Gamespot Score:8.5 (Great)
My score:9.0
(+)Pros: - Awesome story with multiple routes, variations and endings, - Very likable characters, more so than the original, - Impressive soundtrack, - Challenging battles test even the most experienced of players, - Everything you knew and love about Devil survivor is in this game :).
(-)Cons: - There is barely anything new, despite the game being a sequel.
Gameplay time:About 40 hours or more
STORY! Hell yes, this played a MAJOR part in making the original awesome, and obviously it makes the sequel awesome as well. You once again, play as a silent youth you get to name yourself, and as the protagonist, you go through the hell that takes place in Japan. After the day of a college entrance exam with your best friend Daichi, he tells you about a website called Nicea that shows you future events where a friend dies. After a quick signup and running into a school beauty by the name of Io in the train station, they all receive predictions of their own death. Immediately after, the incoming train crashes and completely destroys the entire station, and true enough, demons come out of nowhere, wanting a piece of our heroes. After defeating the demons and earning contracts of their own, the 3 later join an organization named JPs, and with the fellow operatives of JPs, they all work together to stop the demon infestation in the world.
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| Arm your team with demons and skills. |
Well, lets get down with the obvious facts first. The original had multiple variations and endings to its story, "Devil Survivor 2" is no different. Fail to save someone, and they're screwed, dead for the entire game, and that will alter the story one way or another. Fail to do something during a mission, and that may permanently affect something else in the story. Socialize and talk to different characters, open up routes with other characters to unlock different ending routes (though there are significantly less end game choices in this game compared to the original). The characters are very likable, even more so than the original. They pack more personality, and unlike the original where you stick to only a few characters for the most part of the game, "Devil Survivor 2" nets you most of its characters and makes them playable.
A neat new feature in "Devil survivor 2" to allow you to further motivate you to choose who want to spent precious in game time with, is the relationship system. Improving the levels of relationship will net you bonuses with that character, like the ability to joint skill crack, an improvement of the skill crack ability from the original, or to gain them extra attribute boosts to help during battle. And speaking of battle, it still remains as strong as ever. It's the same as the original, you move in a square grid while controlling your characters, each with their own team of demons and skills. There are tons of demon types, and they all have different attributes and special race skills to help contribute to battle. During battle, you will encounter many different kinds of enemies, and because of this, you will be seeing skills you've never seen before from enemies, and you can skill crack these skills to add to your eternal skill library for later usage.
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| Predicting the death of others has never been this legit. |
The demons feature in "Devil survivor 2" has also been improved upon. Now training demons to a certain level will net you sources, which can be used to improve demon fusion. Demon fusion is the same as you remember, combining 2 demons to create a new one, either through experimentation, or pre-made recipes. Sources, which you get from demons, can be used to help you fuse your ideal demon. Like for example, you have a fire source, which can grant fire skills, and you are trying to fuse this demon with a weakness to fire. By inheriting the fire source, you can give it fire related skills, such as "Null fire" to make that demon no longer weak to fire! Its a new and cool feature that probably every veteran player could ever wish for. Demons are mostly bought from the demon auctions, which is back in this game. Here you select a demon you want and bid with other who want to buy it. Highest bidder wins!
But of course, all of these are to prep you only for the tough battles that await you. Like the original, "Devil Survivor 2" boasts a pretty challenging campaign filled with difficult fights that usually are not in most players' leagues. Some might find themselves raging as they retry a battle constantly over and over, but if you're smart, play like a pro and know how to strategize, prepare AND counter your opponents, you can get past even the hardest of levels. Overall I feel the game is easier than the original, but should still provide a good and sustainable challenge to almost every player. The music, like the original once again, is great and totally fits the bills for the intense fights you face. I actually grew to like "Devil Survivor 2"'s music a lot more than the ones in the original! Or maybe its just me.
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| So do I Joe, so do I.... |
There is barely anything to hate on in this game for me. I am a huge fan of the game, and getting a sequel that actually didn't suck is already like a dream come true. However if there is anything that I would have to complain about....is the lack of noticeable or significant improvements to the game. The game is still awesome as it is, but its just "Devil Survivor" all over again, with a slightly new premise and story. There aren't any impressive or jaw dropping new features that completely add more to the game. Looks like Atlus decided to play safe with this one.
Getting a second "Devil survivor" game is already a huge plus in my life. The original was one of my favorite games of all time, now time to add this second one into my list of favorite games as well. I just enjoyed everything about the original, and since it all came together once again in the second game, I'll very well enjoy it again. "Devil Survivor 2" is a masterpiece that any fan of the original will, without a doubt in the world, enjoy it to the very end. Even if you've never played the original, the game is an entity on its own, it has nothing to do with the original, so newcomers can also join in on the fun.
Happy gaming!
