Devil Survivor Review Page 2

29 Jul 2009 at 17:30:53 by Tim McDonald
Systems used to review this title: (DS)

This is, to me, a good thing. I like a challenge, and I like having to think, but there are downsides. Some levels change halfway through, with no prior warning, which can leave the best laid plans in shreds. One boss gave me severe problems until I cleared out all of the other enemies as fast as possible before engaging him, only to discover that – upon grinding him down to half health – he resummoned everything that had died. With little mana left, it was a mad scramble to take him down while simultaneously preventing the other enemies from gutting my designated attack party. Once or twice, this isn't a bad thing – you genuinely feel the surprise, shock, and fear, and winning against all odds is cathartic – but the game pulls the trick far too often, and before long you expect every single level that seems too easy to change halfway through. The problem is that even with this, you still don't know what to expect, and trying to prepare for the shift may simply make things worse.

Then there are the escort levels which, while slightly less annoying, are prolific (comprising most of the mid-game.) Defending unarmed civilians who rival single-celled organisms in terms of brainpower is bad enough, but at least they try to run away. God forbid you have to keep someone alive who can actually fight back, as every now and then they'll gleefully propel themselves directly towards the last enemy on the map and die. Most are tolerable, and you get into the rhythm, but one or two of these levels are so painful and so reliant on making the right moves that you wish you could join them in idiot oblivion.

Fortunately, there really is little levelling required. You've always got “Free Battles” available, which pit you against a selection of demons and ask you to tear them apart, but with the right strategy and the right demons, almost any challenge in the game can be soundly beaten without needing to resort to grinding anything else. That's not to say levelling up isn't helpful, but it's a godsend to be able to plough through the game without needing to grind weaker demons, and yet it's also nice to be able to do so if you just can't quite pull a particular mission off. Honestly, the need to level is balanced almost perfectly with the impact that levelling has on your tactics and need to play smart.

The skill system ties into this, too, with your human characters having seven free slots for spells and abilities. At the start of every battle, you select a skill that an enemy demon possesses. If that character kills that demon, the skill is added to your log and can be assigned to one of those slots. If you want to give your main character a load of fire spells, in addition to an immunity to being silenced and a nifty health boost, you can go ahead. Perhaps another group will, with the combination of demon and skill selections, be a support group, while yet another can be a set of melee attackers. Maybe you'll mix and match. Maybe a different approach will work on that level you're having trouble with. Either way, you'll be making tough decisions, because you'll want more skills than you can feasibly fit into one character.

And that's the thing. For all I complain about the escort missions and the unpredictable mission changes, this is still a beautifully designed game with varied missions, an elegant set of combat systems and tactical mechanics, and yet enough of an edge that it will brutalise you if you're not careful. It's a hard, hard game, but it's just as rewarding as it is difficult, and with multiple endings and ending paths it's also incredibly replayable. Not for everyone, but certainly recommended to anyone who isn't put off by a challenge.

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