Digimon World



Digimon World is a Digimon video game for the PlayStation and PC, the latter of which is Korean-exclusive. Released by Bandai in 1999, as a result it is based more on the Digimon Virtual Pets rather than the better-known anime series.

The main character is pulled through his V-Pet device into the Digital World and is then tasked by Jijimon to rescue File Island from the corruption they have encountered. The majority of the Digimon have become wild and the only city has fallen into disarray.

The majority of the game revolves around the player raising their Digimon, much like the Virtual Pets. The Digimon the player raises is also forced to fight most of the other wild Digimon in order to try and return them to the city. This leads to some massive Guide Dang It moments, or even Unwinnable situations.

Critical reception was mixed and sales weren't strong, but the game has turned into somewhat of a Cult Classic. It was followed by a variety of different sequels, as well as a card battle spin-off. Another sequel has come out, this one closer to the original gameplay.


 * 100% Completion: Hoo boy. Getting all the medals in the game is the closest it has to 100% Completion, and to get every last one of them, you have to: beat the final boss, win every single one of the arena cups at least once, play for 10 in-game years, collect all of the cards, recruit all the recruitable Digimon, catch one hundred fish, raise every single obtainable Digimon and get a perfect score of 10 in curling.
 * Affably Evil: Some of the wild Digimon are this. Look no further than that one RedVegiemon casually asking "Where you from, homie?" or the Muchomon spouting Gratuitous Spanish before initiating a battle.
 * Anticlimax Boss: Numemon. Seeing as how you can fight him right after you defeat Giromon, there's no way you can really lose. There's even a chance you can one shot him entirely.
 * All in a Row: Partner Digimon generally follow you.
 * And the Adventure Continues...: After the Final Boss's defeat and the player going back home, he is later summoned back to the Digital World once again to deal with the remnants of.
 * Awesome but Impractical: Giromon's finisher. Supposedly the most powerful one in the game, but due to this (and possibly to compensate for the fact that Giromon is one of the easier ultimates to obtain), the way it functions prevents it from being useful a lot of the time. Essentially, unlike most finishers, which when pulled off successfully, are guaranteed to hit the enemy, Giromon's creates a bomb he throws into the ground and which the enemy has to run into for them to be damaged. The thing is that the distance Giromon throws the bomb at never changes, and due to the way battles work, you have no control over where he tosses it, so in smaller areas it's very likely that it'll get tossed into the scenery (or even off-screen) where the enemy can't touch it, making it useless.
 * Another example, as well as another candidate for strongest finisher is Digitamamon's finisher, Nightmare Syndrome. It attacks by creating a ghost that inflicts damage by contact. The problem is that it flies randomly, so it either hits the enemy, runs out of power or hits yourself.
 * Ax Crazy: When the player encounters Giromon in Factorial Town, he is seen trashing the room he is in and acts highly violent to the player trying to stop him until he is finished off. Either this, or A.I. Is a Crapshoot.
 * Back Tracking
 * Baleful Polymorph:
 * The Flat status turns the affected Digimon into a 2D sprite reminiscent of the virtual pet. It will be stuck firing one weak attack and unable to block attacks until the status wears off.
 * If a Digimon is not part of a previous form's line/branch, chances are they are this. Any In-Training Digimon has a chance to become Kunemon by sleeping on Kunemon's Bed, any Rookie can become a Numemon if he fails to fulfill any conditions to digivolve into a Champion of his branch, any Rookie can also become a Nanimon if his Happiness and Discipline are empty before being scolded, any Digimon can become a Sukamon after filling up the Virus gauge caused from pooping outside toilets and without using Portable Potties...
 * The digivolution items can count for this too, especially if the result is a Digimon not part of its line/branch, as this is not counted as a natural digivolution (no change in stats and life span).
 * The Sukamon living in Trash Mountain sees KingSukamon's ability to revert the partner's Sukamon form as this.
 * Becoming the Costume: What happens if you have a Numemon and take it to the stuffed Monzaemon toy in Toy Town. The transformation has no negative effects on your Digimon, though, in fact it turns a (usually) useless monster into a potential Disc One Nuke.
 * Big Boo's Haunt: The Overdell area, including Grey Lord's Mansion. Many darkness-based Digimon roam this area, including the ghost-based Soulmon. Bakemon can be found in front of the mansion as well. It is also guarded by a "black force", requiring Virus-type Digimon to enter.
 * Big Eater: Many Digimon, such as Numemon and Tyrannomon, tend to demand large amounts of food to stay happy. Because of this, beginners and even veterans might find it difficult to support these two in the early stages of the game, having to spend a good amount of time looking for food and training their Digimon.
 * Bizarre Taste in Food: You know those piles of poop that your Digimon leaves behind if you fail to take him to the bathroom in time? They make nice little (or not so little) snacks for Numemon and Sukamon.
 * This also extends to the partner's Trademark Favorite Food. No surprise that both the aforementioned Digimon are the only ones who like the sickening Moldy Meat.
 * Blind Idiot Translation: One of the arena cups is described as the "Metaric Cup". While a quick glance might give the idea that it's simply a misspelt version of "metric", some fans think it's an Engrish translation of "metallic". Bizarrely, either of them could be the correct translation, as the cup is for cyborg Digimon.
 * And some of the attacks, too, like "Metal Sprinter/Splinter" which throws small computer pieces around the screen.
 * For whatever reason, the intro screens for the different cups were left untouched in the international versions. The result is Engrish in spades, including such gems as "WHO's A MOST COOLER ?", "COME TUGETHER !!" and " "CRAPPER's" CUP".
 * Bonus Boss:
 * Digitamamon can only be fought after clearing the main story.
 * can be encountered in certain locations after beating the game.
 * Bonus Dungeon: Back Dimension.
 * Boss Battle: Distinguishable from regular battles with its own battle music. Also, unlike regular battles, once the player gets caught in this type of battle, the player can not use the Run command.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Many of the bosses.
 * Broken Bridge:
 * Quite literally for the Digimon Bridge. Fixed after reaching Tropical Jungle and going west from there.
 * The Invisible Bridge cannot be crossed until the player sees Yuramon's dialogue about it.
 * Button Mashing: Required for charging up the partner Digimon's finisher to inflict more damage.
 * Cap:
 * Stats cap out at 9,999 (for HP and MP) and 999 (for Offense, Defense, Speed, and Brains).
 * Partner Digimon's Weight can reach up to 99.
 * Up to 99 of an item type can be kept in the inventory.
 * Speaking of items, the player starts out with 10 item slots in his bag. It can later be expanded by picking up Keychain items, up to 30.
 * Carnivore Confusion: Digimon, regardless of species, do not eat each other. They do eat meat, but it's grown on a farm. Literally, it grows out of the ground like a plant. Even more confusingly, the farmers growing the meat are all sentient plants.
 * Character Name Limits: The player is limited to six characters for name entry. This applies to both the Player Character's name and his partner's.
 * Cherry Tapping: A few moves are fast, deal little damage, and consume little MP. Spamming these is actually a viable strategy, as the attack speed will interrupt almost every attack the opponent tries to throw your way and you won't lose a lot of MP.
 * Convection, Schmonvection: The player has no trouble staying for a long time in really hot areas like in the lava-filled cave deep in Drill Tunnel. Averted for the partner Digimon, as some species can not stand extremely hot places and can risk getting sick from staying there for too long.
 * Convenient Questing
 * Cosmetic Award: The medals.
 * Covers Always Lie: The PAL cover features the main Digimon roster from Digimon Adventure, ignoring the fact that Tentomon is just a common enemy, and Gomamon is completely absent from the game.
 * Cruelty Is the Only Option: Certain digivolutions (without items) basically forces the player to do this to his partner. Notable examples include:
 * To obtain Nanimon, the (Rookie) partner Digimon's Happiness and Discipline have to be completely empty, then the player scolds him.
 * Some digivolutions require the partner Digimon to lose a life before it can (randomly) trigger, though some have additional requirements. One noteworthy example goes to turning Angemon into Devimon, which requires not only forced life loss but also a low enough Discipline.
 * Curb Stomp Battle:
 * It is possible to encounter Piximon during early-game. As he only appears in an early-game area, unprepared players unaware of his Ultimate level and stats will be in for a surprise.
 * Numemon gets the receiving end of this, as he is encountered in an area filled with tough Digimon yet he has stats slightly stronger than an average In-Training (one of the baby levels).
 * Dark Is Not Evil: When they are not Brainwashed and Crazy, most Virus-type Digimon and Digimon known to be evil in other works are perfectly sociable, some can even join the city and get along with the player. The player's partner also counts, as regardless of form, including the aforementioned types, he will stay loyal.
 * The Day the Music Lied: The recruitment jingle is heard after the fight against Ogremon in the Secret Beach Cave, but the end of it is distorted to signal that he actually lied.
 * Death Is a Slap on The Wrist: The player's partner fading away just means he just has to work through raising a new one and there are no other drawbacks aside from that. Losing a life can also be beneficial for triggering certain digivolutions. Meanwhile, dying in battle can risk losing learned techs.
 * Death Mountain: Great Canyon. It is a rocky mountainous area with three tiered areas (bottom, top, topmost).
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Many of the recruitable digimon need to be fought first. Afterwards, they'll magically regain their memories and agree to join the city.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: If the player's partner is a Digimon with wings when the player falls down to the bottom area of the Great Canyon, the Digimon will not take damage and the player will call him out for cheating.
 * Dialogue Tree
 * Digital Avatar: Everything is digital.
 * Disappeared Dad: The only parent mentioned and shown is the protagonist's mother. It is never clear whether he has a father or not.
 * Disc One Nuke: If the player knows what they are doing, it is possible to get an Ultimate level during the first generation of their partner. This can help the player get a good running start in exploring and recruiting much earlier until the inevitable old age.
 * Discount Card: You get a small discount from the city's shop if your Digimon is Fresh or In-Training.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Happymushroom increases your Digimon's happiness, but may make him sick. Wonder what kind of mushrooms they are.
 * Down in the Dumps: Trash Mountain, including the kingdom where Sukamon dwell in.
 * Dub-Induced Plot Hole: In Grey Lord's Mansion, the player comes across a famished Myotismon who asks for food (specifically some sort of meat if one goes with the English localization). The player often carries food items, so why can't the player give him any of those? Why only Steak works? This is because the particular item is Bowdlerised from the original Japanese version's name of Blood-Dripping Flesh, which makes sense as Myotismon is a vampire.
 * This also explains why Steak can potentially make the partner Digimon ill when fed with it. As much as they like eating meat, they would not like one that is truly raw complete with fresh blood.
 * Dummied Out:
 * Numerous Digimon which did not make the final cut can be accessed with a device such as Action Replay, many of them fully playable.
 * Datamining shows more internal data not explicitly shown in-game. Interestingly, the player character has defined Specialty (Fire), item drop rate (despite not having any item associated with him), and technique learnset (though only one can be "learned", Fire Tower), active time (Sun Up, obviously does not apply in actual gameplay), and training type. All of these stats are associated with his partner Digimon.
 * Related to the above, all characters drawn in at least one scene have their own stats regardless of whether they can be fought or not. This includes Jijimon, the customers in the Monochrome Shop mini-game, all baby Digimon NPCs (including DemiMeramon), and even the Market Manager who can only be interacted with at the Gear Savanna's Card Shop and in one scene at the Drill Tunnel Entrance. Before anyone asks, yes, even has his own battle stats.
 * Dung Fu: Filth-type techs.
 * Early Game Hell: The player starts out with an undeveloped File City and the first facility added is just the Item Keeper. The player is only aided with starting items given by Tokomon and a daily stock of basic Meat from Tanemon with no other way to buy them, forcing the player to explore the outside to scavenge for items. Spending time just for training only gets the player so far until the aforementioned food issue kicks in. Toilet access is limited to ones available on certain areas due to the lack of easily purchasable Portable Potties. Training also does not boost a lot for much of the game, especially after the player got used to the fully upgraded Green Gym.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: This game is based on the early Digimon virtual pets, so this trope is in full force, especially to players whose first exposure to the franchise is via the anime.
 * The Mega level does not exist. This game was made shortly after the Pendulum series of virtual pets was released, which introduced said level, so it is possible that the power level system in this game is still influenced from the earlier toys.
 * While some of the digivolution lines/branches are modified from the virtual pets (ex. Tanemon -> Betamon instead of Koromon -> Betamon) and thus not all species from the toys are included in this game, there are still some oddities that are more notable to fans of the anime. For example, Palmon can not digivolve into Togemon in this game.
 * There was only the Virus-type MetalGreymon in this game instead of the iconic orange one.
 * Internal data shows more oddities concerning Digimon power levels, aside from the well-known Mega Digimon (Phoenixmon, HerculesKabuterimon, etc.) becoming Ultimates. For example, Whamon was a Champion instead of Ultimate, Yanmamon was a Virus-type Rookie (normally Data-type Champion), Flarerizamon was also a Rookie instead of Champion, etc.
 * Easing Into the Adventure: Most boss Digimon found early on can be defeated by a Rookie or an untrained Champion, and the wild ones often do not pose much of a problem. Certain early recruits can even be convinced by just talking to them. But by the time the prosperity level reaches 15%, the game ramps up the difficulty, especially with Greymon's surprise visit.
 * Elemental Powers: Most of the techs. Each Digimon is also given their own element typing which decides not only the tech elements they can use, but also their elemental strengths and weaknesses.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Battle techs, with a Rock Steady tech thrown in for good measure.
 * Extra Ore Dinary and Frickin' Laser Beams: Mech techs.
 * Making a Splash and An Ice Digimon: Ice techs.
 * Playing with Fire: Fire techs.
 * Poisonous Digimon, Big Creepy-Crawlies, and Green Thumb: Nature techs.
 * Shock and Awe and Blow You Away: Air techs.
 * Toilet Humour: Filth techs.
 * Endless Game: Probably. 10 year Glitch sometimes makes the game unable to reload a saved game after the 10th year of gameplay.
 * Eternal Engine: Factorial Town.
 * Event Flag: This can lead to some almost Unwinnable moments.
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys: At a certain prosperity level, Etemon can be battled in Native Forest, though he ends up being kicked out by Jijimon, staying at the Digimon Bridge. The player can also raise his own Etemon, but this requires a Sukamon partner, one of the Joke Characters. There is also his event-only metal Palette Swap.
 * Extreme Omnivore: Using items on your Digimon partner is represented as it eating said item. This includes floppies, evolution items, and even the portable potty.
 * Famed in Story: Some Digimon recognize the player as the one human trying to help rebuild File City. Certain events can also happen depending on the prosperity level, like Greymon visiting. Wild Digimon and certain NPC Digimon can also end up joining the city's arena by having the player at least interact with them or talk to them into joining, implying that the varying kinds of participants become possible thanks to the player.
 * Fantastic Racism: Some Digimon do not like the humans/Analogue, which the player is.
 * Fishing Minigame: It will make you want to gouge your eyes out with boredom, and is full of Guide Dang It moments. The rewards are worth it, though...
 * Flunky Boss: Ogremon is never fought alone in all his encounters prior to him joining the city. He is often accompanied with two Agumon, except for one battle where he is accompanied with a Gabumon and a WaruSeadramon.
 * Friendly Fireproof: Enemy Digimon can risk hitting another if they are involved in the same battle.
 * Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Myotismon looks like a blond Bela Lugosi-style Dracula, owns a spooky mansion with coffins as furniture and a lab, and likes discussing matters over food. Also a really nice guy.
 * Game Breaking Bug: Oh so many in the US version. While most of them aren't quite at the level of "game-breaking", the game is absolutely crawling with bugs. The most commonly cited in that version is the jukebox bug, which crashes your game if you try to play it.
 * Some NPCs (especially the ones in the bonus areas in end of the game) will trap you in endless loops of dialogue that you can only leave by holding your left control away from the monster and rapidly pressing X to try to skip through the dialogue. If you're trapped in a corner and can't get past then your only hope is to reset.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: The game addresses the fact that certain Digimon are simply too big to be partner Digimon. The non-battle NPC versions of these Digimon are full-sized, while the partner and battle character versions are smaller.
 * Get on the Boat: Or rather, Get On The Whamon...
 * Get Out!:
 * KingSukamon basically says this after reverting the player's partner back from his Sukamon form.
 * Much of the Digimon in Mt. Infinity said this.
 * Global Airship: Birdramon's movement service.
 * Important to note that it is a One-Way Trip, where you'll need to walk back or use an Auto Pilot.
 * Goldfish Poop Gang: Ogremon's team.
 * Gone Horribly Wrong: Myotismon's experiments result in a Skull Greymon who ends up taking his creator captive. The skeleton dragon mellows out a bit after you defeat him, though.
 * The Goomba: The ModokiBetamon (day) or Dokunemon (night) at Native Forest, the first area the player can access upon exiting File City for the first time. These have low stats and can be used for quick and simple money and item farming.
 * Gratuitous Japanese: Basically, nothing but the text was translated - every occurrence of Japanese in the graphics are left as is. This is particularly confusing when Ogremon's gang takes over Drill Tunnel, as the player character reacts angrily when he notices that the sign on which the tunnel's name reads has been altered. The problem is that the sign is just a part of the background graphics, entirely in katakana and no translation is given for what is says when Ogremon takes over, potentially leaving quite a few Western players slightly confused.
 * Speaking of the player character, his few voiced lines during actual gameplay are also left undubbed, resulting in him shouting "Yatta!" after winning a battle and saying "Oyasumi" when letting his Digimon sleep even in the international versions.
 * Gravity Barrier: Partially averted in that you have to fall to get into a certain area of the game.
 * Great Offscreen War:
 * Guide Dang It: On more than one occasion and certainly in regards to attempting to get that particular monster or opponent.
 * Recruiting certain monsters can be this too.
 * Haunted House: Grey Lord's Mansion.
 * Healing Potion: The recovery floppies are the most basic example of this. Certain other non-floppy items can also restore HP.
 * Heel Face Turn: It is implied that the Digitamamon is . Thankfully, he is not evil and does not mind joining the city.
 * Hit Points
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:.
 * Hot-Blooded: The protagonist is willing to challenge a lot of Digimon of various kinds and often gets into many dangerous situations that can easily risk his life, even with his partner by his side.
 * Humans Are the Real Monsters:.
 * Ice Palace: The Ice Sanctuary in Freezeland. Requires Vaccine-type Digimon to access.
 * Idle Animation: If the partner Digimon is left idle, he will do this. Animation varies between Digimon.
 * Implausible Deniability: Palmon tries to insist that they are a flower repeatedly. They soon get fed up and decide to battle.
 * Inevitable Tournament: Although there are battle arenas, they're not required to recruit Digimon. Non-combat tournaments are.
 * Insane Troll Logic: Most Digimon. To be fair, they are driven mad.
 * Instant 180-Degree Turn
 * Intrepid Reporter: Shellmon's role in the city.
 * In-Universe Game Clock: Lampshaded in-game.
 * It's Up to You
 * Item Get: Woah!
 * Jerkass:
 * The Weedmon is the worst customer type personality-wise in the Monochrome Shop mini-game. They are more likely to ask for Meat (cheapest item) yet still claim that the price is too high and ask for a discount. Thus, it is easy to make them angry and leave the shop.
 * The insult-spewing Otamamon in Geko Swamp.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: It is already explained in the beginning that many Digimon have lost their memories and become hostile. The player naturally has to find out the cause.
 * Joke Character: Numemon, Sukamon, and Nanimon are utterly useless in battles, not helped by the decreased stats from digivolving into them.
 * Jungle Japes: Tropical Jungle.
 * Kamehame Hadoken: The Fire-type tech Prominence Beam is fired like this if used by humanoid Digimon such as Meramon.
 * Kill It with Fire: Meramon's plan inside the Lava Cave involves setting off the volcano to take out the entirety of File Island. Thankfully, the player manages to stop him.
 * King Mook: Even though he is not fought, KingSukamon is this compared to the lowly Sukamon, being a gigantic Sukamon with a crown.
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia: Many of the Digimon forgot their life in the city after they left. Some even forgot how to speak.
 * Last Lousy Point: Inevitable if the player wants 100% Completion (see above).
 * Let No Crisis Go to Waste: Ogremon decided to become a hostile bandit because he thinks that, since File Island is done for, he is free to do whatever.
 * Lethal Lava Land: The Lava Cave inside Drill Tunnel until Meramon is defeated.
 * Life Meter: Displayed during battles.
 * Limit Break: All the "Finisher" attacks.
 * The Lost Woods:
 * Native Forest is the inverse version of this, going by its Japanese name which is the inverse of The Legend of Zelda's Lost Woods. It is the first accessible area the player can access outside the city and has a simple layout.
 * Meanwhile, the Misty Trees plays this straight until most of the fog is lifted, as going through this area in its original state will result in the player running in circles as every path goes to a random one.
 * Luck-Based Mission:
 * In order to recruit Monochromon, you must make enough profit working in his shop. There is little you can do but hope that the customer Digimon accept higher prices without storming out, that they ask for Medicine and that they are not goddamn Weedmon.
 * Recruiting Piximon, Mamemon, and MetalMamemon, thanks to their low chance of appearing on certain areas.
 * Made of Iron: In further areas, the player can encounter Rookie-level enemy Digimon whose stats can exceed those of other average Rookies, with 2,000+ HP and mid-game stats.
 * Magikarp Power: Sure, Numemon, Sukamon, and Nanimon are Joke Characters, but if the player is willing to put a lot of effort in raising them, they can digivolve into the powerful Monzaemon, Etemon, and Digitamamon, respectively.
 * Mana Meter: Mostly just the player's partner Digimon's, except in tournaments where the opposing Digimon also has their MP meter displayed as well.
 * Megaton Punch: The second most powerful battle tech in the game.
 * Mind Screw: The true ending if you go through the Back Dimension..
 * Mirror Match: Possible but rare; you can fight a recruitable verion of your Digimon.
 * Especially common with the first boss, who is an Agumon, which is one of the two starter Digimon.
 * Money for Nothing: One of the Mojyamon in Freezeland offers valuable stat-boosting items for the player's cheap recovery items and easy-to-catch fish. The former items sell far more than the latter.
 * Money Spider: Digimon fought in the overworld drop Bits (the game's currency) upon defeat.
 * Mr. Exposition: Jijimon for most of the game. Talking to Cherrymon in Misty Trees allows him to fill in on a few more details.
 * My Rules Are Not Your Rules: The player's partner is limited to three techs that can be equipped, while wild Digimon tend to have four. Actually, all Digimon are limited to four tech slots, but the partner has already one filled by his finisher. The wild Digimon have no finishers, so this slot is filled with another tech they can use.
 * Internal data shows that enemy Digimon have the tendency to have tech set that does not match their (not explicitly seen) specialties. For example, the Air-type Yanmamon is capable of using Danger Sting, an Earth-type tech.
 * Never Say "Die": Digimon are said to 'fade away' if they're slain, although this is justified as they don't die, but rather regenerate into a weaker Digimon.
 * No Cartoon Fish: One of the main sources of food.
 * No Item Use for You: Tournament battles prohibit use of items, obviously. Garurumon's rematch before recruiting him also counts in addition to the player being unable to give commands as part of the deal.
 * Obstructive Foreground
 * One Bullet At a Time: Only one projectile per Digimon is allowed onscreen. For example, a Digimon can't use Spit Fire again until after the first one disappears.
 * Opening the Sandbox
 * Palette Swap: Mainly used on things like ModokiBetamon, but many of the 'NPC' versions of playable Digimon are slightly different to the playable characters. The toy versions of Agumon come in two variants - they're not palette-swapped, but one is partly transparent.
 * These palette swaps actually became official Digimon, appearing in later video games, the trading card game and even in the anime.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Piximon, Mamemon, and Metalmamemon definitely qualify. All of them are really small, but they are all Ultimates. They're also pretty tough to recruit, having to go back and forth on screens until you finally see them, and then attempting to take them on.
 * Giromon is also small, but is different in the others in that he doesn't randomly appear. Despite this, he's an incredibly powerful boss, having access to DG Dimension and an ultimate that is one of the most powerful in the game, albeit hard to aim.
 * Pokémon-Speak: The recruitable Bakemon in Overdell Cemetery can only say slight variations of "Bake". Since you need to answer a few yes/no questions to get him to the city, you need a Bakemon of your own who will translate the former's speech. Or you could just look up the right answers on the Internet or even guess them.
 * The Power of Friendship:
 * Power-Up Food: The meals you can buy at the restaurant all increase your Digimon's stats a bit. Can be abused for rather game breaking results thanks to a certain Good Bad Bug.
 * Power-Up Letdown:
 * Some digivolutions can cause disadvantage to the partner's stats, especially if this happens to Rookies. One harsh example is the one that turns the partner Digimon into Sukamon, which results in slashing all stats in half.
 * Digivolution via items allows the player to obtain a particular Digimon without fulfilling any requirements (and can be done on any Digimon one-level lower compared to the Digimon associated with the item). However, this will not result in boosted stats and will not extend the partner's life span.
 * Preexisting Encounters
 * Prehistoria: Ancient Dino Region. Particularly the more lively Glacial Region, where many dinosaur-based Digimon dwell in, in contrast to the dreary Speedy Region.
 * Promotional Powerless Piece of Garbage: The Metal Banana item can only be legally obtained from participating in a Japan-only raffle that rewards Memory Cards containing it. This allows the player to unlock MetalEtemon, but other than a different typing, he is no different gameplay-wise to the regular Etemon.
 * Random Drop: Wild Digimon have a random chance of dropping items after they're defeated. The item type depends on the Digimon.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure:
 * ShogunGekomon, who forgives the player for attacking the annoying Otamamon, and points him in the direction of Cherrymon, even giving him the means to get through Misty Trees to find him.
 * MasterTyrannomon, who decides that he has enough of Tyrannomon's nonsense and makes him join File City after the player reported his findings in Ancient Speedy Region.
 * Regional Bonus: Notably, the Korean-only PC port has a few improvements over the PlayStation version, like being able to save anywhere at any time and using real-time shadows instead of the fixed black circle underneath the character models.
 * Road Runner PC
 * Rule of Three:
 * In Gear Savanna, Elecmon must be interacted three times (taking damage in the process) before he can join the city.
 * Patamon has to be fought three times in a row before he can join the city.
 * Run, Don't Walk
 * Save Scumming: If the player is going for the chance-based digivolutions (like, say, turning any In-Training Digimon into Kunemon), the player may as well resort to this until it succeeds.
 * Save Point: Whenever your Digimon sleeps.
 * Justified Save Point: In Jijimon's house.
 * Saving the World: At least, the Digital one.
 * Scratch Damage
 * Scripted Event
 * Secret Test of Character:
 * The whole point of the Monochrome Shop mini-game.
 * The Amida Forest puzzle.
 * Sequence Breaking: Certain characters in the final few sections of the game appear regardless of whether or not you've done the quests which would presumably be required. Leomon, for example, gets a small role in the ending sequence regardless of whether or not you've spoken to him, and although the Grey Lord's Mansion quest introduces, a Digimon fought as a boss in a different part of the game, it's possible to do them the other way round.
 * In addition to this, advancing the Ogremon subplot to the point where he takes over the Drill Tunnel before you recruit Meramon makes Meramon unrecruitable and the post-earthquake shortcut to Mt. Panorama permanently unavailable. Under these conditions it's still possible to beat the main storyline of the game, but you can no longer unlock all the medals and can't achieve 100% Completion.
 * Shout-Out: Grey Lord's Mansion is basically a kid-friendly version of the Spencer Manor, down to the former's lobby and dining room areas being recreations of the latter.
 * Sidequest: The whole game is made up of mostly optional quests, as there are only two Digimon you must recruit to get to the final main dungeon. The other numbers can be made up from any of the quests.
 * Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Freezeland.
 * Sound Test: Giromon's jukebox. However, it is rather infamous for crashing the game if one attempts to use it in the North American version of the game. It works just fine in the PAL version, though.
 * Spell My Name with an "S":.
 * Standard Status Effects:
 * Poison is the usual RPG staple. It saps a bit of HP from the affected Digimon. However, it has an additional drawback of forcing the affected Digimon to walk instead of run.
 * Stun makes the affected Digimon unable to perform any actions for a few seconds, leaving it open to attacks.
 * Confusion makes the affected Digimon wander randomly and even launch attacks on a random direction. If this happens to the player's partner, he will ignore orders.
 * Flat turns the affected Digimon into a 2D sprite version of itself. In this form, it can only fire weak projectiles and can not block attacks.
 * Stat Grinding: The damned Gyms.
 * Stupidity Is the Only Option: More than once, to boot. Getting insulted by a bratty Otamamon? Let him have it. Bringing a sick Digimon who can't stand the cold to the local Slippy-Slidey Ice World? Brilliant idea. Walking to a clearly unstable piece of land on the edge of a cliff? Even better!
 * Suicidal Overconfidence: To the point it's annoying.
 * Summon Everyman Hero: How the game begins.
 * Swamps Are Evil: The Geko Swamp is filled with hostile Yanmamon (day) and Gekomon (night).
 * Take Over the World:
 * Talk to Everyone: Almost subverted when Angemon is recruited as between him and Jijimon you can just about work out where the heck to go next via fairly obscure riddles.
 * Talkative Loon: Giromon.
 * Tank Goodness: Toy Town's Tankmon.
 * Toy Time: Toy Town.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: The player's partner Digimon has his own favorite food depending on his species (though this is never mentioned in-game). Feeding him with such food will give bonus energy recovery and more Happiness. Only both baby levels of the partner have no favorite food. The Dummied Out WereGarurumon also has none, as this form has incomplete data that can crash the game when loaded anyway.
 * Training from Hell: In Trash Mountain, you'll find one of the little gyms scatteder around the game world. This particular gym makes your Digimon dive into a giant pile of poop and stay there to somehow increase their MP.
 * It's also notable as being the only training exercise that decreases your Digimon's happiness when you do it. They REALLY don't like having to wade around in poop for an hour.
 * Translator Microbes: Mentioned early in the game; the player's character thinks he's speaking his own language, but other characters claim he's speaking theirs.
 * Tunnel King: The Drimogemon in the Drill Tunnel.
 * Underground Level: Drill Tunnel.
 * Underground Monkey: Some of the Palette Swapped Digimon, like SnowAgumon (an Agumon native to Freezeland), for example.
 * Undying Loyalty: Regardless of how the player treats his partner, the latter will always stay by his side and fight the battles for him.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: Kunemon asks for food if the player talks to him in Kunemon's Bed. He will happily eat the food item given... and then immediately asks for a fight. He ends up joining the city afterwards, though.
 * The Unintelligible: Bakemon and Vademon. Having Bakemon as the player's partner allows him to understand the former, though.
 * Universal Poison: Regardless of which attack used to inflict poison, the effects are always the same, which are Damage Over Time and forced walking applied on the affected.
 * Unwinnable: Whether it's by mistake or design is uncertain. It is certainly possible to get stuck if you enter Jijimon's house - on more than one occasion - because as you leave his house (usually just after saving), a powerful Digimon attacks you with no warning. You can, however, just die and wait to get to Champion level again before the opponent re-appears.
 * The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Mt. Infinity.
 * Video Game Caring Potential: On the long run, it pays to properly take care of your monster. Not only does it usually result in better digivolutions, but full happiness and discipline increase the Digimon's lifespan and the time it takes for it to poop once the appropriate speech bubble shows up, respectively.
 * Video Game Cruelty Potential: Basically, you can deprive your Digimon of sleep, scold them hundreds of times for no reason, and even make them crap themselves. Some of these are required at least once if you want to complete the Digivolution chart. Oh, and did we mention you can do this to the baby level Digimon? Note that neither of said actions will go unpunished, but still...
 * Viral Transformation:, and powered-up ones at that.
 * Virtual Ghost:.
 * The Voiceless: Your partner is the only Digimon who doesn't talk, although the speech bubbles expressing his various needs are implied to be speech.
 * "Wake-Up Call" Boss: Meramon. Compared to the Drimogemon earlier, he has basically twice the HP, and he also has the stats to back him up. This fight pretty much requires a Champion-level partner at least, but even then, his Offense stat can still easily make him do the partner in. While it is no surprise that his techs cover all ranges, thanks to his stats, the fight becomes a quick reminder of what the game has to offer once this is done.
 * Warmup Boss: Agumon.
 * Wham! Line : When Birdramon appears, she mentions "other humans", but does not elaborate. This is the first hint there is ever been any humans around before the protagonist.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?:
 * After Meteormon is defeated, he decides to check out the island. Despite this, he does not appear for the rest of the story.
 * Not much is known about WaruSeadramon other than his short appearance in one of the Ogremon battles. His fate is unclear after he is defeated.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Frigimon calls you out on bringing a Digimon who can't stand cold to Freezeland. He refuses to come to the city until you come back with a Digimon who doesn't mind the freezing climate.
 * Year Inside, Hour Outside: Apparently time runs more slowly in the digital world; the ending implies your character has only been there for a few real-world hours, and he theorises that that's why he doesn't have to eat or sleep in that world. Confusing this is the fact that it has its own time system, which works on a cycle of approximately half-hour days.
 * Year Inside, Hour Outside: Apparently time runs more slowly in the digital world; the ending implies your character has only been there for a few real-world hours, and he theorises that that's why he doesn't have to eat or sleep in that world. Confusing this is the fact that it has its own time system, which works on a cycle of approximately half-hour days.