When I discovered Persona 3 years ago, I discovered Atlus for the first time. And I absolutely loved their creation. To this day it’s still one of my favorite RPGs, so… not a bad first impression. By the time I played Persona 4, I understood the games were a spin-off of another franchise called Shin Megami Tensei which we never got the first entries of because SNES games in the day when Nintendo of America REALLY hated bringing over anything with a base in religion, but I was interested in trying a game or two we could get… and the sequel to this very title just launched, so of course I had to have it. (Raidou-Jack still sits on my desk at work.)
Fast forward a few years and several games from this franchise in my library later, however, I still only had part 2… that is until I found this title on PSN dirt cheap. How could I resist?
Story: You and your bloodline are the stuff of legend. Regardless of your original name, you are now the 14th person to carry the honorary name of Raidou Kuzunoha: Devil Summoner and protector of the Capital. And to live up to this, you have been placed in a detective agency that deals exclusively in special cases. This way, you get first crack at the truly unique cases where demonic influence was involved. Under the watchful eye of Gouto, a talking black cat with a hidden past, you have spent the past few months in this role… until a mysterious client met you on a local bridge and make the most unexpected request ever… she asked you to kill her.
You hardly have time to register this request before red-armored super-soldiers show up, kidnap her, and kick your ass into tomorrow. Coming to, you and your boss are left with a a real mystery on your hands, the first step of which is to find out who this young lady was.
And this humble beginning will start you on an adventure to save the capital and perhaps more from various threats that will reveal themselves on the way. The story is both fairly simple as you play and, surprisingly for a JRPG, NOT about saving the world before this is over, but it is complete and it definitely has some really good punches on the way. Being a detective, you will find a lot of the charm to the general plot will be discovering what is going on along side the detective/demon summoner/spiritual defender of the realm. And with no real stupid reveals that needs to be shared before hand or ranted about, I think I will let you discover it yourself.
8/10
Graphics: SMT: Devil Summoner will present it’s adventure by showing you Raidou as a 3D rendered model running around the various cities the game will take place in. If you have played other SMT games outside of Persona 3 and 4, you probably have a good idea of the art style he and the other main characters will tend to have. If not, it is clearly anime/manga inspired, but at the same time with a much more serious tone, often focusing on the eyes in particular to carry the vibe of the character themself. It results in a fairly dramatic but appealing look that often makes the series a bit more distinct from other RPGs.
Those cities themselves will be displayed as pre-rendered still shots of the various locations you will visit, much like many old-school adventure games and many console RPGs first using 3D characters in the previous generation to this one (this is a PS2 game, after all). This gives the game the advantage of letting the world be as realistic as possible while reserving the majority of the rendering power to just the characters and objects that populate it. You would think this makes the world very still, but very much on the contrary this game usually oozes the activity of the world it is portraying, allowing many people to wander around the streets to create the busier cities you will be in, while leaving others open empty, and deserted. Those characters, however, look alright but they are nothing too special, blending into the world very well, and oddly, that just might be for the best since it lets them fade into the background.
These same techniques carry over to combat as well, minus the extra people wandering around, and looks very good and clean for the most part doing so with the combat taking up most of the screen. You and your partner demon’s stats are clean and remain only in the lower left-hand corner, and occasionally there is a boss healthbar at the top, but the game dedicates most of the screen to the battle at hand, which it should considering this is not a traditional turn-based RPG combat system, but one with much more in common with old-school brawler games. I will get more into it later, but suffice it to say, it aged pretty well like most of this game’s looks.
I have to say most and not all, however, as this combat screen can get pretty cluttered when you have upwards of 8 or 9 opponents or several huge demons, but this does not happen a lot. And outside of that, you still have the map screen when you are outside of the various locations. This will show you what looks like an aerial picture of the area with lines drawn over it to represent where you can go. A blue figurine represents Raidou and you will drag it around these maps to get to your locations. It really does not look that great, but thankfully you will spend little time here.
7/10
Sound: This game takes place in the 1930s and expect the music to reflect it with lots of big-band music, be it chill and relaxing when strolling around town to some heat for combat or even ominous as hell when specific characters make their appearance. Overall, this sounds great, but it is clearly designed for background as you will have maybe one or two tunes you will remember long after the game is over and most of it will because you heard them so often.
There is also very little voice acting in this game, limited in fact to a few quotes the demons make when getting summoned, sent on a mission, or the like. These serve well enough for the moment, but considering how much conversation occurs in any given RPG title, the lack of voicework for actual content is very disappointing.
And the sound effects are not going to stand out too much either, as they fill their rolls and sound good enough, but nothing stands out as exceptional or terrible. It’s just the standards we should expect.
6/10
Gameplay: As a JRPG title, you can expect certain standards for gameplay. You will wander around the various locations talking to the people you need to progress the plot, all the while fighting enemies, both in random encounters and boss fights. However, the game takes it’s own flavor to this gameplay. Many of interactions you will have will include a “?” underneath the default option. But if you summon a demon with the right ability, it will replace that question mark, opening additional (and sometimes necessary) interaction choices.
But how do you get those demons? Well there are two ways. The easiest is to fuse two demons you already have together to make a new one, but this comes with it’s own requirements. Specifically, you need two demons already in your lineup which you have used enough in combat to max out their loyalty stat so they will be willing to take part in this process, at which point you can do so in the basement of the local store.
But to collect these requirements brings you to where the majority of the action of any RPG’s gameplay is, the combat. And unlike most RPGs, this game is not turn-based, but actually completely real-time. You will use a sword and a pistol to slash and shoot your way through battles with groups of anywhere from 1 to a dozen demons whenever a random encounter occurs. Each type (and there are lots) have their own moves, weaknesses, and strengths to different elements and attack types. To help you, your pistol will be able to fire different bullets with different such elements attached, but more important then that, you will have access to a demon ally you can either summon in battle or have show up at your side by default when the battle starts. If you or your partner can hit one of the enemies with an attack they are weak to, you can rush up and (provided you have an empty slot for them in your collection) attempt to capture them, at which point they now also become an option.
Of course in order to summon a demon, you need energy, and that comes in the form of MAG. Each demon needs a certain amount to summon them and you earn some after each fight. There is a cap to how much you can have, but I had no problems keeping that at or near maximum for most of the game. You can also increase that cap and your notoriety while you are at it by the loyalty you gain from the demons fighting along side you. When they max out their loyalty meter, they give you an burst of extra points for your own stat which will increase your Mag at certain points and if you visit your real boss (not the detective, the one who put you there) she will occasionally grant you a new title which can even increase the number of demons you can have at once. But even more important then all of that, a loyal demon is now able to be used for the fusion mentioned above, allowing you access to more powerful ones then perhaps you can even capture at the time.
This total combination makes for an RPG title that is one part monster-hunter, one part action rpg, and a lot of fun to make your way through. Although you should not forget this is an SMT title, and as such, you can expect some bosses to be UNHOLY HELL while you fight them. In essence they are fair as you can figure out and fight them effectively, but these few encounters are also insanely frustrating and may once or twice make you want to end the life of your TV. Again, overall it’s a great time, but if you cant take a severe spike or two of challenge from seemingly out of nowhere, you have been warned!
8/10
Bugs: As with many games I play as of late, I couldn’t find a single bug. This game ran like a top!
Overall: Devil Summoner definitely wears it’s franchise on it’s sleeve and makes sure you see and appreciate it. But at the same time, it stands on it’s own with it’s own style of gameplay and a story that works with or without the franchise to back it. Yes, that story is a little simplistic, but it’s solid, complete, and even has a few interesting twists and turns on the way.
If you are fan of Shin Megami Tensei games, you really should check this game out. If you are a fan old-school JRPGs but looking for something just a little bit different, you really should check this out. Really the only people who shouldn’t check this game out are those who absolutely hate JRPGs and all the tropes there of (especially as this might just be one of the most Japanese games I have ever played) or those easily frustrated. This game will hit all the wrong notes with these people.
Score:
8/10
Source: Playstation Network Store
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