Gaming Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga

[Semjaza]

Well, this game finally has an official release date, so I feel a bit more comfortable making a thread. It comes out April 5th and goes for $55. It comes with some bonus material, so I guess that's why it costs a small bit more. I don't mind.

Anyway, DDS really has little to do with the Shin Megami Tensei games such as Nocturne. It's part of the same general franchise, but it's a spin-off. I imagine Atlus USA just added the title so they could form a bit of a franchise here in the US. Word of mouth going into this one seems very positive and I actually expect it to sell well for an Atlus game.

Here's a bit about the game:

[QUOTE]Enter the world of the Junkyard, where rival tribes fight an endless war-vying for supremacy and the right to ascend to Nirvana. Changed forever by a mysterious light, Serph and his comrades now have the power to change into powerful demons... but with that power comes a price - an insatiable hunger to devour their enemies!

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga Key Features:

* Experience a fully-voiced, epic sci-fi fantasy story with over 50 hours of gameplay!
* Enter a dark, futuristic world with characters designed by renowned Japanese artist Kazuma Kaneko!
* In battle, strategically switch between human and demon forms to exploit enemies? weaknesses.
* ?Devour? your enemies to increase your power!
* Customize and develop your characters using the unique ?Mantra? system.
* Discover devastating combo attacks!
[/QUOTE]

I think the main thing this game has going for it is how stylish it is. Nocturne already looked pretty great, I thought, but this one is even more impressive. People into big storylines, character development, cutscenes and voice acting will likely be very happy with this one. It attempts to appeal to a far wider audience than the more traditonal gameplay within Nocturne.

I think the main thing that will appeal to people is that this game focuses specifically on characters. There's no more of this recruiting demons business, you basically ARE the demons.

There's actually a direct sequel for it hitting the US in the Fall of this year. Supposedly they're very well connected, two parts of one whole. Both should be played to really fully experience the story. From what I've seen of it, DDS2 actually looks even more impressive.

Anyway, here's some shots of DDS:



[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen0/920605_20041220_screen002.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen0/920605_20041220_screen006.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen0/920605_20041220_screen012.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen0/920605_20040607_screen008.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen0/920605_20040607_screen011.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen0/920605_20040607_screen020.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen_e3/920605_20040505_screen004.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen_e3/920605_20040505_screen005.jpg[/IMG]

[satan665]

This game seems to be right up my alley. It looks like it has the same style and similar gameplay as Nocturne based on the screens. I'm all about demons and devouring too, can't get enough of that stuff. I'm going to have to try and finish up Devil May Cry 3 so I can get this one up and going.

I'm glad that it is going to be more character focused than Nocturne. I really liked the way Nocturne played, but I still like the older Final Fantasy stlye games with parties of characters to interact with. It should be a nice touch for this series overall.

[Sol-Blade]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Aww I was planning on being the first to post about it, ah well. :D

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to this. I really loved the gameplay in Nocturne, so I expect this one to be just as good. The whole new theme is what has really caught my attention though. I'm eating up every detail I can get.[/COLOR]

[Semjaza]

Gametrailers.com actually has video with English cutscenes. I must say, the voice acting is actually pretty good. Atlus has pretty much set a new standard for itself since Disgaea in terms of voices and general localization. I'm glad they've kept it up.

It's a shame you can't choose between English and Japanese voices (I guess there wasn't enough room), but as long as the English ones are decent, I can't complain.

[satan665]

Does anyone know anything more about the story than the basic rival factions spielyousee on the website? I guess the game is pretty close to actually coming out, so I can wait, but I'm awful curious.

Also, whats the deal with the bonus "controller armor" thing? What is controller armor, some sort of stylish cover?

[Semjaza]

[QUOTE=satan665]Does anyone know anything more about the story than the basic rival factions spielyousee on the website? I guess the game is pretty close to actually coming out, so I can wait, but I'm awful curious.

Also, whats the deal with the bonus "controller armor" thing? What is controller armor, some sort of stylish cover?[/QUOTE]

What do you want to know about the story exactly? Just the general plotline?

As for the armor, it's just a sticker that gets placed on top of your PS2 controller. You don't get it automatically with the LE version anymore, you only get it as a bonus for pre-ordering. Personally, I couldn't care less about it lol.

[OtakuSennen]

When I first saw screenshots from Digital Devil Saga, and compared them to Nocturne's, I first thought that this game kind of looked generic and nowhere near as cool as Nocturne. I guess this was because it didn't have the dark vibe that Nocturne was oozing with, but after watching the first DDS video on Gametrailers.com, I think I may be even more impressed with it than SMT3.

The cutscenes are a welcome addition, and the dub seems solid, from what I've heard.. So I'm having very positive thoughts about this game. If I'm unable to reserve this game, and they are out of copies by the time I can get to Gamestop (and you know how Atlus is with limited printings), I swear I am going to kill myself.

Oh, quick question: Is Serph going to have a personality and/or talk, or is he going to be a "blank canvas" like the hero in Nocturne? In Nocturne it made sense for him to have no personality. After all, the game had so many endings. Of course, this leads to another question: Is it going to have the varied paths you can follow? That replayability factor was always very cool.

[Semjaza]

I think they're both very stylish, although I think DDS just seems more developed and detailed. Some of the shots of the areas are really incredible and seem to push details that Nocturne just did not. We'll see soon enough.

As for Serph, he's silent in the same sense the hero is in Nocturne. He is voiced in the Japanese version, but only in the battles (I don't know what he says, might even just be grunts). He can be as good or as bad as you want, but I don't know how it might affect the ending. I've been purposely avoiding that information... However, given that DDS2 follows it directly, I don't know that I'm expecting something open-ended like Nocturne. Then again, as I said, I've been avoiding the information.

[Sir Auron]

Is this game difficulty as hard as like shin megami tensei, where the encouter rate is very high and does the enemies still have those 1-hit kill move or spells.

[Semjaza]

Sennen, I was reading up on it... There's only one ending. Decisions apparently only affect some of the dialogue that results, like pretty much every other console RPG I can think of. Like I said earlier, I assume this is because this goes directly into the sequel.

From things I've read, this kind of disappoints a few people... I guess a lot of twists and such are saved for the second game. They're very much two parts of one whole it seems. I've heard it's kind of cryptic and not entirely satisifying, but I don't see it bothering me that much with the second chapter following so closely behind here. Supposely the sequel is a better game in nearly every respect, which is nice.

[quote name='Sir Auron']Is this game difficulty as hard as like shin megami tensei, where the encouter rate is very high and does the enemies still have those 1-hit kill move or spells.[/quote]

Encounter rate is apparently relatively high, but perhaps not as high as Nocturne. I don't know about the instant kills, but since even Persona had them, I'd have to assume they're in here in some form.

Game Informer apparently gave this game a 7/10. However, considering they gave Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door a 7/10 because "it's great, but its style may not appeal to everyone" (sic), that can mean just about anything.