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[DS] Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Moderator: JC Denton

[DS] Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Unread postby srpgfan » 09 Jul 2009 15:45

Rating: ***

Combat System/Level Design

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a SRPG with a hybrid combat system. Each unit on the map consists of up to 3 individual combatants. When combat is initiated between two units, the game switches to a 3v3 turn based fight where attack skills are used. Various skills can also be used outside of combat to heal/revive, buff, or debuff. This hybrid system is fairly well balanced and adds complexity to an otherwise bland SRPG.

Skills can be acquired from enemies by assigning your unit to kill the enemy holding the skill. This system adds another layer of strategy to the game, since killing that enemy with a non-assigned unit means you can't acquire it.

Finally, there is a rewards system that takes place at the end of every 3v3 fight. More efficient slaying of enemies is rewarded with extra funds and the ability to give demons new skills. It's a fair system that is well integrated into the game and provides an alternative to level/skill grinding.

The games battle animations and movement cannot be sped up or skipped. For SRPG veterans spoiled on Intelligent Systems fast paced and responsive combat progression and user interface, this game is a drag in comparison. Although I purchased the game, I much preferred playing it on an emulator that can significantly speed things up.

Almost every non-boss battle is just a smattering of generic enemies that can be defeated by rushing forward and attacking anything that moves. There are no spread out start positions that make the player consider where to place their units, and no need for specialized teams for difficult groups of enemies. Most of the boss fights do require some strategy and planning to clear, however.

It is possible to level grind and save/reload abuse quicksaves, although it's not necessary to complete the game.


Micromanagement

The micromanagement between battles consists of equipping skills, swapping party members, purchasing demons at the auction, and fusing demons together to create new ones.

Each of the four PC humans are flanked by two demons that can be bought, created and customized through the games auction and fusion systems. The game allows for a wide variety of party setups depending on the players intended strategy.

The Fusion process involves merging two demons together, inheriting a portion of their stats and a selection of skills. Since demons cannot change their skills at will like humans, Fusion becomes an important system for keeping the most powerful abilities passed on from demon to demon as the game progresses. Most of the micromanagement in the game comes from studying fusion charts and creating strong demons with powerful skills through Fusion that tower over the generic, auction bought ones.

The auction is mostly a gimmick, as all you have to do is lowball the price by about 25-30% and you will immediately win the 'bid' as your CPU competitors give up. After the first day or two inside the game, the auction is only useful for purchasing demons that will be used only in Fusion to create stronger demons.

The Auction, Party, and Fusion menus are not integrated as efficiently as they could be for the task of researching and fusing demons. If you want to use the auction or check your party stats, you must back out of the Fusion menu entirely, which becomes tiring after a while.


Graphics/Sound/Plot

The plot features a time based system where the players choices over 7 'days' worth of time are critical for accessing different routes on day 7. If the player makes selfish, oblivious, or cowardly conversation choices or lets some optional characters die, they will be presented with only one ending route, which happens to be the easiest. In order to access all of the routes the player more or less needs to use a guide, since some of the 'right' choices to access that route can be far from obvious.

It's refreshing how the various routes the player is allowed to choose are morally ambiguous and tied to various competing factions in the game, instead of the usual one way trip to kill the 'evil final boss' to make everything all rainbows and sunshine again.

The games graphics are functional, standard DS fare. Some of the demon art design is interesting, but otherwise the graphics are unremarkable. The music consists of some surprisingly catchy heavy metal and rock, with lots of guitar thrashing. This choice in music works well with the apocalyptic 'survive or die' plot.


Overall

Despite the games drawbacks, there is fun to be had, especially some of the final battles that pit you against steep opposition.
srpgfan
 
Joined: 03 Jul 2009 14:08

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