this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2025
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Digimon World 2's Japan exclusive game mode, what was it? (programming.dev)
submitted 1 week ago by ICastFist@programming.dev to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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I once had the Japanese version of Digimon world 2 for the PS1 and I remember it having a separate game mode that, by default, would put you in an arena with Metal Greymon vs Were Garurumon. For whatever reason, the fight played fully automatically, no input needed, but if you messed around with buttons, you could sometimes change the attack of M.Greymon to the breast missile. After the fight was over, you'd be thrown back at the main menu.

I've never seen anyone comment on it and even searching right now doesn't show any results. So, does anyone know what it was supposed to be and how to "properly play" it? Cutting room floor only mentions that western releases completely removed all compatibility with the Japanese gadgets and graphics related to that

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[–] grimaferve@fedia.io 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

There's a great video here from Lost In Translationmon about this device. Seems to me that battles on it play automatically, so it's easy to assume that battling one would also be automatic. You can also transfer Digimon, which is where the legendary Kimeramon comes from. (Though there are ROM patches to make Kimeramon part of the game as an enemy unit, among others of course)

I haven't personally seen it connected to Digimon World 2, though I did watch a Japanese streamer play through the game. They know about the PocketStation and Pocket Digimon World but apparently they're rare and expensive, if they even still work. Guessing the battery will need replacing, as it's about that age.

More, there were severe shortages on these things so they never made it outside of Japan, thus the whole feature was removed from Digimon World 2's NA release. It also looks like it uses a horrible transparent plastic that doesn't age super well.

If I recall correctly the PS1/PSX has a region lock chip, so to use it you'd need a Japanese PlayStation, a Japanese copy or burn of Digimon World 2 and one of these. Sounds expensive.

Even though you could emulate the Japanese version of Digimon World 2, it's not like there's anything currently that interfaces with these at this point in time anyway, and you'd also need a function in the emulator to forward the data correctly.

Sadly, the other thing that players typically notice while playing Digimon World 2 is the pain of having to level from 1 again after a DNA, which this could've helped with.

[–] ClipperDefiance@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I haven't personally seen it connected to Digimon World 2, though I did watch a Japanese streamer play through the game. They know about the PocketStation and Pocket Digimon World but apparently they're rare and expensive, if they even still work. Guessing the battery will need replacing, as it's about that age.

PocketStations aren't actually that rare or expensive. A quick look on eBay has them going for around $30 (unless you want a black one). The battery will definitely need replacing, but it's just a CR2032 (the same as a Dreamcast's VMU) and a pack of 10 of those is under $10. The Pocket Digimon World games aren't too expensive either with the original going for around $20 and the other two being around $30 each. All together that does add up to quite a bit, but it isn't that bad when there are some games out there that go for hundreds.

If I recall correctly the PS1/PSX has a region lock chip, so to use it you'd need a Japanese PlayStation, a Japanese copy or burn of Digimon World 2 and one of these. Sounds expensive.

It is possible to bypass the region lock with a mod chip (requires soldering) or an exploit like Tonyhax International (requires a memory card, a way to install the exploit, and possibly one of several specific games).

Edit: Typo

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago

Depending where you live, a modded PS1 is easier to find than an unmodded one. Brazil, for instance