Digimon Story: Time Stranger PC settings, button config, changing protagonists, and new spoiler-free info

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Back at Summer Games Fest several months prior, I was taken aback by how polished Digimon Story: Time Stranger felt during my initial playthrough. It represented a significant leap from Cyber Sleuth and Hacker’s Memory, although I only got a brief taste of it. Bandai Namco provided me with another opportunity to delve into it at PAX West 2025, where they confined me in a room for three hours to explore the game thoroughly. In this session, I managed to examine the first hour and a half when starting a fresh game, as well as an additional hour and a half in a later section of the game that wasn’t too far along.

Typically, I tend to avoid writing multiple previews for games I’m excited about, as I believe it’s more appropriate to save my personal insights until the official release. I also aim to minimize spoilers not just for myself, but for others as well. Instead of a potential written preview that could reveal story details, I thought it would be more beneficial to share a wealth of new information about Digimon Story: Time Stranger, having had a firsthand look. Intrigued by what I discovered, I decided to write a separate article focusing solely on the Digivolution system in Time Stranger.

To make navigation easier for you as there’s extensive information provided here, I will incorporate a list of headings or sections (a Table of Contents) that you can select if a particular topic catches your eye.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger PC Settings


  • Display Mode
  • Resolution
  • Frame Rate
  • Image Quality Preset
  • VSync
  • FXAA
  • MSAA
  • TAA
  • Depth of Field
  • Bloom
  • Volumetric Fog
  • Screen Space Reflection
  • Ambient Occlusion
  • Texture Quality
  • Texture Filtering
  • Character Density

It appears that while earlier reports suggested the PC version of Time Stranger could run up to 60fps, I found during a recent preview build that the Frame Rate option oscillated between 60, 30, and then 144. This suggests it’s quite probable that the final release of the PC version may support even higher framerates.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger Button Config Options

Keyboard & Mouse

Controller

Can You Change Your Protagonist Later?

Absolutely! In this game, you’re free to pick between Dan Yuki (male) or Kanan Yuki (female), giving them a custom name if you wish. If you feel like changing their names or appearances later on, there’s a prompt that allows for exactly that. You can switch protagonists and modify their names even in the first explorable area of the game, by navigating to the Game Settings. These settings also offer an option to adjust the Difficulty level.


In this scenario, the character you don’t choose for the main role functions as a guide or facilitator, known as an Operator. Compared to the character you have selected, this Operator is notably more talkative, particularly during cinematic scenes. As a result, you will hear the Operator’s voice more frequently than that of your chosen protagonist.

Starting Digimon Stats, Skills, & Resistances

DemiDevimon

 

Gomamon
Patamon

Spoiler-Free Impressions & Notes

  • The start of Time Stranger reminds me a lot of the early episodes of Digimon Tamers (Season 3); it’s deliberately going for a surreal, somewhat off-putting atmosphere with a lot of mystery and tension.
    • When using DigiAttacks (the attack that summons a Digimon to either gain advantage into a battle encounter or instantly killing a foe due to level disparity), it will auto-summon the most effective Digimon in your party depending on which Digimon is locked onto
    Can fully regenerate all of your party’s HP and SP by standing still for a few seconds out of battle; this takes anywhere from 2-7 seconds depending on how badly damaged your party is.
  • Swapping out Digimon and using consumable items in-battle does not consume a party member’s turn.
    • Smart battle UI layout where hovering over a skill will immediately indicate if the chosen skill is effective or not against any of the enemies at a glance if you’ve already discovered what they’re weak and/or resistant to.
    Post-battle Log will notify you if the Scan Rate of a Digimon has reached 100% or 200% and will provide you a hotkey to go to the Convert menu right away; this also happens when a Digimon becomes eligible for a Digivolution.

    When a Digimon’s HP falls under 30%, it gains a Brave status which will temporarily boost its ATK/INT/CRT Rate by 50% for 2 turns.
    There’s a status effect called Crystallized that turns Digimon into adorable 2D sprites! (They also can’t use skills when they become Crystallized)
    You can expand the minimap into a full transparent map overlay and can continue to move around with it open.
    Digimon that can be used for the DigiRide mount mechanic are marked with a distinct symbol on their status screen. Even when DigiRiding, players can still use the DigiAttack command against wandering foes, and even directly colliding with them when mounted will count as a DigiAttack.

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2025-09-08 16:59