VGRC

I <3 Ukobach

Last year's SMT: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 ranks very high on my Favorite RPG's of All Time list, and was even named VGRC's 2005 RPG of the Year. This year, Atlus brings us the next entry in the dangerously underrated Shin Megami Tensei franchise: SMT: Devil Summoner.

Taking place in the 1920's in the Japanese capital of Edo (aka Tokyo) you are 14th devil summoner of the Kuzunoha clan. After passing your rigorous training period, the clan bestows upon you the title of Raidou, signifying that you are worthy of becoming the next devil summoner. With that, you are ordered to protect the capital from demonic activity, by using your powers of being able to summon and control demons. Of course, these paranormal activities don't just spring out in front of you, so you'll be working for the private detective Shouhei Narumi for his detective agency in order to sniff out and solve cases involving the supernatural. His first case start him off investigating the kidnapping Kaya, the only daughter of the Daidouji family, which just happens to be one of the wealthiest families of the capital. To make things even more interesting, there are legends circulating about the family that Daidouji women become possessed by demons. With rogue demons popping up and causing trouble in the capital, Raidou will have his work cut out for him, putting his devil summoner skills to the test.

Devil Summoner is a drastic change in terms of gameplay style from the previous SMT games. Rather than the turn-based style seen in practically every other SMT game, Devil Summoner is more of an action-RPG, with the ability to capture and raise demons that fight alongside you in battle. (Think: Seiken Densetsu meets Pokemon) However, while most action-RPG's tend to be bland, easy and devoid of features (*cough* Radiata Stories *cough*) Devil Summoner is everything but.

Battles are random, and the encounter rate is just as brutally high as in the previous SMT games. When a battle starts, you and whatever demon you have set to come out first appear on a small battlefield along with the enemies, and you are free to move about and attack whenever. As with previous SMT games, a system of elemental-based strengths and weaknesses is back in full force. Attacking say, an ice-based enemy with a fire attack will do extra damage and stun them briefly, giving you time to execute a string of combos or capture them. However, this works in reverse, as your demons also hold their own weaknesses. On the flipside, demons tend to be resistant to their own elementals; fire attacks on a fire demon will either do very little or even no damage, and sometimes even heal.

Raidou has his own sword and gun that he can attack with on his own, both of which are expandable. The gun you can load with elemental-based bullets, which are useful for stunning enemies weak to them. His sword attacks are especially fun; most action-RPG's give you 1 or 2 sword attacks which you repeat over and over; Raidou on the other hand has a handful of slashes, thrusts and even a spin attack that you could swear came right from the Zelda games.

Raidou can't, however, use magic attacks, and that is where your demons come in. They can cast devastating elemental-based magic attacks, cause status ailments and all-in-all, serve as a invaluable tool in your adventures. You can only have one demon out at a time, but you can swap them out for others in your party at any time, so always choose the best one suited for that particular battle. Of course, they will only obey you if they have a high Loyalty level, but using them often in battle or sending them out on solo missions will increase their Loyalty. They also have Tension levels that grow during battle. (somewhat similar to Final Fantasy VII's Limit Breaks) Once your demon's Tension level is at its highest, you can have it team up with Raidou to unleash a devastating Combination Attack, which varies depending on what demon you are using. These can range from simple blasts of fire to beams of light that attack everything on the screen.

The real fun comes with the deep demon raising system. Just for starters, there are TONS of demons you can confine during battle, though if there is a full moon or the demon's level is higher than yours, or during a boss battle, you cannot confine them. These demons are stored in tubes on your person, and you can only carry a handful of these tubes. However, there is also the Gouma-Den, which is a lab run by the wacky Dr. Victor. Here, he will perform a wide variety of demon-related services for you. You can register your demons with him, so in case you decide to set them free to make room for more demons, you can pay Victor to bring them back. There is also a list of registered demons he will create for you, that gives you the feeling of "Gotta catch 'em all," only on a more subliminal level. However, those services are just child's play, as Victor can also fuse demons together to create stronger ones, as long as the two demon's Loyalty levels are maxed out and the resulting demon isn't a higher level than Raidou. Victor can also "sacrifice" demons to other demons, where the recipient demon will see its stats increase or gain a skill from the sacrificial demon. He can also fuse demons with your sword, making it and Raidou more powerful. In fact, nothing prevents you from harvesting demons for the sole purpose of fusing them to your sword or sacrificing them to your stronger demons. It is dark and twisted on so many levels, yet perfectly fitting of the more mature universe of SMT. And I love it.

Investigation plays a strong role in Devil Summoner, usually being what advances the story. Raidou will have to talk to a variety of NPCs in order to get the information he needs. However, his demons will frequently come to his aid. If NPCs are holding back information, you can use demon skills to extract the information from them by doing things like "igniting their souls" or reading minds. Demons can't be seen by most humans, however, which opens up more possibilities. Somebody guarding that door? Send a demon out solo to sneak past and investigate what's going on back there. You can also send them out to enter other areas Raidou has no access to; expect to be calling them out to retrieve items out of reach, clearing paths of obstacles or even freezing up pools of water so you can cross an area safely.

My big chief complaint (and believe me, there are not many) with Devil Summoner is the voice acting, or rather, lack thereof. The two previous SMT games, Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 had what can only be described as stellar voice acting. Now it is completely absent, which disappoints me greatly. However, the sounds aren't all bad, as the soundtrack is amazing; yet another crowning achievement of series composer Shoji Meguro, successfully fusing rock, ambiance and a rip-roaring 1920's-esque sound together. The sound effects are equally good, especially during battles, injecting plenty of life into the game.

The game looks equally good as it sounds, despite doing things differently than the previous games. This time around, all the backgrounds are pre-rendered, which gives the PS2 plenty of processing power to fill the streets with people, making look like an actual bustling city. Character models are designed well, and though I miss the cel-shaded look from the DDS games, I am honestly not complaining as Kazuma Kaneko's character designs come through just as well.

In the end, SMT: Devil Summoner is a solid title. Though I didn't enjoy it as much as last year's Digital Devil Saga, that still doesn't detract from how good a game this is. RPG of the year material? Mayhaps, but do yourself a favor and pick up this game regardless.