For games famous for being extremely harsh and punishing to unprepared players, the enemies and bosses Raidou encounters are infinitely less lethal than initially expected. Perhaps as a conscious decision towards making this real-time combat more palatable, the difficulty level in Devil Summoner is the easiest the series has ever seen. Vaguely like a darker, more serious sort of Pokémon, the urge to "catch 'em all" must be heeded in order to advance through each of Devil Summoner's twelve distinct episodes. Bringing the proper "teammate" into battle is the key strategy to winning, and acquiring more and more demons becomes a crucial part of gameplay. Instead of sending players after new weapons or more impressive sword combos, the complexity of these battles comes from the demons themselves. ![]() Dodging and blocking are important, and when Raidou strikes a demon with a weapon that takes advantage of elemental "weak" points (using fire shells on an ice demon, and so on) he can forcibly recruit any enemy as long as his experience level is equal to or greater than the demon's.Īlthough real-time combat is new territory, there's no doubt whatsoever that Devil Summoner is an RPG completely mindful of its heritage. Wielding a sharp sword and a sidearm shooting enchanted bullets, the game's fights take place on a single screen after a random battle is triggered. Unlike the other games in the Shin Megami Tensei line, Devil Summoner features real-time combat. What makes Raidou so perfectly tailored to unravel the mystery is his ability to capture and control demons encountered in his travels. Starting small, the sequence of events starts with puzzling out a simple curse and soon snowballs into a nationwide conspiracy sending Raidou on the hunt for clues everywhere from Yakuza-controlled bathhouses to the narrow corridors between worlds. Soon after, a case concerning a young girl wanting to be killed falls into his lap, and the adventure begins. The 14th in a long line of venerable summoners, he's assigned to the Narumi detective agency for the purposes of ensuring peace. Set in the 1930's during Japan's Taisho era of transition to industrialization, Devil Summoner tells the story of Raidou Kuzunoha. Although it clearly takes the series in several brand-new directions, there's no doubt that Devil Summoner is a worthy addition to the series and excellent in its own right. Only recently finding its niche in the United States despite being one of the most popular and long-running names in Japan, the superb Nocturne and its peerless predecessor Persona 2: Eternal Punishment are now joined by Atlus's latest localization, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner – Raidou Kuzunoha vs. Clearly falling into this category, the Shin Megami Tensei series of games has always showcased a decidedly non-Western view of religion, usually featuring a pantheon of "demons" as its most populous characters. The last few years have been very good ones for role-playing game (RPG) fans, and doubly so for those who can appreciate deviations from the standard "save the world" formula.
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