The story adapts one possible arc from the anime. The main opponents are the seven demon lords and it's up to the player to find out how they are being reborn, as well as to prevent them from reaching their goal. As you investigate, you will also be required to battle frequently, as well as discover Optional Bosses (including Moon=Millenniummon).
This game provides examples of:
- Alternate Continuity: A late game conversation reveals that Episode 13note has already happened. However, a number of contradictory detailsnote calls that into question, and prevents this game from snuggly fitting in at any point of the anime's actual continuity.
- Cel Shading: The first Digimon game that employs this technique, actually.
- Cherry Tapping: True to the show, Marcus always punches one of the enemy Digimon before a DigiSoul Charge. Since this does damage, he may end up finishing the enemy Mon off. Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?, indeed.
- Contractual Boss Immunity: Played straight in that bosses are immune to all Status Effects. They are affected by status debuffs, though.
- Copy Protection: If its copy protection is trippednote , the next Battle Drive will have random Mooks move first and pull a Total Party Kill (read: 9999 damage), guaranteeing an instant Game Over.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: The bosses in general have much more HP than other Digimon. Especially the Superbosses: it takes multiple hits that do more than 9999note damage to get their health halfway down.
- Disappeared Dad: Nitta is this for Manami. Until he returns to the Real World and gets freed of Creepymon... but because he was Creepymon for so long, all that remains of Nitta himself is some remnants of data, unable to sustain his existence longer than a few minutes before he dies, right in front of his daughter.
- Disproportionate Retribution: After beating Yushima for the third time, he tells Kamemon to put paralyzing powder in Marcus' tea. Of course, he's just joking.
- Extreme Omnivore: The child whose sin was Gluttony wanted to eat Agumon. Cue the next conversation taking place with the Digimon in question running around in the background in panic with the kid after him.
- Inconsistent Dub: Data Squad is based on the anime series of the same name, and as such carries over the same English cast and terminology... except in the case of the method of Digivolution. While the anime dub uses "DNA Charge" (likely to remove spiritual elements; it was airing on Toon Disney at the time), the game reverts to the Japanese term "DigiSoul Charge". Justified in that the game released a bit before the anime's dub.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kosaburo comes off as a Jerkass at first, but turns out to be just doing his job. He is really a decent guy, if his actions after joining the DATS crew are of any implication.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Granted, Kagura's belief that Yuma wanted a brother who is above everyone else was mostly thanks to Lucemon's meddling, but still.
- Loads and Loads of Loading: Let's just say that anything that requires pressing a button (analog stick and shoulder buttons excluded) will result in at least a bit of lag and be done with it.
- One-Winged Angel: Well, more like Twelve-Winged Apocalyptic Devil Dragon, but Lucemon Satan Mode is this to Lucemon Falldown Mode.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Kosaburo's jacket is hot pink. Not to mention that his partner Digimon is Biyomon, a mostly pink bird.
- Seven Deadly Sins: Each Demon Lord corresponds to one of the Seven Deadly Sins (bowdlerized to the Seven Sins in the US version). Each Demon Lord also ends up possessing a person who has strong feelings of the sin they represent.
- Status Effects:
- Poison deals some damage when the afflicted Digimon's turn begins.
- Sleep immobilizes the Digimon for some turns, as does Freeze.
- Panic causes the Digimon to randomly attack any other Digimon in battle, friend or foe. Panicked enemy Digimon may simply flee.
- Some attacks have a chance of "turning the opponent back into a Digiegg", effectively resulting in instant death.
- Status Buff: Notably, you can use multiple different buffs that increase a Digimon's attack power tremendously... and they stack, leading to absolutely ludicrous amounts of damage if you actually take the time set them up. There are also the "Set" debuffs which can be used to set a Digimon's stats to ridiculously low levels. And these moves also work on bosses.
- Talking the Monster to Death: While the other Demon Lords become Optional Bosses near the end of the game, Lilithmon is not fought. Instead, Yuma has a little talk with her about how she can't turn a blind eye to Lilithmon because she is a "part of Yuma" thanks to being created out of her feelings of loneliness. In the end, Yuma's kindness makes Lilithmon feel genuinely loved and she disappears quietly. That's right, Yuma managed to make the physical embodiment of Lust feel pure love.
- Was Once a Man: Like the other Mao Digimon, Creepymon is a human who exhibited one of the Seven Deadly Sins and was given a Code Key. Unlike the others, Creepymon has existed much longer. Masaki Nitta was a DATS agent that got trapped in the Digital World, his anger at people abusing their Digimon making him the perfect target for the Wrath Code Key. He made a deal with Kagura to break down the barrier so he could return to the Human World and see his daughter Manami again, but once DATS defeats Creepymon, he reveals that he had been Creepymon so long, he was now nothing more than some remnants of data that looked like his human form. Said data couldn't exist on it's own for long, and as a result he dies in front of his daughters eyes.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Marcus' reaction to seeing Lilithmon is that he "can't hit a woman". Yoshino convinces Marcus to think of her as just a Digimon, letting him refocus and potentially let him sic a cyborg dinosaur after punching Lilithmon for Digisoul charge.
