An Atlus rpg that you dont want to miss.
Gameplay 9.0
It all starts when your cousin gives you and your friends a mini computer(that actually resembles a ds) which as you progress through the story it gives you the ability to summon demons. But if thats isnt all you are also trapped in the city of Tokio and theres plenty of demons wanting to make a snack out of you and you have a counter just up your head that tells you how many days you have left to live. Yup not the typical story of saving the world, which really lets you dive in it.
You dont have actual control of yourself, but rather simply point where you wanna go next. Theres plenty of locales to visit depending on where you wanna go that trigger different events but the real trick lies in the fact that it consumes time and if you go to one place you may loose the oportunity to go to other place which ultimately affects which ending you will get. Though theres not always something useful in many places but its sometimes nice to just talk to your party members or hear what people are saying. They always make you know if theres going to be a battle so that you can prepare yourself.
When the real action starts theres a merger of gameplay. First you make 4 parties, 1 person with 2 demons each, and move them in the battlefield like a strategy game (fire emblem,final fantasy tactics) taking turns with the enemy and when you are in front of them you attack like a dragon quest game ( first person perspective) choosing attack, magic or defend. You can also use some magic like to heal or to paralize someone and have time to attack, though this one works bothways so expect a wounded demon to heal himself and then give a nice attack afterwards. All in all its quite rewarding because different demons have different weaknesses and you need to choose wisely what attack to use and with who. A single critical can make a big difference between kicking ass or gets yours kicked. Theres no healing items so you have to trust a lot in your healing magic, but dont worry you get healed up after each battle. But if you get one of your demons killed, you can summon another one from your extra demon list.
Theres also plenty of customization and stuff to do. Theres the devil aunction that lets you buy or bid to get demons with your hard earned cash called macca, you can fuse demons to make some incredibly powerful abominations and learn new techniques that you chose at the beginning of a battle and in order to get them you have to kill a certain demon with an especific character.
Graphics 8.5
All your characters are well drawn, the city of Tokio looks great thanks to the impressive artwork and sprites are also looking good. Still i think the ds could handle a little bit more but nevertheless everything is very well presented.
Sound 8.5
Though there is no VO, the music and evironmental sounds do the great job of creating an atmosphere thats feels very obscure which represent exactly what your characters are going through.
Replay Value 9.0
Multiple endings and multiple subplots will have you comming back for more for quite some time.