A final noteworthy change is the evolution requirements box at the top of the card, which, while not game breaking, does bend the rules in such a way as to make them less interesting for players to engage with.

In english, the required pre-evolution stage Biyomon is the same, but the cost reads “offline 2 cards”—discard two cards from your hand. The Japanese release features symbols instead. The O indicates that a card must be discarded horizontally (landscape or ‘tapped’), while the X indicates that a card must be discarded vertically. Multiples of either symbol require a card for each. Further, these cards are not discarded from the hand, but placed directly from the top of the deck (‘milled’) into the requirements area, face down.

As translated, there are ten cards (out of a possible thirteen) that a Biyomon could become if two cards are discarded, and only three for a single discard. But in Hyper Coliseum, Biyomon’s evolution could be predicted based not only from whether the opponent discarded one or two cards, but whether those cards were discarded vertically or horizontally—if two vertical cards are discarded, then Vilemon is a possible evolution; if two horizontal, Monochromon; if one of each is placed, Dokugumon. At this point in the game’s development, this gave a strategic advantage to players with a comprehensive knowledge of the card pool, as they may be able to predict what their opponent is doing based on whether one or two cards are discarded, and whether those cards are placed horizontally or vertically; later cards actually used this mechanic in more creative ways. It goes without saying that this element of prediction was removed for the english release, and due to the game’s early cancellation, never built upon.

In short, the evolution and attack mechanics were subjected to several seemingly random, pointless, balance-destroying changes in the localization. The order of attacks is different, the numbers are different, and Guard (A->0), a key element of the rock-paper-scissors dynamic, has been completely removed from the game. Points are increased rather than decreased, and how they are scored is less conducive to comebacks. The Digivolution mechanic has lost much of its complexity. But can it really be said that the game itself is unplayable because of these changes?