Incomparable to Nocturne.
This review is based on my personal opinion. so the GOOD may be BAD for you and the BAD may be good for you. however, you can get the details of the game within the review. so, don't care so much about GOOD and BAD, just read the details and see what you personally think is good and bad.
GOOD
-same graphic style as Nocturne and DDS, amazing as ever. (however, I love the art style in Nocturne better.)
-the CG movies are great but there aren't that much in the game.
-very much like Nocturne, layout-wise.
-love the demon fusion.
-it just feels great to be playing a SMT game again =)
-makes me wanna go back to play Nocturne again.
BAD (beware, it's a long list ... )
-the story is weak compare to Nocturne and DDS. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope Atlus can make another SMT game that has an amazing deep philosophical and dark story like Nocturne ... not just deep and dark, but Nocturne also has that strong tension from the start to the end. I play RPGs solely for story and I've played A LOT and Devil Summoner does not have an amazing story.
-you don't make choices that will change the story.
-demons do not evolve like in Nocturne.
-I prefer the turn based battle system as in Nocturne and DDS over this action battle.
-battle gets repititive very fast since the hero doesn't have much variation of techniques.
-no negotiating with demons. you just catch them like Pokemon ...
-you only get 1 ally demon to be by your side in battle. I wish they let you have 2 so you can have one fighting and one healing.
-no voice acting. I know this is argueable because Nocturne doesn't have voice acting either yet I still love it. however, Devil Summoner does not have a multi-path story where you can make a lot of choices like Nocturne. it is a straight forward story like Digital Devil Saga which means no voice acting in CG scenes is not cool.
-again, very much like Nocturne ... which is bad here because it makes me MISS Nocturne A LOT. I just wish Atlus make a new SMT that is just like Nocturne.
RATING
< Devil Summoner >
story - 8
graphics - 9
battle system - 8
music - 7.5
presentation - 8.5
overall - B+
< Nocturne >
story - 10
graphics - 10
battle system - 9.5
music - 9.5
presentation - 10
overall - A+
now, that's the difference.
CONCLUSION
-my review probably disappoints a lot of people and probably pisses a lot of people off. but really, I am personally dissapointed and am not very happy about it.
-like I said at first, it's mostly just my personal opinion. you can check out the game yourself. if you are looking for a game as good as Nocturne, then sorry, you might need to rent this game first.
-overall, it's still a fun game. if you don't expect it to be as good as Nocturne or you didn't like Nocturne in the first place, you probably will find it a very good game. but for me, to compare this to Nocturne, it just doesn't live up.
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