Devil Survivor 2 terrorizes DS

Atlus has garnered a chunk of success with its Shin Megami Tensei games for the Nintendo DS. Even with the upcoming release of the Nintendo 3DS, the company will resume its fondness for the system with its upcoming sequel to the Devil Survivor series, titled Devil Survivor 2. The news was announced recently on Famitsu.

The game's story puts players in the shoes of a male protagonist who, alongside his male childhood friend Daichi and female honors student Io, has to fight off mysterious invaders known as the Septentrion that are taking over Japan. Players will have to defeat them within seven days by signing a pact with the devil to become a devil messenger and command a demon army.

The game's combat is more or less the same as in the first game: Players control the protagonist and his group in turn-based combat done on grids much like a strategy role-playing game. When the heroes collide with the demons, the screen switches to another battle screen where players assign combat commands to deal with the mob. Instead of being confined in Tokyo as in the last game, however, players will get to explore the major cities in Japan for the sequel.

The first game's demon auction system returns as well, where gamers can get new demon allies by bidding for them. New to the series is the destiny system, which lets gamers unlock new party members and demon ally skills depending on the protagonist's moral choices throughout the story.

Devil Survivor 2's characters are designed by Suzuhito Yasuda, who has done illustrations for the light novel series Durarara!! and created the manga Yozakura Quartet. The designs of the Septentrions is done by manga artist Mohiro Kitoh, who created the manga Shadow Star. The game's soundtrack is composed by Kenji Ito, who is renowned for his work on the Final Fantasy Legends and SaGa series.

The game is 95 percent complete and will be out this summer in Japan.