You could get my favorite JRPG of 2025 for just $1 and fill that Persona 6-sized void in your heart

Last year was full of bangers, any of which could easily slot into our list of the best RPGs of all time. Expedition 33, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are just three solid examples. However, I poured most of my time into Digimon Story Time Stranger, and it's my personal favorite, thanks to the fact that it pulled me away from Pokémon cards and the deep sadness that comes from waiting for Persona 6. It's worth playing, even if you have no previous experience with the franchise, and best of all, you could get it for a $1 / £1.

Even though there are many similarities to the eternally popular Pokémon, Digimon Story Time Stranger isn't a simple copy - in fact, in many ways, it's not even close to the same. It has creature collecting as one of the main mechanics, alongside using those to battle it out with, but the link pretty much ends there, and Digimon stands out thanks to that. After pouring hours into the recent release of Legends Z-A, Digimon Story Time Stranger felt like all of my hopes for a legendary Pokémon game had finally been realized.

What I really love about Digimon over Nintendo's exclusive franchise is the fact that the narrative is far more mature, with darker themes and more complex storytelling. You play as an agent of the organization ADAMAS, a secretive group that investigates digital anomalies in Tokyo. During an operation, you witness the Shinjuku Inferno, a catastrophic war between Digimon, before being sent eight years back in time. Now it's up to you to uncover the cause of the disaster, and hopefully prevent the collapse of humanity.

As you form a team of powerful Digimon, battling it out in chaotic turn-based battles that require just the right balance of strategy and high damage numbers, Digimon Story: Time Stranger grows from a simple Persona-style RPG to a complex and fascinating game. More mechanics will slowly be introduced, and as you continue to collect Digimon - as well as Digivolve them into specific variants - you'll become a truly powerful… trainer? I don't really know what Digimon's equivalent is called, and in all honesty, I'm afraid to ask (post-draft edit: Tamers. That makes sense).

Honestly, it's an underappreciated gem for fans and newcomers alike to the Digimon world, and as someone who hasn't spent time with the franchise in almost two decades, it didn't take me long to wrap myself back into the world. It's worth paying the full price for, delivering tens of hours of gameplay and narrative, but you could also get it for a $1 / £1 if you're feeling lucky.

Right now, Digimon Story Time Stranger is just one of the games you could unlock for just $1 / £1  with the Mystery Box Bundle at Fanatical. While it's only a chance of winning Digimon (and the onslaught of other recent triple-A games), every 'box' you purchase is still a Steam key, ranging from indie delights to classic experiences. If you decide to buy more with each purchase, you can even get it to below $1 / £1 per key, so you're not losing anything by giving it a shot.

Best of all, if you don't win Digimon Story Time Stranger, there's a huge variety of prizes to win. Steam Deck OLED? Yep. An Alienware gaming laptop? You bet. What about a Meta Quest 3? Absolutely. You could be the winner of any of these prizes, all for simply buying some random Steam keys. Not a bad purchase in my eyes. Now, if you don't mind me, I think I'm going to give it another shot.