I can say only a thing... Be sure to not miss this game!!!
We got the unimpressive Rondo of Sword and the useless Steal Princess, but we saw even some pearls like the wonderful Knights in the Nightmare and, finally, a Shin Megami Tensei game.
With Devil Survivor Atlus takes on the DS one of the most loved game series of all time, moreover the software house try a totally new way hybridizing the RPG mechanics of the saga with a turn strategic gameplay obtaining a spectacular outcome.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a deep game, engaging, fun and full of personality.
The game is set in modern Tokio: the main character and his school friends are enjoying afternoon in the city when the national army put a lockdown on it cause, they say, some gas outbreaks. The gas explanation begin to lose reliability when the boys meet some incredible creatures: demons.
Thanks to a mysterious program installed in their digital assistants (PDA devices shaped like a DS -lol-) they find possible to summon demons for defends themselves.
The plot, after this prelude, develop itself with the taste of esotericism, typical of the serie, with demons, humans and even angels fighting each others for achieve mysterious goals.
Story is pleasant, full of sensational developments and never boring thanks even to a great characterizations of the cast beginning with a design clever, colorful and captivating continuing with well write dialogues never too long and intricate.
Though a setting similar to The World Ends With You (wonderful game, but with some slang dialogues almost unintelligible), Devil Survivor overcomes Square's game only flaw using a language modern, but totally understandable.
Battle gameplay uses the classic chessboard grid system. You can have up to four characters in battle each escorted by two demons. When you attack an enemy the battle don't take place on the chessboard, but the view change passing to a classical RPG battle with enemies represented in bitmap on a 2-D background with the typical actions menus.
Battle are turn based using the spells of Shin megami Tensei and following the rules of the saga. Each character and demon have some weakness to take advantage to make more damage and gain extra action turns. Obviously even enemies can utilize player's weakness in the same manner, so you could have hard times with some foes necessiting a skills reorganizations to face better the menace. Skills list widening is pretty interesting too. At the beginning of the combat you can view enemies skills and select one compatible with your character. If later in the combat the selected character kills the chosen monster the skill become part of the player combat abilities ready to be equipped. Player's actions skills grid is totally customizable and comprehend three command skill (attack abilities or heal magics), three passive skills (supportive abilities like elemental immunities, additional hp or mp, ecc.) and one auto skill (generally a support ability mp consuming casted automatically at the beginning of each battle phase. Only limitations to the skills equipment are their prerequisites (you can't equip a skill that requires a Mag valor 15 on a character with Mag 13) and a skill can't be equipped to more characters. This programming choice seems direct to promote diversification between different characters. Demon's skills grid works similarly, but with a couple of little differences. First of all instead auto skill they got a fixed racial skill with an automatic passive in-battle use, or a trigger use on the chessboard; in the second you can't customize their passive skill. Demons can however gain new command abilities, but the process is a bit tricky. After every combat your main characters gain "Magnetite Points", when you achieve a specific amount of that you'll be able to add (or switch) a command ability for one of the two demons the characters are carrying at the moment. The gain of this is clear: if, for example, you have a healer type demon with hig MAG stat you'll can add an offensive spell. Or rather you can use this system to vary the attack possibilities of a demons allowing him to face several type of foes.
An important element related with the battle system is the demons progressing and new demons acquisitions. Demons gains experience point and can level up improving their stats, but overall they become soon obsolete and weak respect the enemies. To ovecome this problem you can buy new demons by auctions or fuse weak demons to obtain new and much power breed. The fusing mechanics, typical of the Megaten saga, is so well organized to result easy and effective even for beginners, showing eventual empowering or depowering of the newbreed without fail possibilities.
Beside the exciting battle system, Devil Survivor has even a splendid adventure system.
The game is divided up in seven days and time is an important part of the gameplay. Basically the party can choose from a menu a selection of locations that can lodge special event plot related or importante battle that make advance the clock of thirty minutes. Days pass so from morning to night while the party main objective is to find a way out from the lockdown. Since more events can occurr at the same time the player is called to choose between several course of actions and sub-plots. This system makes hard take some choice and above all makes impossible to see all the events with a single game encouraging the replaybility of the game.
Obviously some events shall be fixed (generally the boss battles), but this system allow even to follow several plot route, each of them leading to a different ending.
Overall this game have no real flaws. Among the minors we can add the total lack of voice acting (even in-battle) and the music not much incisive. Some people complained about the 2-D representation of enemies (absurd complaining in my opinion). Maybe the only real flaw is that sometimes you could remain stucked facing some battles (especially with bosses) if the abilities of characters and demons are not perfetly set matching those of the foes. Then, If the party level is low, some bosses could require you grind some levels up facing free battles (time not-consuming battles always avaible).
In the end this game show a technical part not powerful, but stylish, with splendid character design and enemies; a perfect battle system obtained mixing winning elements from RPG and turn strategy games; an adventure system original, engaging and absolutely fun; a plot simply amazing.
About the final score...
I've rated 9.5 on gamespot and I confirm my point here in the review, but I am a great fan of the Megaten serie. If you are not followers of the saga you can cut one point from the review and consider the game worthy of a 8.5.
However, if you have a DS you MUST play this game
Final Score: 9.5