Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Survivor
I’m sick of grid based RPGs. Call them what you want Tactics, SRPGs. I think we’ve had enough. It was all nice back in the day with Shining Force and Ogre Battle, but since Final Fantasy Tactics hit the scene, the SRPG market is just as flooded as the FPS one.
It’s not a bad thing because usually these games are fun and addictive, but it is a bad thing because the majority of them will suck time like you wouldn’t believe. I have a huge backlog of SRPGs that I haven’t even play, or may never even get around to. There are all the NIS games, the gust games, and all the stuff Atlus and Square Enix releases. I can’t even find the time to get through a single Disgaea game.
So in short, I would love SRPGs if I had the time for them, but I don’t so I don’t. It’s tough for the average gamer to know what to sink their cash/time into and what to avoid with such a crowded market.
Well after that rant this game has the words Shin Megami Tensei in it. Which means a day 1 purchase for me. I haven’t done a MegaTen review yet, just know that this is one of the most popular, hardcore, niche, RPG series in Japan.
MegaTen games have always combined technology with demons and spiritual material for compelling storylines. The game was virtually unknown here until SMT 3: Nocturne came out. Even then it wasn’t until Persona 3 came out that it broke out in popularity. Now there are tons of SMT games coming out and Devil Survivor is the series attempt at an SRPG for the DS.
This video is just to show gameplay. It’s not representative of the final game quality. Errors that occured during capture result in the flash black frame during battles. This is not a problem with the game.
The storyline for DS is very interesting. It starts off with you meeting two of your friends and each of you receiving devices (that look like DSs) from your cousin. Your cousin seems to have predicted a massive attack on Tokyo from demons and built a series of programs that will allow you to combat them. As the main character you can also see numbers floating above people’s heads which indicate how many days they have left to live. You also get an email each day that predicts the times of major events that will impact you. So you and your friends set of to save the world by defeating and recruiting demons and trying to extend the lives of people around you.
Ok, I know how stupid that sounds. It’s really lame on paper (er, screen), but SMT has always done a good job in delivering their storylines in a serious manner. The plot elements that they throw in there make for a great story and I just ask you not to slam the game too hard based on my hastily written plot summary.
The game has you trapped in the Shibuya district of Tokyo which has been blocked off after numerous disasters. You can move around the district by choosing locations from your map. At each location you can look around and listen to people nearby. There may be a free battle or plot event there as well. Going around the city and doing different activities will take time, and as events are set to happen at specific game times you have to plan ahead what you are going to do each day.
The battle gameplay itself has changed quite a bit from standard SRPGs. Instead of moving units around one at a time, you move around squads which have a human leader and up to 2 summoned demons. On the field you can cast healing, strengthening and weakening spells, and move into position to attack an enemies. When you attack or are attacked, you go into a typical turn based battle. You choose attacks for your squad and take turns swapping blows with enemies. Scoring critical hits, or using an enemy’s weakness will earn you an additional turn to attack in. If you kill the leader of the enemy squad that whole team is defeated, though you earn a little less EXP.
There’s also an optional rule that’s pretty tricky to explain where you can call out how you are going to defeat a certain monster. You’ll get some benefits for completing that objective with the character you specified would do it.
There are over 100 demons to recruit in the game. You can win new demons at auctions, and fuse together old demons to make new ones. These are pretty standard features of a SMT game.
Finally, this game is f-ing hard. It catches up to you fast and kicks your ass reminding you this is no standard SRPG. This game comes with all the challenge that Shin Megami Tensei is known for. It starts off simple enough, but already by fight 4 you’ll be facing a demon roughly 8 levels higher than you, and he brings his crew.
To beat the bosses in this game you’ll need to take free battles to level up whenever you can. You’ll also need to put on your strategy hat and really think about how to use your skills against them. It’s a tough, but worth while experience.
All in all, SMT: DS is a great game, but ONLY if you LOVE difficult RPGs or other Shin Megami Tensei games. There are tons of other great SRPGs to play on the DS is you don’t want the challenge though!
Like this game? Order it online
