This is one of my favorite games in my entire video game library. Exceptional Strategy RPG for fans of the genre.
I'm extremely glad I did! It's one of my favorite games in my entire DS library, let alone for any other system.
First off, I have to say I'm a big fan of strategy RPGs in general, and the way this game works brought, at least to me, a strategical element I found missing in a lot of other SRPGs. While I love the genre, far too often the games tend to come down to simple grind-fests where you get one unit that is so powerful, he's invincible and the strategy element more or less goes to the wind. Not so with the 3v3 battles that take place in Devil Survivor. Instead of the avatars on the map representing a single entity, it is a party of one of your characters with two demon companions. The best way I can describe the battles would be to take any old-school JRPG like Dragon Quest and make it so you and the enemy only get one attack in any given round, with certain special conditions allowing you to gain a second attack for yourself or stop a second attack from any given enemy. The short of it is, you find yourself continually having to change the abilities of your human characters around, as well as swapping demons in an out in order to conquer the enemy with minimal losses on your own side. I love that I actually have to plan a course of attack and strategize my movements to obtain victory.
The story is also extremely engaging. Coming from a guy like myself, that's saying something special. It's not that I'm anti-anime, but I will say I'm anime-hesitant. I've always preferred good old-fashioned western storytelling and RPG plots, but I found myself getting very invested in the SMT:DS characters. The time element that's added to story-telling makes your decisions on who to talk to or which battle to partake in meaningful, making you really feel like you are the main character. It's one of the first times I've found myself in a JRPG where I felt like I was actually playing a role in the western RPG sense of the word. I'm still only halfway through a first playthrough but I'm told that there are far-reaching effects for who you talk to and what you choose to say so I'm already excited for a second playthrough to see just how much influence I can exert on the plot.
The art in the game is a lot of fun (I guess it's been around for the entire series but it's new to me and I think the demon designs are pretty awesome), and the soundtrack is fairly good if a bit limited and repetitive. I wish that there was basic touch-screen utilization so I could just tap my screen where I wanted to move or which attack I wanted to execute but that's purely for when I get too lazy to deal with buttons so it's a minor gripe. So far, the only significant gripe I've got with the game is the occasional fight where you have to protect a guest NPC party from enemy spawns you couldn't have possibly predicted without having done the battle previously. It's an SRPG sin and one that is too frequently commited, but it's usually remedied easily enough doing the battle after you've reloaded from losing.
If you're looking for an excellent Strategy RPG in every possible area, look no further. It's a great addition to any RPG aficionado's library.