribute: Virus
Let's cover the other sniper introduced at around the same time. I was ready to dismiss this guy, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. Vulturemon is a random, seemingly standalone addition to the Vital Bracelet Digital Monster, and he sure is a vulture-man sniper. I was about to go 'oh, humanoid Digimon rah rah' rant, but the thing about having an actual theme makes Vulturemon a lot cooler. I mean, there's the general neat factor of being dressed like a bounty hunter from the wild west, and those red-and-black feathers are cool. But Vulturemon also holds a big sniper rifle, and... and look at all the wacky details he has. He's got a human's skull strapped on his head, a scythe on his rifle that also doubles as a melee weapon, and he's got an hourglass on his sniper rifle for that extra edge.
Also known as the 'Reaper of Dust', Vulturemon camouflages itself and then snipes its enemies with its excellent eyesight. Its rifle, 'CND-96', fires... compressed sand? That's cool. When the enemies get close to the sniper, Vulturemon can create a small army of condor minions made of sand. That's neat! I like this guy. It's not my favourite, but I find this to be quite a neat little standalone Digimon.
I don't particularly think that this is meant to tie into any specific evolutionary line, and the V-pet assigns random adults like Tortamon and Digmon as its pre-evolutions... but I could see this being an alternate, 'edgier' version of Garudamon. Perhaps as an evolution of Kokatorimon, who's kind of the bad, virus alternate evolution to the original V-pet Piyomon?
7/10._________________________________________________________
Something I like about ghost game is how the Digimon act like how their descriptions on the wiki says they do. It adds to their personality IMO
ReplyDeleteNot all of them do; for example, Calmaramon and Gigasmon appeared in Ghost Game as monsters of the week, and they don't act much at all like their Reference Book descriptions. Honestly, I think it's better when Digimon can have different personalities across their appearances, especially those often made into villains. (Case in point, It'd be nice to have a Ranamon who ISN'T a bad guy that gets a bigger role than a cameo and is in a game that's available outside of ONE COUNTRY.)
Delete(Also, Publimon is a silly lil' gremlin and I love him. And Vulturemon is a badass, and I love him, too.)
DeleteI do like the idea of individual Digimon having their own personalities -- Digimon really flip-flops on this, of course, especially with a lot of their 'import a mythological/historical/religious figure' batch where a lot of them are just described as individual characters (and while I don't comment on it much, it's one thing that also bothers me). Generally I like Digimon to be a 'species' instead of just a single character. I can handwave it for some of the subgroups like the Royal Knights or Olympos whatever... but even they show up across multiple continuities with different personalities.
DeleteI really do like the official Reference Bok entries when they take a more show-agnostic way of describing the Digimon, something they've done a bit better with in a lot of the more recent profiles. For example, the Eosmons that I reviewed a while back clearly are referencing the specific Eosmon that show up in the Kizuna movie; but can also apply if Eosmon appeared in any given continuity.
(Not sure what game you're talking about, but isn't Time Stranger available internationally? I know a Ranamon shows up there...)
Out of the couple of Ghost Game episodes I feel like the villains-of-the-week have been either quite straightforward adaptations (Dracumon, Yatagaramon, maybe Pumpmon) or delightful subversions (Doctor Mummymon! Psycho Sirenmon! Very psycho Sistermon!). Majiramon as a fun take as a 'guardian' of money instead of being a miser -- which he never was in Tamers either. And serial killer Clockmon is different from his bio, insomuch that Clockmon's bio is one of those 'describe a power' bios and not one that describes the species behaviour or personality.
The partner Digimon tend to be similar to the reference book bios, but other than the first season, those tend to be done quite well to tie in to the animes anyway.
I was talking about the China-exclusive mobile game Digimon New Century. There's a Ranamon in that game who actually has a heroic role and eventually becomes Shagaramon (who I'm very excited for you to review and really hope ends up being retconned as the Fusion/Transcendent Hybrid of Water rather than a normal Mega someday, since imho, it's perfect for that job). And yeah, there's also a Ranamon in Time Stranger and... well, I won't spoil the details, but let's just say, she didn't help to smooth over the first impression from Frontier.
DeleteOh, and I agree with pretty much everything you said. I especially love how Ghost Game uses Quartzmon (y'know, the big bad final boss from Hunters)... but again, I'll leave you to discover that on your own.