They're two very different games.



Next Order is focused extremely on resource management and playing the numbers. It can also be really frustrating, since it doesn't give a lot of clues as to A. what you're supposed to be doing, B. if you even have the necessary stats to do the thing at all. Once you get down to the nitty gritty and understand the flow of the statistics, you begin to appreciate its depth, but it takes a while. The battle system is also not particularly satisfying, since it's chaotic and you can be taken down easily without really understanding why. But the actual Digital World locales are super fun to just walk around in (which unfortunately you can't really do because everything is timed!).



Cyber Sleuth is basically Persona with Digimon. Dungeon crawling, random encounters, turn-based, with a surprisingly mature story thread. I much preferred playing that overall, but if you're expecting a typical Digimon game (whatever that means) this might not necessarily be it. I've seen people here complain about the battle system, but honestly, playing on hard is exactly the kind of JRPG experience that I'm looking for; just challenging enough without feeling cheap (most of the time) and like I'm just wasting my time if I lose. I prefer the Digimon raising here as well because the results are less obtuse, and they don't make it a chore to achieve certain things.