I will survive

The latest game to grace my DS is Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, a turn-based strategy RPG brought to us by Atlus. It's not the type of game I would usually rush out to buy, but seeing as it came cheap in a recent Best Buy sale, I decided to give it a go. Besides, I've come to learn that if you don't buy Atlus' games right away, you may not be able to get them at all!

Devil Survivor takes place in Japan and follows the adventures of three young friends - One of whom I called Tim, and the others who go by Atsuro and Yuzu. In a premise not unfamiliar to fans of The World Ends With You, these kids find themselves in the middle of a deadly game; one involving demons. It all begins when they each receive a COMP from fellow friend Naoya - a COMP is like a PDA, but looks suspiciously like a DS if you ask me. Not only do these COMPs contain strange e-mails that appear to predict the future, they also allow the user to summon demons to fight alongside them. Now the trio must figure out what's going on, why they've been chosen, and, most importantly, how to escape!

While this may not be the most original concept for a story, it's still interesting and drew me right in. I guess I just appreciate RPGs that don't involve swords and sorcery, and you don't seem to get many that take place in the modern world. You soon unlock a few different locations and begin checking them out for clues, but here's the thing - Devil Survivor is another in a long line of DS games that convey all their story through text. What I mean is, you don't directly control your character through an environment; you merely select the location you want to go to then read a description of what's going on there. Locations that have story elements will bring up a static background, which the characters will talk over.

Like I said before, we've been seeing this type of storytelling for years, in games like Phoenix Wright, but Devil Survivor seems to go one step beyond - giving text descriptions of what the characters are doing, not just saying. For instance, while the screen shows two people just standing there, the text may read, "Tim and Yuzu began frantically searching around, before giving up and moving on to somewhere else". Now, I realize that animations cost money, but sometimes a simple facial expression or body position can convey quite a bit, as shown in other DS titles. This isn't a big deal, though, and I still found the story to be engaging.

Ok, so lets talk a little about the combat. Certain locations on your map have a battle icon, and selecting them will initiate a fight. The way it works is, each of your central characters is considered a separate party. They don't have to fight on their own, though, as they can each be flanked by two demons (which you must acquire first, of course). Fans of strategy RPGs will be familiar with the flow of battle - you place your parties on a grid, then take turns moving them towards the enemy; get close enough and you can attack. This is where things start to get interesting, for the moment you initiate an attack, you are drawn into a traditional turn-based RPG battle, like the kind found in Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Pokemon, or numerous others.

While this turn-based section may be very familiar to some, it doesn't play quite like those other titles, as it only lasts for one round of attacks (possibly two if you do well). After this you are brought back to the grid, and the next character gets a chance to move. Of course, there are other things you can do when your turn comes around, such as heal yourself or buff yourself up with a spell, but you can still engage the enemy in the same turn, which is nice. Since there are no healing or mana potions, it's important to make sure that every party has a selection of recovery spells, but you can always switch your demons out between rounds if you want, giving you the best for every situation.

So that's how the game plays out: You click on various locations and read what's going on there, occasionally getting sucked into a battle. While this is fun, I'm starting to wonder if it's enough to keep to me entertained for the entire game (I'm about 4 or 5 hours in right now). One aspect that's neat is your ability to fuse demons together, giving you the chance to customize your party members' moves and spells, but even this may not be enough to keep me drawn in for the entire story. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing majorly wrong with Devil Survivor, and I am enjoying it, but I wouldn't be surprised if I never make it all the way through. I think that other DS RPGs, (such as The World Ends With You and Chrono Trigger) have spoiled me, and made me less likely to complete any long title that isn't fantastic. It's definitely better than the last strategy RPG I played, though.

So there you go. This certainly isn't a review of the game, but more of an overview so you'd know what's been occupying my time recently. If it sounds like something you'd like, go ahead and buy it while you can, but I'm going to reserve final judgement until I've finished it. Of course, since today sees the release of Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box, it may be a little while before I get to that point......