Digimon Story: Time Stranger – Do you need to play other Digimon games first?

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Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the newest addition to the Digimon video game series, which began in 1999. While most Digimon games have their own separate stories, there are occasional connections between them, and this game follows that pattern.

Now that Digimon Story: Time Stranger is out, you might be wondering if you need to play previous Digimon games first. This guide will help you decide if you should experience other titles in the series before jumping into Time Stranger, and will explain how it connects to the larger Digimon universe.

Should you play other Digimon games first? – Digimon Story: Time Stranger 

You don’t need to have played previous Digimon games to enjoy Digimon Story: Time Stranger. It’s a standalone story with only a few connections to the wider Digimon universe.

However, there are connections to Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and its sequel, Hacker’s Memory. If you’re interested in playing more Digimon games, these two are good choices, though you don’t need to play them before Time Stranger to enjoy it.

While Digimon World Re:Digitize and Digimon World: Next Order share some minor links to a key character, knowing those connections isn’t important for understanding the story of Time Stranger.

How does Digimon Story: Time Stranger connect to other games? 

Digimon Story: Time Stranger does link to other Digimon games, but be aware there are some small spoilers ahead. We’ve included a picture below, so skip it if you’d prefer to avoid them.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger takes place before the events of both Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and Digimon Story: Hacker’s Memory. This connection is suggested by the character Kodai Kuremi, who shares a family name with Kyoko Kuremi, a central figure in Cyber Sleuth. In Cyber Sleuth, Kyoko knows Gorou Matayoshi, an older detective who previously worked with Kyoko’s father in a cybercrime unit. Similarly, Kodai is a detective working in a public safety department, and he mentions having a daughter around the same age as the main character in Time Stranger.

The game establishes its connection to the Cyber Sleuth and Hacker’s Memory series through a special quest available only to players who own the Cyber outfit in Time Stranger. In this quest, a young Kyoko asks the player to infiltrate a Public Safety vehicle and retrieve data about a mysterious project called Project EDEN—a key element in the storylines of the later games. This proves that Time Stranger isn’t just set in the same universe as Cyber Sleuth, but actually takes place before those events, serving as a prequel.

Mirei Mikagura is a recurring character who appears in multiple Digimon games, including Time Stranger. She’s a somewhat mysterious figure—her age seems to change—and exists in a space between worlds because of an event in Digimon World Re:Digitize. She’s been a helpful guide and ally to players in games like Cyber Sleuth, Hacker’s Memory, and Digimon World: Next Order. Now, she’s become something of a series mascot, similar to Moogles in Final Fantasy—a familiar face, but not essential to the main story.

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2025-10-06 18:16