Shin Megami Tensei

It's a great JRPG, a great SRPG, a great SMT game, and a lovely improvement over the original DS version! Most of the features from Devil Survivor 2 made their way into this upgrade of the first game (except DeSu2's Fate system, sadly) and it really helps. I used to think, before these recent remakes, that DeSu had the better story while DeSu2 had the better gameplay - this remake evens the playing field a bit. As such, this game combines great gameplay with useful features/additions and a great atmosphere-driven story with interesting characters. That said, since this is a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off, be warned: it's difficult. Patience is not only a virtue but a must with these games. Certain monsters can and will one-hit you, and some bosses will need to be repeated until you get your strategy down. That said, the game is really fun once you get over that learning curve, and the story and characters really help push you along in that regard. The game is set in a modern-day Tokyo, where you and your companions have just been trapped in a government lockdown/quarantine of the area. You quickly learn that this has to do with the demons you discover, and in fact acquire through strange portable electronic devices (called "COMPs," but clearly resemble a Nintendo DS/3DS) that are able to summon them. Communication is severed, demons start causing chaos, people start to panic, and your party finds themselves simply trying to survive day-to-day. This leads you to finding the cause of the lockdown, the origin of the demons, the COMPs, etc. and your decisions ultimately decide how, or even if, you try to fix things and end the lockdown or not. There are quite a few endings as a result that are, again in typical SMT fashion, often alignment-based (e.g. chaos, law/order, neutrality, etc.). You can even get a bad ending, but that's easy to avoid if you pay much attention at all. The gameplay is divided into two parts: non-combant and combat. Non-combat gameplay has a list of areas you can go to in the lockdown, with people you can talk to or events/battles to partake in. This all happens according to a 24-hour clock, meaning certain people can only be talked to at certain times and battles likewise can be time-limited. As such, you can leave characters to die if you know in advance they are in danger at a specific time and refuse to help them out. Your choices in this regard, i.e. who you talk to and such, will help shape and determine the course that your game takes and the final route and ending you get. So a general idea is to talk to plenty of people early on until you have an idea of who you agree with and ultimately want to help achieve their goals the most. And don't worry - you're not locked into a decision or anything until much later in the game, and it's black-and-white when you do finally decide what route you'll take. And also out of combat you get to buy demons (via "Auction" or the compendium of your past/current demons), fuse them (two demons become a third demon, with you losing the two you fused), changing up your teams/skills, etc. Combat gameplay takes place in individual skirmishes or fights that are made up of a local area, overlaid by a grid that determines movement. The flow is turn-based, with each player character (up to 4 at a time) and enemy character taking turns according to their speed. So you don't control all of your characters at once before ending your turn, and you don't get to choose which character of your goes when. This adds a need to strategize, of course. Once your character engages in combat with another, the gameplay momentarily departs from traditional grid-based SRPG games as it opens into a turn-based JRPG combat where you choose the actions for your character and their demons (up to two) and it happens at the same time as the enemy's actions - chronologically carried out by each individual's Agility stat. The actual fighting involves a very interesting (even if sometimes frustrating) system of elements, resistances, and "extra turns" (i.e. extra actions, usually gained through critical hits or hitting an enemy's elemental weakness). This is something you'll definitely have to get a handle on in order to get through the game without rage-quitting. While it's a game where you absolutely need to have patience and be willing to learn the ins-and-outs of combat, I would recommend it to anyone that likes RPGs, JRPGs, SRPGs, or even other SMT games.

So if you read above, you know I am biased towards this game Pros: > Greater than the original game for the Nintendo DS. > Voice acted the entire game: literally every part that needed voicing has it. > Touch controls are enabled for the second screen at SOME parts. (This is a pro because the original did not) > Voice overs CAN be disabled. > Plenty of replaying potential and many different ways to build your character's fight style. > Loads of demons. > An 8th day/extra plot for SOME routes. Others remain unchanged or minor changes. Cons: > The pronunciation for some of the Japanese terms is not perfect. Some things are said perfectly, other times it is a little cringe worthy. > The music and voice acting aren't evenly leveled and so if you play with voices on: the music is hard to hear. > They removed the original intro, this could be a pro, but for me it is a con. > The ONLY times the game is in 3D: the fusions and the intro. Literally NOTHING ELSE is 3D. It isn't a con because I really care, it's just the port feels lazy for not even trying 3D. This was released really early in the 3DS' life and even nintendogs gave 3D a shot. Not needed: but if you are porting your game, at least give up a 3D picture here and there. Overall: If you enjoyed Shin Megami Tensei Devil survivor for the 3ds and have some spare cash and a 3ds: enjoy this game. If you never touched a shin megami tensei game: this is a decent starting point. Pokemon like game play, a rather fun plot and immersing game play/music.

Demons, Desperate Citizens, and D-Cups Full of Justice? Devil Survivor: Overclocked (Over Clock in Japan) is a 3DS port of Devil Survivor for the DS. The story follows a group of people under lockdown in Tokyo after demons begin popping out of modified COMPs (which look just like the 3DS you're playing the game on!) Their goal is just to avoid getting killed by the demonic hordes by fighting with demons of their own, and to figure out why the demons are here at all. But to do that, you'll need strong demons. You can get this by either bidding on their contracts, or by fusing two of your currently held demons into another one (and passing on their best skills to the new demon). And you WILL need to fuse, because this game does not screw around. As with other SMT games, you may need to fight bosses a few times to figure out how to beat them and build your teams to succeed. But all of these things are true of both versions of this game. So what makes this one better? Difficulty tweaks are present, making the game a bit easier (better balanced) than the DS version. The addition of voiceovers is neat, though some of the performances have come under scrutiny. I thought the voice acting was good overall, though many compare Midori's voice to nails on chalkboard. The big additions are the Compendium (allows you to pay to resummon demons) and the new 8th Day scenarios. After completing the game, you'll have the option to create a New Game + save or an 8th Day save file (if you finished the game with an ending that has an 8th Day tied to it). The last addition is an unlockable ultimate boss battle with Lucifer, which is unreasonably difficult. Overall, this is the version to get, unless you need the slightly more difficult DS version.

In this review I'll list some of the major improvements Atlus made to the original Devil Survivor in Overclocked: EIGHTH DAY Overclocked includes four new eighth day scenarios, which means nearly four new days of battles and plotline! FULL VOICE ACTING Every single line in the game has been voiced, and the acting is mostly excellent (with the unfortunate exception of Midori). NEW DEMONS Loads of news demons have been added, including: Ishtar Black Maria Susano-o Baphomet Yurlungur Fafnir Sraosha Rukh Huoniao Mithras Cabracan Catoblepas Tschaggatta Spriggan Troll Lucifuge Tokebi Ongyo-ki Macabre Jahi NEW SKILLS To go with the new demons, loads of new skills were added as well. Some of them, like Vigilant and Shield All+, prove exceedingly beneficial. TITLES Essentially, you can earn titles by achieving certain tasks in Overclocked (such as clearing a certain ending or defeating optional bosses), and you can spend the points you earn from your titles on rewards for your next playthrough. This is a fantastic addition and makes you want to keep playing to earn them all. DEMON COMPENDIUM One of the most disappointing aspects of Devil Survivor was the lack of a compendium. Atlus thankfully rectified this issue in Overclocked. No more tediously hoping to get lucky with auctions; now you can simply summon any demons you've previously owned. In addition, you can read about each demon's profile and history. As a mythology buff, I always find reading about a plethora of mythological beings from such diverse cultures fascinating. And the best improvement of all... THREE SAVE SLOTS Thank god Atlus added two more save files! I hated having to overwrite my old game every time I started a new one, and now other people in my family can play too. Seriously, I'm so relieved the developers used the extra storage capacity on things like this rather than pointless 3D effects. In conclusion, I bought the 3DS for this game, and it was worth every penny. If you enjoy strategy RPGs whatsoever, whether you played the original or not, buy it!

The original game on DS is fantastic, and so is this one. Amazing plot, awesome music, awesome gameplay. But the 3DS remake isn't as good as I thought it would be. The top screen (the bigger one) is hardly ever used, and apart from a brief anime OP (which is worse than the DS original), there's no 3D... I'm fine with no 3D, but they should have optimized it more, so it used the top screen for the main graphics display instead of the smaller bottom one. If you haven't played the original, GET THIS GAME RIGHT NOW! If you have, only get it if you have a fair bit of extra money. The updates to it hardly justify you purchasing the game twice.

I played the first one, just recently got a 3DS, and found out about this one. I did extensive research on it to see if I wanted it or not, and decided I NEED a game like this for my 3DS. This is a great game that has, easily, more than 50 hours of playtime into it, and will last you awhile. For those who do not know, this is a JSRPG, Japanese and Strategy (Of course the game will be in English buying it here though). Read some of the other 4-5 star reviews around this one as they all know what they are talking about. The ONLY problem I had with this game was Actually acquiring it. I went to (In sequential order): Gamestop Walmart Shopko -Different city: Best Buy Target Sears Kmart NONE of them had this game. In fact, it's only listed on the Kmart and Best Buy websites. It's listed as "Unavailable" on Kmart, and Ship-to-store on Best Buy. Anyone here know why no stores carry this? They carried the original DS version. I had to go through the trouble of spending an extra $10 buying a Visa Gift Card, activating it, and going through the (easy) ordering process on here. The benefit to this however was that I got a nice 3DS case with the leftover $10 on the card. Final Word: If you like strategy rpg's with a Japanese culture/sway to them, this game will not let you down. It even has full voice acting on talking scenarios, and improved higher resolution visuals, which brings the game to life more than the original.

This is what I was afraid of. 3DS labeled games being released with no 3D. If you haven't realized yet, Devil Survivor is a port of the original title on the DS. The only difference in Overclocked is voice acted dialog and an added 8th chapter, which from what I heard is not very long. I played the original title when it was release and had a blast playing it, however this game is almost an exact port. Graphics remain the same with a few things updated here and there. Sounds and music are pretty much the same. You get three save spots instead of just one like in the original DS version. but the thing that bugs me the most is there is no 3D support in the game except a fancy 3D intro. Why even bother with the 3D intro if it's not present in the rest of the game? Its like they are teasing us, I almost feel cheated by Atlus. I really see no point in buying this version of the game for $40 when you can buy the original DS version for much less. The only thing you're missing is a cheap 3D intro, crummy voice acting and a tacked on eighth chapter.

First of all I played this directly after beating Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers and while I LOVED Soul Hackers this game has some issues. Lets start off with the positives. The story and characters are excellent and memorable, they each seem realistic and like people you might know so you can easily relate to them. The voice acting is top notch and I rarely skipped any cutscenes/dialogue and there is more npc interaction in this game than I have seen in years, seriously there is a ton of talking which is a good thing, and the choices start off small but by the half way point your making game altering decisions that affect your ending. Also, while the game doesn't really use the 3D it doesn't exactly need it as it's a strategy game. The demon selection while decent isn't on par with other Shin Megami Tensei titles as far as I have seen, For instance in Soul Hackers I had at least double the demons in my compendium as I did in Devil Survivor. The new game+ is also decent and will keep you beating it multiple times. Okay on to the negatives. The gameplay is very sluggish as in it can take upwards of 10 minutes to do a basic battle in some situations and why is that you ask? Because the difficulty level is very steep and the scaling is unforgiving. There will be missions such as in a certain boss fight where enemies will constantly respawn until the boss dies and the boss isn't necessarily a pushover and I died plenty of times on this and ended up having to spend 2+ hours grinding exp to at least be on a somewhat level playing field. And prior to that I had to use a team comprised of 50% cold resistant demons to survive. The game is very unforgiving. I highly suggest playing on easy for your first game unlike me, I played normal and spent upwards of 8+ hours grinding total which while entertaining kind of drowned out the story for me. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun and the story is great but the game progression isn't fluid at all and it hurts the game for me, it's kind of a fake difficulty as in there is no way to possibly beat the game without doing at least moderate grinding as you will lack macca (in game currency) to fuse/buy demons to upgrade. I hate giving this only a 3/5 as I love the series and this game was good but I'm looking at it from an unbiased perspective and grading it on normal difficulty. I'm sure that if you play on easy mode it might not be as bad but I had a hell of a time and this is coming from a guy that has played SMT Nocturne, Persona 3/4, and Soul Hackers and beat them all with realtive ease, maybe I'm just bad at tactical games?