If you’re a fan of strategy RPGs or the Shin Megami Tensei line of games, then Devil Survivor is a game that absolutely cannot be missed. It’s one of the best offerings the Nintendo DS has to offer. With its modern day setting, unique rock soundtrack and gameplay that is both fun and challenging, this game breathes fresh life into what can often become a fairly stagnant genre and immediately hooks you in.The premise of Devil Survivor is simple. In traditional SMT fashion, you play as a nameless main character that has come to visit your cousin, a talented computer programmer in Tokyo. After you and your friends arrive to meet up with him, he’s mysteriously disappeared and soon all of Tokyo is on lockdown, where no one can get in, or out. Food is scarce and all power is out in the city, hence the word “survivor” in the title. Luckily, your cousin left small portable computer devices known as COMPs for short (and strangely also happen to resemble DS Lite’s, hmmm…..) to be able to communicate. Unfortunately, demons begin pouring out of the COMPs and you come to find that you aren’t the only ones with this ability to summon demons as many others who plan to use the demons for harm instead of good exist as well, hence the government lockdown. Your initial task is to stop those individuals and discover the mystery of the lockdown eventually revealing a much larger purpose. The plot is revealed at the player’s pace as storyline events are marked on the map and various branches and alternative paths are opened up depending on where you go, who you visit and what time you visit them. Your actions could even change who potentially joins your party, which makes for great replay value.
This game at its core plays like a typical strategy RPG much like a Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea, for those familiar with those games, while combining elements from various other more popular MegaTen franchises like Persona or Digital Devil Saga. Even though this game is part of the “Shin Megami Tensei” line, this story takes place all in its own universe and is pretty much a stand alone story outside of technical terms like spell names and the like. While prior knowledge of previous SMT games is not a requirement, not knowing that “Zio” means “thunder” or that “Agi” means “fire” could initially confuse some casual players, rest assured that the game spends quite a few hours walking any newcomers through a few battles and making sure that you get the gist of it before deciding to just throw you out there.
But boy, once you get out there, this game throws you to the wolves. This game starts out fairly simple, but is no cakewalk by any means. By the time you get to your first boss, if you don’t have the basic mechanics down you’ll get creamed. Unlike many other SRPGs, character building is done less with levels than with what skills you know, and equipment like armor or accessories is nonexistent. Instead, much like Pokemon or some other monster raising game, you must find and train new demons in order to, ahem, survive. This is done via a Demon Auction where you must bid cash in order to get the demon that you want. Other people may offer a better price so there’s no guarantee you’ll get the one that you want unless you buy it at the initial Hammer Price which is usually pretty steep. Your party consists of your main characters who each lead a team of demons. Each team consists of a human storyline character with the ability to control at least 2 demons on the field at once. It takes a turn, but you can recall a demon and switch them out from a stock of up to 24 that you can carry in all. Effectively swapping out your demons and using the right ones for the right situations is the key to success. Positioning on the battlefield is not as crucial as it is in many other SRPGs, you engage the enemy in a battle screen and not in the field so what direction from which you approach the enemy is a nonfactor. You can even heal HP or status effects even when not engaged with the enemy. However, proper exploitation of the battle system is extremely crucial. What demons you have in your stock can either make a battle excessively aggravating or a breeze. The Press Turn system that originated in SMT Nocturne and now seemingly a staple of SMT games once again makes its return here where if your opponent has a weakness and you exploit it, you gain an extra turn that you can use to either cause more damage or heal a dying ally. Likewise, your enemies have this ability as well, so paying attention to subtle details like that is a must. The game does a pretty good job with overlaying all of these statistics however, using the top screen to display each characters statistics and a simple press of the R button switches from allies to enemies.
Many SRPGs fall into the trap of letting you use the basic strategy of letting the enemy come to you, but Devil Survivor, particularly for its major storyline battles doesn’t let you off so easily. Many times, innocent civilians caught in a battle must be saved and the enemy will often times chase after them with ruthless efficiency, other times a powerful boss character will continue to summon demons to do his bidding until he himself is defeated. The player also has the option in combat to consider taking out the leader and thus eliminating the entire unit or instead choosing to eliminate his teammates first which lowers the leaders defense and keeps any teammates from shielding the leader and taking the blow for him, doing so also nets more experience. Finding the proper balance of the two and considering which option is best, particularly in the battles where simply putting the enemy to rout isn’t enough for victory, keeps battles entertaining.
As expected with this being an SRPG, this game requires a lot of time and commitment on your part as it can take quite a few replays of particularly some of the more unorthodox battles to figure out how best to set up your team. The game developers realize this fact and there is always a “free” battle for you to test out various demon combinations and skills in order to get the proper balance that you need. Any battle that will potentially advance the story is marked specifically so you don’t accidentally stumble onto a battle you weren’t prepared for. Unless you’re a SRPG or SMT veteran, you’ll often find yourself spending several hours in between storyline battles grinding and while it can get a little repetitive, discovering new skills and fusing, new and more powerful demons becomes incredibly satisfying and helps to alleviate the usual boredom that often associates grinding in SRPGs.
Of course, this game isn’t perfect. The soundtrack, while decent to listen to perhaps once or twice, has very little varying tracks and often times many of the more particularly repetitive ones can try your patience once you’ve heard them for the 100th time. Also, the difficulty often has a tendency to spike rather than steadily increase, again, forcing lengthy training/grinding sessions for most players, but all the same this game is well worth the time invested and serves as a great introduction to those not familiar with the SMT franchise as well as satiating already established fans.
Hmm, a busty Japanese girl with a ridiculously short skirt and loves Pocky? A Japanophile's wet dream.
No comments:
Post a Comment