Another great edition to the Shin Megami Tensei series!
Graphics: DDS incorporates a kind of cel-shading effect, without the thick black lines around the characters. They may not be the prettiest graphics, but it's certainly different to look at. Most of the environments are pretty drab, grey affairs with the odd neon light here and there, so really nothing to write home about. The monsters and spells do their job too.
Gameplay: I'll say this now, DDS can be a hard game, especially if you don't know what you're doing. As with most RPG's, you have the standard turn-based battle. Each character has it's own time slot, which disappears once their turn is up, however, this can be extended or shortened, depending on whether you score a critical hit or miss the enemy.
Learning mantras is the key element to the game. Mantras are basically your spells, and after every enemy you defeat, you earn points, which go on your mantra bar. Once the bar has reached max, whatever spells were in the mantra will be learnt by that character and you can choose to learn a new one. Some of the later and more powerful mantras cost quite a bit of money however, so start saving up.
DDS seems to have a much higher random encounter rate than other RPG's, and some normal enemies can kill you before you even have the chance to attack, which can be off-putting for some people. This is why you need to build up a strategy of which spells to use when, and what stats to level up, especially for the bosses. If you've made the wrong decisions, these bosses will serve you up on a silver platter. DDS doesn't go easy on you!
Sound - Music/SFX: Overall, the music in DDS is very good. Most of the areas have a jazzy blues kind of vibe to them, but when you jump into battle, some harder rock comes into play, which sets the tone very well. The SFX are the usual growls, roars, bangs and crashes that you come to associate with an RPG now.
Sound - voice: Most of the cast fit theirs roles properly, however, there are a couple of guys who will make you plug your ear holes (Cielo's very cheesy Jamaican accent is enough to make your ears bleed!)
Replayability: As is customary for most RPG's, DDS has a slew of optional sidequests and bosses that become available after you finish the game, and for those completists, finishing everyone's mantra grid will take a long time. There are also some key decisions you have to make in the game that affect different things in the sequel, and if you miss one of them ,that gives you a reason to play again.
Verdict: Overall, DDS is a great RPG. It can be very difficult at times, but there's always a way round these things. You may not understand half of whats going on story-wise, but all will be explained in the sequel, which gives you a pretty damn good reason to finish this game. Give it a go!