Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Chris Miller

There are many life lessons I’ve learned from video games.  Red mushrooms are good, green mushrooms are better.  The town halfway across the world will always have better stuff to sell than my home town does.  All I need to do to recover from life-threatening injuries is eat whatever food I have in my pocket.  Wooden crates always have something valuable inside.  The list goes on and on.  Thankfully, Shin Megami Tensai:  Devil Survivor has added another very critical survival tip to the list.  When the demon apocalypse comes…get as far away from Tokyo as possible.  We’ve seen this lesson before as recently as last year (in Square’s quirky The World Ends With You), but never has the point been driven home so clearly.  Take heed folks:  when the netherworld gets pissed, Tokyo will be paying the price.

Thankfully, while this demon invasion threatens all of humanity, we will have saviors in the form of an intrepid band of spunky teenss.  Amed only with their demon-summoning DS units and a lot of attitude, they will be there to save us all from the demon cleansing.  This is the setup for the crazy events of Shin Megami Tensai: Devil Survivor, and what a ride it is.

The Shin Megami Tensai RPG series (also commonly known as Megaten) has been around for a long time, but Devil Survivor marks a couple major firsts.  The most obvious is the move to a handheld console in the DS.  While some series struggle to make the portable jump (Blue Dragon being the most recent to crash and burn), Devil Survivor does a masterful job of bringing the depth, complexity, and quirkiness the series is known for to a smaller scale.  The second first (how’s that for confusing?) is the move from a fairly standard RPG format to a grid-based tactical RPG more along the lines of the Final Fantasy Tactics series.  It’s a move that was initially met with skepticism from long-time fans, but was incredibly well executed.

Devil Survivor tells the story of you (“you” in this case being an angsty Japanese teen) and your group of friends.  You’re all having a lovely time hanging out in Tokyo’s famed Yamanote Circle, when three things simultaneously happen that make your life considerably more interesting.  One, you are given a mysterious DS-like unit that contains some vague messages about catastrophes, murders, and other calamities that are going to occur.  Two, demons appear out of nowhere and start wreaking havoc.  Three, the government puts the entire circle on lockdown, and you - along with thousands of others – are trapped.  Add in the fact that you are suddenly seeing numbers above everyone’s head that indicate how many days they have to live, and you have the makings of a truly unique adventure.

It turns out that these DS units (called COMPs) are actually demon-summoning tools that you and your team can use to bring forth a netherworldly army to fight by your side and help save humanity.  The story unfolds masterfully, as you discover the meaning behind the lockdown, the plot of the demons, and eventually decide the fate of the world.  Devil Summoner is a testament to engaging storytelling, and the localization team did an absolutely remarkable job of creating a rich storyline, believable characters, and a real sense of dramatic tension. 

Bringing modern-day Tokyo to life on the tiny DS screen is no small feat, but Atlus did a stellar job creating graphics and soundscapes that perfectly match the urban storyline.  Using bright colors and a wealth of tiny details, each area is fantastically rendered and lifelike.  Like every SMT game before it, the huge variety of demons are both unique and beautiful.  Some are modeled from standard gods and monsters (i.e. Thor), but most are the most amazing and bizarre creations you will ever see in a game.  The monster designers in every SMT game do an amazing job, but they really kicked things into overdrive with this release.  The music is pretty basic, guitar-heavy J-rock, but fits the setting perfectly.  I do wish there were a few different songs, as hearing some of them repeated over and over got a little tiresome.  It’s also a bit disappointing and surprising that there was no voiceover work at all.  I know this is a story and dialog heavy title, but a few voiceover lines here or there would have been a welcome change.  All in all, however, both the graphics and sound to an excellent job of setting the tone.

Like most SMT games, the story plays out in a time-based fashion.  Your team is given 7 days to solve the mystery of the sudden lockdown and demon infestation, which is a challenge.  When any of the two dozen locales show a certain icon next to them, you can visit that location and either receive some dialog to advance the story, or participate in a battle.  Each of these segments will advance time half an hour, so you’ll be required to make some tough decisions on where to go or what to do next.  Talking to Haru at 12:30 might open up another piece of her story line, while simultaneously closing off a branch of Gin’s story.  It’s a very cool system that leads to multiple endings, and will likely have players playing through more than once.

Outside of the story, the real meat of the game comes from the combat and demon summoning system.  When taking your team of 4 into battle, each team member will team up with two demons.  Each and every demon has its own unique set of skills, and you are able to summon demons to serve as your melee damage dealers, your healers, your spellcasters, and your range damage dealers.  These demons are either purchased at a demon auction, or created through the Fusion system.  The fusion system allows you to combine any two demons, and create a more powerful new one with some of the skills and attributes from the original hosts carrying over to the fused monster.  This system allows you nearly endless flexibility to create the exact demon recruits you need.   It is an absolutely genius gameplay mechanic that both gives you total control over your party makeup, and ensures no two games are ever alike.  While you’ll likely be tentative fusing your first few demons, by the endgame, you’ll be stringing together fusion chains of multiple demons to transfer over the exact skills you need for the specific situation.

I mentioned that Devil Survivor made the move to a grid-based, tactical RPG.  However, that’s not to say it completely ditched its turn based RPG roots.  Quite the opposite, actually.  Devil Survivor uses a unique hybrid system in which characters take turns moving on a grid based map, then switch to a Dragon Quest-esque combat system when attacking.  Each enemy will also have a party of three members, and you have the choice to either go after the party leader for less XP (once he’s dead the battle ends, no matter how many of his two minions remain), or try to kill each of his minions first (far more difficult, but gives a lot more XP).   This hybrid system is a bit jarring at first, but once you get the hang of things, it offers a far more engaging and rewarding combat experience than your standard SRPG.  Not only are you required to have a sound strategy in your team placement and attack patterns, but there is also a strategic element to the first-person combat system as well.  Do I try to whittle down all 3 baddies with a multi-enemy fire spell, or do I go after just one of them with a strong melee attack?  Do I try to mute their spellcasters, or immobilize their heavy hitters?  Add in elemental weaknesses and the ability to gain extra attacks with critical hits, and the level of strategery required in each battle goes off the charts.   It’s one of the best SRPG combat systems I’ve ever played, and model of how combining what seem to be very different systems can end up with a truly fantastic result.

While the game is incredibly fun, it does come with some caveats.  Like most of the SMT games, Devil Survivor throws a ton of complex systems at the player (devil auctions, fusion, ability transfers, auction rankings, etc) with precious little explanation.  Not having a ton of experience with the series, I found myself incredibly frustrated on multiple occasions because I couldn’t figure out a particular system.  There also seems to be a lack of information about certain game mechanics, although that could be intentional on the part of the developers.  For example, I never did figure out why I was always given an amount of XP after each battle (i.e. 100), but each member of my party would receive different amounts (i.e. one character received 100 XP, one received 300 XP, and one received 50 XP).  The learning curve is incredibly steep but players that stick with it will be richly rewarded.  It can also be unforgivingly difficult, especially in the early going when you’re still trying to figure out the fusion and auction mechanics.  Longtime SMT fans know how tough these games can be, but newcomers will likely be a bit surprised by it.

If you can stick with Devil Survivor through the steep learning curve and occasional frustrating bits, you’ll experience one of the better RPGs – and better overall games – the DS has to offer.  This is truly a superb first attempt at bringing the seminal series to a handheld system, and is a game that will be sure to please both series veterans and newcomers alike.  Just be sure to watch out for demons next time you’re in Tokyo.

Gaming Trend Score

90

1. Graphics: 92
2. Audio: 84
3. Controls: 89
4. Gameplay: 91
5. Value/Replay: 92
6. OVERALL:90