Impressions #18: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Lately, I have been going back and playing old Shin Megami Tensei RPGs that I, for various reasons, missed back in the day. Dubbed the “season of ATLUS” by yours truly, this has been dominating much of my free time. The most recent game I completed in this process is Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Released in 2003, Nocturne (Lucifer's Call in Europe) in pretty infamous in the JRPG community, with a very noticeable cult following. Like other SMT games, it has cultivated a reputation for difficulty. Though some will find it more or less difficult than others, my experience lends more credence to this reputation than other SMT games that I have played.

But before we get into any of that, I want to take a minute to discuss the game's plot and premise. A shadowy organization has decided that the current direction taken by humanity has resulted in a bleak and depressing existence. To that end, they take steps to end the world, using it as a basis to form a new one, in an event referred to as The Conception. This is where the protagonist comes in. The player assumes the role of a Japanese high school student who, by some blunder of fate, managed to survive The Conception. Afterwards, Lucifer (Yes, THAT Lucifer) takes an interest in him, and implants in him what is known as a Magatama, a parasitic life form comprised of pure demonic power. As a result, the protagonist is transformed into a half-human, half-demon entity called the Demi-Fiend.

In the Vortex World created by The Conception, demons are allowed to roam freely. There are only a few lucky humans who remained alive. It is these humans who have the ability to create the new world. In order to do this, certain steps need to be taken. First, they must resolve themselves to a philosophy on which the new world will be based on. This Reason, as it is known, can be taken from another person or conceived as an original belief. Then, enough creation energy must be gathered by them in order to summon a deity, to represent that Reason. After every represented Reason has battled it out, the winning belief will be used to create the new world.

Since the protagonist is a demon, he cannot create a Reason of his own. However, he is free to choose to support or oppose any Reason that has already been established. The player, in this capacity, will determine which, if any, of the Reasons will emerge victorious. Through the choices made, and the alliances formed, they gain and lose reputation with the various three factions, each representing their own Reason. At the end, it is this which determines whether or not the protagonist is in support of any Reason. Should the player decide to reject all three reasons, then their personality, as represented by their choices, is what will determine the new world.

While this may have been an interesting concept in 2003, most modern gamers are already extremely familiar with the concept of narrative choice. It worked, but it honestly was not all that interesting. This was from a time when such ideas had been relatively unexplored, so this is to be expected. Still, people playing Nocturne from a modern perspective might find this whole plot disappointing. Even the characters are not really that well written. Most of them are jerks and most of them have absolutely no reason to be. The story had potential to go in some really interesting directions, but failed to do so. Ultimately, while there are some interesting elements, the plot is mainly used to justify the gameplay and dungeon crawling, barely able to stand on its own.

As for the combat, SMT: Nocturne was the very first game to utilize the Press Turn System that most SMT games would come to utilize at some point. I have already detailed the basics of this system in my Digital Devil Saga Impressions articles. Playing this game, it becomes apparent that this is only the start of a system that would be greatly refined and reinterpreted in many ways. Unlike Digital Devil Saga, turn order is determined purely by the Agility stat, with the fastest going first and so on. Further, the combination attacks that proved so useful in Digital Devil Saga were noticeably absent here. Aside from that, I have discussed the system enough, and have no real need to talk more about it. Nocturne served as a great proof-of-concept for the system, which would later become a fundamental groundwork for combat in ATLUS RPGs.

Another interesting note of comparison lies in the way character and party development works in Nocturne, compared to other SMT games. Unlike Digital Devil Saga (but like most), the player party consists primarily of demons. In order to get these demons to join the party, it is necessary to negotiate with them. During the course of the battle, on the turn of either the protagonist's or a demon with a conversation skill, the player can attempt to talk to a demon in the enemy party. In the first phase of the conversation, the player will need to convince the demon to like him. Should that be a success, then the demon will make requests. Appease it, and it will either join the player, give an item, or retreat from battle. Failure will result in an enraged demon, causing the enemy's turn to start. In this way, there is always an element of risk involved with negotiations. Mitigating and accepting this risk by eliminating enemies before striking up conversation is as important as the actual act of talking.

Having said that, the demons gained through conversation are still pretty weak. The true way to gain a powerful party is through Fusion. At special locations referred to as Cathedrals of Shadow, the player can combine two demons into a new one. The result will have their own skills, but will also inherit some of its predecessors'. During specific times, a Sacrificial Fusion can also be done. Along with the original two demons, a third can be sacrificed. Depending on the strength of the third, the result will rise in power. Skills from this final demon can also be inherited by the result. Like in other SMT games, this process of Fusion is the key to maintaining a strong party throughout the game.

However, there are elements that clearly demonstrate the dated nature of this particular beast. For example, as earlier SMT games were known to do, Nocturne tends to rely far too heavily on random number generators. The specific skills that a fused demon will inherit is determined by a roll of the dice. I often found myself deselecting and reselecting fusions over and over in order to attempt to get the skills I wanted on my party member. Old SMT gamers probably will not mind that. On the other hand, people who have grown accustom to selecting inherited skills in games like Persona 4 Golden might be less inclined to go back. For better or worse, it is a very noticeable throwback.

As a demon, the protagonist also develops his own skills, albeit at a much faster rate than others. However, he does it differently. Throughout the game, players will acquire different Magatama, which confer different resistances and skills to the protagonist. Upon level up, should the protagonist be at a sufficient level, he will learn a skill from the Magatama. Like other SMT games, only 8 skills can be equipped at a time. To learn a new skill, one of the previous ones needs to be forgotten. Unlike Digital Devil Saga, there is no going back. Once a skill has been unequipped, it cannot be relearned. This can often result in making difficult decisions, because making the wrong choices on not only what skills to keep, but in what order they are learned, can quickly put the player at a disadvantage. The freedom to choose from any previously learned skills did not yet exist. Again, the dated-ness of the design very clearly shows.

And that is the ultimate problem with Nocturne. While it was a fantastic game at the time, and still continues to be very fun, it has been succeeded quite thoroughly by later works from ATLUS. It is a game that over 10 years old. Showing that age, it serves as an interesting data point to compare other JRPGs with. Moreover, classic SMT fans, eternally looking for challenging and varied battles against demons, would be well served playing Nocturne. I myself would be lying if I said that I hated the game. I enjoyed my 60 hour playthrough. Though a second playthrough seems unlikely, I would not completely rule it out. That said, people who have come to know the modern conveniences of ATLUS design in games like Persona 4 Golden might be put off from the old school design philosophies that went into it. This is what one would refer to as a “niche” game, even by ATLUS standards. Keep that in mind if you intend to try it out.

The Texture Pop: Episode 12: Project Hate Zone

Sam was busy for this recording, so he had to miss out. At the same time, Garrett had some things to do, so he was a little late to the record. This left Chris and I to start the podcast by ourselves. If it sounds a little quieter than usual, that's why.

Also, the reason this podcast is as short as it is is because we were trying to cut out podcast down to a more manageable length. As a result, each of us only had a time limit of roughly 20 minutes for our respective segments. I really like this, as both a participant and viewer (after all, I have to watch the episodes myself to write the annotations), because it forces us to talk about our big topics first, streamlining the whole production. At the same time, there is more than enough room for our usual shenanigans.



0:00:00 Introduction
In which I teach Chris about geography.

0:03:25 I wanted to discuss GamerGate, because I felt like we had to.
Commenting on this story.

Honestly, I haven't much more to add to this whole thing. It's getting extremely ridiculous, and destroying the image the industry has spent years cultivating. I really don't know how it's gained this ability to persist as long as it has. We'll probably all be better off when it's finally over.
That said, I do regret my choice of the words "tag and bag" though. That wasn't the kind of image I meant to convey. I think the jerk deserves to be punished for terrorist threats, but that was an unnecessary hyperbole on my part.

As for discussions regarding ethics and games journalism, it is a very complicated issue. The thing that people do not seem to understand is that when the industry is so small, everyone knows each other. While this does leads credence to some arguments regarding game journalists and insiders getting too buddy-buddy with each other. At the same time, when those relationships go too far, it is extremely obvious. Fluff pieces read like fluff pieces. Anyone with a critical eye can detect them.

0:15:55 Chris has a bone to pick with Ubisoft.
Commenting on this story.

I think the problem with that story isn't that Ubisoft was running Unity at 900p, 30 FPS. The issue was that they used such a bullshit excuse for it. I think Chris would have been much less angry if Ubisoft just said "We can barely pull off 900p at 30 FPS, we can't do 60 FPS". It's not the technicality, it's the blatant disregard for the obvious truth of the matter.

0:21:35 We discuss Civil War in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Commenting on this story.

The Civil War will be coming to the Marvel movies. Whether or not you liked that plot line, it is hard to deny that it sold well. I personally loved it (even if I only learned about it via talks with friends and wikis), but Chris did not.

I think that kind of highlights an interesting discussion that could be had about how different types of audiences respond to the same stimuli in different ways. Chris, from what I gather about our conversations regarding Superman and the Marvel Civil War, really enjoys when comics are black and white, with easily distinguishable good and bad guys. I, on the other hand, love moral ambiguity in my fiction. I love scenes that show how somebody might think they are the hero, but fails to realize that the consequences for their actions make them out as villains to others. I love stories where everyone means well, but their actions result in a shitstorm that needs to be dealt with. Those are the kinds of stories and characters I like, because I kind them much more interesting.

We then discuss Marvel vs. DC in terms of movies, which is always a sad discussion to have, because DC sucks with regards to movies.

0:30:45 I have, after what seems like an incredibly long time, FINALLY beat Project X Zone.
An impressions piece on the game will be posted on this blog on Saturday, for those of you who want a more detailed write up on my opinions. Until then, I've think I said all that I wanted to say on that subject for now. Aside, of course, from the fact that I did not like this game at all.

And leave it up to Chris to mention Destiny in this discussion, somehow.

0:42:40 I am playing Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.
On some level, I understand where all the talk about Nocturne being difficult stems from. At the same time, I think much of that talk is unwarranted. While it definitely does not hold your hand, the game can be made easy if players are smart about the demons the recruit and fuse to the party.

It's not so much hard as that it gives players a lot of room for customization, and counts on them being smart enough to use that room to make a well-balanced party. Otherwise, the game will punish them for poor decision making. The Press Turn System, which I elaborated on in my Digital Devil Saga pieces.

So far, I've really enjoyed the game so far. Expect an impressions piece when I do eventually finish it.

It is only in hindsight that I realize that I took entirely too long to say my points. So by the time I finished, we needed to move on to somebody else.

0:55:45 Garrett does some programming in his game design class.
Again, it's interesting comparing Garrett's classes with my own. He is going for a dedicated game design degree. I, on the other hand, am going for a generalized Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science.

As a result, we learn a lot of same material, but it different ways. I didn't really get into the nitty-gritty of planning out systems and mechanics until later. For me, the coding came first. But for Garrett, the opposite is true. I've not much to say on the matter, but it could be worth further study by academics as to how each style affects the student being taught.

0:57:45 Garrett reveals his inner Japan/Korea-ophile.
In particular, we talk a bit about Gantz. I remember that I had a couple of friends from high school loving that series. I would only learn about it later by browsing TV Tropes. Seems like an interesting series, but like most manga, I do not have the time to decide to catching up.

1:08:30 Chris talks about upgrading his desktop.
The bottom line is that one should not cheap out on PC components. Just go whole hog and get the full upgrade. At that point, it'll save you massive headaches later.
Learn from Chris's mistakes as I intend too when I eventually have to go through this.

1:19:50 Chris talks about his internet troubles.
In which Chris and I pool our shared internet knowledge in what could be called the most informative segment we've ever had on this podcast.

1:25:00 We wrap up.
We'll a strange bunch, for sure.

Impressions #15: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2

Life has been pretty busy. Balancing school, work, and personal responsibilities/hobbies can get quite tiring at times. This is why I have been so slow in staying up-to-date lately, straying slightly from the 1 article per-week goal I set for myself. Having said that, I did manage to set aside the almost 40 hours necessary to complete Digital Devil Saga 2. Thus, my season of ATLUS continues relatively unhindered given the circumstances. Released in the second half of the same year as the first game, Digital Devil Saga 2 is a direct continuation. For the purpose of this article, I am going to assume that you have either already read my impressions of the first game or played it yourself.

As the word “Saga” might imply in the titles, both games are made to strongly compliment each other, best enjoyed in order. One of the things that I noticed when starting Digital Devil Saga 2 is that writers assume that the player beat the first game when they wrote the script for the sequel. Should that not be the case, the game will mostly just assume that the player will gleam most of that information from character interactions. Though not many things happened in the first Digital Devil Saga, it was an important piece of the puzzle because it helped to established the main cast of characters and the major plot points which would be capitalized on and explained in the sequel. Without that knowledge, players might still be able to follow the basic plot, but they will miss much of the subtext and background behind interactions between characters. Even at the start of the game, the story does not stop to establish the characters in the player party, their powers, and why they act the way they do. It is assumed that the player already knows this because of their time with the first game, and thus no further explanation is required.

Many of the mysteries established in the first game, such as Sera's mysterious origins and powers, why the Embryon and other characters from the Junkyard seem to remember pasts which they could not possibly have experienced, and what the Junkyard and Nirvana truly are get explained and expanded on. Again, though this information can be followed by someone who does not have experience with the first Digital Devil Saga, not having this pretense severely reduces the impact these reveals have. Eventually, everything is explained and the whole story comes together very nicely, with most loose ends tied together in a surprising denouement.

As far as the combat goes, the general gist of it is the same as it was in the first game, which I talked about in my last article. Having said that, I want to expound upon something I discussed in previously. In the Digital Devil Saga impressions piece, I mentioned that the game has an interesting difficulty curve where the beginning is very difficult because of your lack of skills, something which I have since taken to calling “Yukiko's Syndrome” after the legendarily difficult first boss fight of Persona 4. Without a variety of skills, it becomes difficult to exploit weakness and gain the extra turns needed to turn the tides in the player's favor. In fact, sometimes the lack of early-game abilities can mean that the player will be blocked and lose turns as a result. For this reason, some players might find it difficult to really dig into DDS and similar games. However, if they stick with it, they can often find that the game gets a lot easier, since they unlock more abilities. Ultimately, the ability selection unlocked will often be the primary factor determining player success, even moreso than character level. It is a interesting dynamic that is often present in Shin Megami Tensei games.

Aside from how combat previously went down, the game presents some new refinements to the mechanics. One of the biggest additions is Berserk Mode. In the original DDS, there was a Solar Noise meter that acted like the phases of the moon of a tradition SMT game, changing from 0 (MIN) to 8 (MAX) and back as players advanced in the dungeon. This meter represents the amount of solar data flowing out from the sun at a given point in time. In the original game, this had no real effect on anything besides the prices for vendor trash and very specific skills, so I did not comment on it. In this game, a new mechanic relies on Solar Noise. Should the player run into a random encounter during the state of MAX Solar Noise, there is a chance they will enter battle in a berserk state.

In these special battles, the party will be in unable to control their demon powers, entering a half-human, half-demon state. This state greatly enhances critical hit rate and allows all physical attacks to ignore resistances from enemies who can absorb/repel them. However, the accuracy of the party will greatly decrease and they can only use physical attacks, hunt attacks, and items. Further, defense is greatly reduced and no magic can be used in a berserk state. Should the party win a battle in Berserk Mode, the experience gained will be double the normal experience. Alternatively, if the player feels like they cannot win a fight, the rate of success for escaping battle rises to 100%. It is an interesting risk vs reward mechanic that can be both a blessing and a curse to the player.

One more thing that differentiates combat in DDS 2 from DDS 1 is party configurations. In the previous game, players could often get away with only having 3 characters that were their main fighters, leaving the rest to just faff about on the sidelines. Since party members would rarely ever leave the group for long periods of time, players could generally keep the same three party members for the whole game and experience no downsides. In Digital Devil Saga 2, this is much less safe, especially towards the end of the game. Towards the end, the game is much more willing to play around with party formations, and members will often leave for long stretches of time or force themselves onto the front-lines for a single boss battle, like the infamous Kimahri-only boss fight in Final Fantasy X. As a result, it is much more necessary to keep every character developing their skills at a steady rate. This can be difficult since reserve members do not gain experience (called Karma in-game) during a fight. However, there is a skill which can allow them to do so, which can help combat this problem. Since it is a fairly inexpensive skill that can be purchased early on in the game, most players will not feel the pinch. Still, that is a equipped skill slot going to waste to fix a problem that really should not be a problem in the first place.

In terms of character development, the Mantra system from DDS 1 returns, but with a twist. Previously, the mantra system resembled more of a chart, like the perk system in Skyrim. To unlock a given Mantra, it was mandatory to master all of the Mantra below it on the chart, getting all of those skills beforehand. Now, the Mantra system is much more of a grid, along the lines of the License Board system in Final Fantasy XII (although DDS 2 came first). When a given Mantra is mastered, every Mantra around it on the grid is unlocked for the character to purchase. There are even special Sealed Mantra on the grid that can only be unlocked when every Mantra around them is mastered by at least one member of the current party. All characters start somewhere close to the center, and have the ability to branch out from there in whatever way they choose. This results in much less restrictive system. Rather than having to expressly master every Earth-element spell to get to the more powerful ones, players can just find a path to a high-level Mantra around it, and master that one instead. This gives an incredible freedom when choosing how characters develop that is rarely seen in JRPGs.

And that freedom is required, because boss battles are even tougher this time around. In the first game, even if the player did not know what a (mini-)boss could do, they still might fare a decent chance against them with a generalized build designed to take down random encounters. While this is still true about half of the time in DDS 2, there are also many boss fights where it is necessary to either look them up in a walkthrough, or lose against them multiple times in order to figure out exactly how to handle them. Without the right ability setups, many boss fights can be said to be nearly impossible, particularly towards the end. The game trusts that by that point, the player has strongly diversified their skillset and has the tools to counter whatever comes their way. As a result, it has no qualms about throwing monsters with very specific weaknesses and attacks at the player. Every skill can be important at some point in the game, and keeping this in mind will make a huge difference in the long run.

At the end of the day, Digital Devil Saga 2 is a good game in its own right, but heavily relies on the previous entry in order to truly get the most out of it. It just barely has enough exposition to explain its story on its own, assisted in part with flashbacks to cutscenes from DDS 1. Having said that, the game plays well, and challenge remains constant, because a single battle can prove lethal to the unprepared. Fans of the Shin Megami Tensei games, or of difficult RPGs will find themselves welcome to the party. Others might struggle to enjoy it to the same degree.

Impressions #14: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga

My ATLUS binge has been progressing about as well as I expected. Since the games on my list are JRPGs, and I am now balancing a work and school schedule, I knew that playing through any one game would take some time. To not suspect that to be the case would be folly. Still, though it may have taken some doing, I have finally completed Digital Devil Saga. Released in 2005 for the PS2 in North America, Digital Devil Saga is much more of a traditional Shin Megami Tensei game than its Devil Summoner cousins. At the same time, it also sets itself apart in its own way.

One of the most unique aspects of the game is its story. Digital Devil Saga takes place in a post-apocalyptic hellscape known as The Junkyard. The player is handed the role of Serph, leader of the Embryon tribe, one of 6 large warring tribes in the junkyard. Devoid of emotions, the tribes fight one another in an attempt to kill the leaders of the other tribes. The last remaining tribe earns the right to ascend to the paradise of Nirvana. However, on one day, a bright light hits the bodies of every person in The Junkyard, branding them with special symbols. These symbols give the people human emotions and the ability to transform into demonic Atma Avatars, representing their inner selves. In exchange, they are given a compulsion to devour the flesh of other demons in order to strengthen their karma and gain additional powers. A mysterious girl appears at the same time, with the ability to suppress this innate hunger with her singing. With their world changed, Serph has to lead his tribe and attempt to reach Nirvana.

The setup is an incredibly intriguing one. The fact that the world is so incredibly different from our own, or any of the standard lists of typical RPG settings, can be off-putting at first. However, persistence through the game is rewarded with a very interesting character exploration. Since the characters are only just now starting to feel emotions, the player gets to see them grow and learn how and why they respond to certain stimuli. It is not something that many writers would dare to try, and fewer of which would get right. However, ATLUS does this job incredibly well.

Furthermore, there is an element of mystery to the story. Nobody knows who unleashed the light and why. The origins of the girl who can suppress the hunger are also unknown to the party. It is hinted that there are answers to these question, but the game does not outright state those answers. Presumably, this is because those answers will be made clear in Digital Devil Saga 2, the direct continuation of the story. Yes, the game is essentially a two-parter. As the first half of a two-part plot, the game does well enough to both be satisfying on its own and leave its sequel enough room to wrap up all of the loose ends. Although, I get the feeling that if I was not already aware that there was a direct sequel, I might be pretty peeved at the lack of a true denouement

Now, as far as combat goes, this game borrows a lot from other Shin Megami Tensei games, specifically Nocturne. Digital Devil Saga has adapted the Press Turn System from that game for its own use. Battles occur alternating between player and enemy turns. On the player's turn, they get one action for each ally character. Each character acts in a sequence determined by the player prior to the fight. In most circumstances, an action will consume an entire turn. However, if an attack manages to exploit an enemy weakness (or if a physical attacks becomes a critical hit), then only half of a turn will be expended. Should other half-turns be in play, then the half-turn will be taken from a full-turn instead. Alternatively, should an attack miss or get nullified by the foe's innate resistances, then the attack will expend two turns. A repelled or absorbed attacked will end the round entirely, as will running out of turns. A player can also strategically make the decision to pass the character's turn, only expending a half-turn, to give other teammates the chance to attack weaknesses. Enemies are just as beholden to these rules as players are during their phase, though they cannot pass turns.

This system is ultimately the crux of why the game can be either one of hardest or one of the easiest games out there. With the right skill-sets, parties can absolutely crush the opposition by mercilessly going after vulnerabilities and gaining many extra turns. However, an incorrect setup can quickly leave the party overwhelmed by wasted turns, leaving enemies the chance to capitalize on their misfortune. It is up to the player to make sure that they remain fully aware of the elemental properties of their enemies and adjust their setup accordingly, else they will not succeed. Particularly on bosses, it was not atypical for me to spend my first attempt just trying to figure out what attacks will/won't work on an enemy in order to adjust my build for the second attempt. Ultimately, this means that the early game can be brutal, simply due to a lack of skills. At the same time, the end game can be shockingly easy if the player has spent their time diversifying their party's abilities, given them a wide variety to select from.

Speaking of which, skill and character development is handled differently in Digital Devil Saga than they are in most Shin Megami Tensei games. In most SMT games, the player character must capture demons to add to their party. Those demons come with skills, strengths, and weaknesses, forming the basis of their setups. Though fusion, players have another way to customize their demons and further refine their party build.

This is not the case in Digital Devil Saga. Each character only has a single demon form, which will not change at all for the duration of the game. Unless the party is ambushed, they will transform into demons at the start of the fight and begin battle. Since no extra demons are obtained, skills are acquired in a different way. Instead, the players spend money (called “Macca”) in order to purchase Mantra at Karma Terminals (aka Save Points). With an unmastered Mantra, a party member will gain Atma Points towards the mastery of it. When enough Atma is acquired, the Mantra is mastered, new Mantra that required it as a pre-requisite are unlocked, and the skills the are governed by that Mantra are taught to the player character. All characters have access to the same mantra list, regardless of the statistical or elemental affinities. Therefore, each character can learn every skill in the game, given enough time and investment.

But gaining Atma just by fighting battles is a slow process, even with certain skills speeding it up. Having said that, there is a way to make it quicker. Certain skills, referred to as “Hunt” skills, exist in the game. If an enemy is defeated by a “Hunt” skill, then the character who delivered the attack will devour them, gaining much more Atma than they normally would. However, there is always a chance that the party member will suffer a stomachache, preventing them from gaining any Atma and giving them a chance to pass a turn. These “Hunt” skills are normally very impotent on their own. However, if any enemy has their weakness exploited, there is a chance that they will become “frightened”, which triples the damage of a Hunt attack. Should the attack also have an instant death chance, that chance rises to 100% on a frightened foe.

In order to stay ahead of enemies, it is important to constantly devour as many foes as possible in the game. The mechanics of these actions reinforce the characters constant need to eat in order to satiate their hunger, without burdening the player with any needless status ailments. Further, it fits right into the combat system by given the player additional reasons to play well and exploit weaknesses. It can even result in interesting scenarios where the player needs to choose between ending a battle swiftly or deliberately prolonging it in order to get a shot at a successful hunt. The chance to successfully hunt an enemy can even make some players look forward to the next battle, despite the needlessly high encounter rate. Overall, the hunting mechanic feeds well into the rest of the game.

Digital Devil Saga did a great job of reiterating on the core themes and mechanics of Shin Megami Tensei in what was, at the time, a new and interesting way. For this reason, it still holds up well at the time of writing, 9 years later. Though I did not attempt it in my playthrough, I should also make mention of the fact that this game is infamous for having one of the most difficult optional boss fights in the history of JRPGs. It exists for players who, unlike me, exist solely to keep challenging themselves with more and more brutal obstacles. For this reason, I can recommend the game to any JRPG fan. Those who like it easy will just need to be aware of a need to grind (though I finished the main story in only 35 hours), but players looking for a challenge will be well served by the optional content scattered throughout the game.

Impressions #13: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. King Abaddon

As many of the people who know me are aware, I am what one might consider to be an “ATLUS-faithful”. ATLUS is one of my favorite developers because of how they shamelessly stick to the things that make old-school JRPGs charming, while reinventing the other aspects as they see fit. I make no secret of the fact that Persona 4 is in close competition as one of my all-time favorite games (following behind Dark Cloud 2 and Wild Arms 3). Having said that, there are still many Shin Megami Tensei games that I have never played before. As a result, I have been trying to “catch up” on the games that I missed. This process is started by the game I will be talking about in this post: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. King Abaddon (RK2). This is the direct sequel to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. The Soulless Army, a game I played a long time ago, back when it was released on the PS2. The game, and its predecessor, are unique for not only how they continue on the traditions of the SMT franchise, but also in how they defy other such traditions.

One of the biggest differences between RK2 and other SMT games is the difference in the overall tone. Shin Megami Tensei games tend to have very dark outlooks of the world and the themes they use. Devil Summoner is different in this regard. Instead of conforming to the bleakness of the franchise, the overall tone falls more into the realm of camp. It feels more at home being compared to an anime from the 70s than it does an SMT story. The premise of the game alone, being that a shadowy group of hillbilly ninjas is threatening the Capital of Japan by using specialized insects to steal people's luck and the player acts as a demon summoner/detective who is on the case, is a prime example of this. The game is fully aware of how absurd it is, and reveals in that absurdity.

The setting bolsters this uniqueness, taking place in 1930s-Japan. Very few games actually use this era in Japanese history as their backdrop, which makes Devil Summoner 2 even more interesting. Most SMT games take place in either the modern world or in a post-apocalyptic near-future, and most JRPGs take place in a classic fantasy. With this period, RK2 provides an interesting glimpse into Japanese history, when looking at how people interact with each other and the world around them. Not to say that it is completely historically accurate, as I sincerely doubt 1930s-Japan was plagued by demons and evil insects that steal luck. However, the fact that it takes advantage of an underused setting gives the Raidou Kuzunoha sub-franchise a look and feel all its own.

Another difference between RK2 and most other SMT games is the combat. Where most Shin Megami Tensei games are turn-based in their combat, Devil Summoner 2, like its predecessor, takes place in real time. Bringing two demons in battle, the protagonist comes equipped with a sword and gun. He can command his demons to use their skills, which consume his magical energies. If their attacks exploit a weakness, the enemy will be stunned. Further attacks on a foe in a stunned state will result in them releasing magical energy. In other words, if the player keeps exploiting weaknesses, they can use skills almost infinitely. The player can also guard attacks to reduce damage and hide demons from attacks to keep them alive. It is fairly intuitive system that never gets particularly difficult. As a consequence, there is no challenge to it. Once the player is aware of a enemies weakness, it is simply a matter of using the correct moves and then mashing the attack button. While it works, it is only interesting enough to keep players progressing through the story, which is the clear highlight.

Having said all of that, the game is still a Shin Megami Tensei game at its core. As is typical of games bearing that distinction, enlisting and summon mythical creatures from various religions and mythologies (SMT throws them all under the blanket term “demons”) to aid the protagonist. During a random encounter, players can choose to halt the battle in order to talk to the demons that they are fighting against. If the conversation goes well, they can begin negotiations with their enemy. When the player acquiesces to the demands set forth by the other party, they will join up with the protagonist and become part of the player party. New demons can also be acquired by fusing other demons in their employ. Should they register their creatures before they either fuse or dismiss them from service, then they can even pay to have them added back into the roster, with the stats they possessed at the time of registration.

These demons also serve as they way players progress through the game. Of course, their primary purpose is to help form the player's fighting party. Every demon has their own strengths and weaknesses. It is up to the player to switch in/out the ones which are best suited to the current situation. For example, a demon who excels at fire magic will generally be strong against demons with wings, but not against those with ice magic. However, this is not their only purpose mid-battle. Should the player choose to begin conversation and negotiation, their demons can help assist in the conversation. Each one has their own conversational skill, and those skills have different effects on different demons. Lastly, they are also used during exploration, as their abilities can either destroy certain obstacles in the field or get to locations the protagonist is unable to go to themselves. When playing the game, the player needs to consider all three avenues of usefulness when constructing their party. In some cases, it might be a good idea to keep a very low-level demon because they possess abilities, either in negotiations or in the field, which make them useful. The system is very interesting and requires a lot of thought from the player.

Although the monsters are clearly the star of the show most of the time, the protagonist is no less important. In classic SMT fashion, the player character is a bit of a blank slate, with a set backstory to help facilitate immersion in the story. The character in question is a high school student (although that fact rarely ever comes up) who has been training his whole life to live as a Devil Summoner. Though the player gives him a true name, he has attained the rank and title of Great Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha the XIVth, tasked with protecting the Capital from demonic and supernatural threats. As a cover, he works part-time at a detective agency, to give him a plausible reason to conduct his investigations into these threats.

What makes him a particularly intriging protagonist, and fairly in line with what players expect from a Shin Megami Tensei game, is that while his actions in the game plot do not change, the player is ultimately who decides what his motivations are. Throughout the game, players make dialog choices for the lead character. As these decisions are made, the game adjusts the protagonists alignment on a scale of Law and Chaos. No matter what, he is a good person trying to help the people. The real choice is between why he does it. Does he do what he does simply because he has accepted the responsibility of being Raidou Kuzunoha and all that title entails? Or is he simply using the mantel as a means to protect the people because that is what his true desire are, ready to abandon the role if it no longer suited that purpose? Or does the answer lie somewhere in the middle? The game does not judge either side of Law or Chaos particularly harshly, and shows the positives and negatives of both types of virtuousness. The characters who represent Law and Chaos in the narrative are readily aware of the advantages of the other side and the flaws they possess. It never feels heavy handed and is actually quite maturely handled.

Overall, while Devil Summoner 2 has flaws, it is a unique and interesting enough game that it feels like a breath of fresh air. I enjoyed it for most of my playthrough, only getting annoyed at the length of the final dungeon. For the price you get it on the PlayStation Network now, I would say it is easily worth the investment. Though it is different from standard SMT games in many ways, it used the more familiar elements to make franchise fans feel just as at home as they would be in other games. Newcomers to the franchise are best served by playing either this, its predecessor, or Persona 3/4 because they are by far more friendly to new players than other games in the franchise are. After that, they might want to consider jumping off into the more difficult ATLUS games.

The Texture Pop: Episode 5: The Late Late Late Show

You guys are probably wondering why it took so long to post this episode. That is a perfectly valid question. The reason for that is that since Sam was late to the recording session, Chris had to take up the slack and perform hosting duties.

However, since Sam is the editor as well, Chris had to send him all of the audio files and has too busy to do it promptly. Once Sam got it, his work kept him too occupied to do much with it as well. That also explains why the title isn't that great this week either.

Further, since Chris's connection is worse than Sam's, there may be a drop in this episode's audio quality. I apologize on both my behalf and the behalf of the others for this.

Also, we have a guest today. My good friend Nick joined us for this cast. We'll likely consider bringing other guests in from our friends list because why not.

Having said that:



And the MP3 version can be found here. (When it goes up...)

0:00:00 Introduction
This rather unprofessional nature of this introduction can again be chalked up to the rather scatter-shot nature of the recording. We were kinda just winging it, which explains a lot of the awkward pauses and what-not.

0:03:00 We talk about seismic emergencies across the world.
And I'm honestly not entirely sure why.

0:04:45 We talk about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie (and Marvel comic books... and Hollywood)
Honestly, the thing about making Johnny Storm/Human Torch a black man that bothers me is that if they do that, than they might as well make Susan Storm/Invisible Woman (his sister) black as well. Feels like a wasted opportunity to me.
Like I said, I am okay with movie makers re-imagining old characters and putting them in new situations. However, this just feels a bit too textbook Hollywood to me. Far too safe for its own good, despite how different it is.

This does bring up a question though, why DOES Sony want the rights to Spidey so badly? It's not like he's bringing in a whole lot of money for them anymore. It would probably be best for anyone if they just stopped making Spidey movies.

The "laughing scene" I was talking about during this segment, in comparison to Spider-man 3's jazz scene, was the scene from Final Fantasy X. You know the one. My horrible voice combined with Chris's internet made that hard to hear.
Here is the picture of The Thing's look that Nick was talking about.

0:20:45 Chris's internet craps out and briefly ruins the Skype call.
Which is why Chris doesn't host often...

0:22:30 Nick talks about his week.
And we didn't really go into detail about much.
One thing we did go into briefly was Phil Fish. I hope that, for his sake, that he stays out of the industry. No matter what he says, he's going to get shit. That may be deserved on occasion, but not all the time.
We also talked briefly about X-Com and it's expansion.

0:29:30 Nick plays Elder Scrolls Online.
This goes into a broader discussion about MMOs in general.
Also, we go into an Elder Scrolls discussions briefly. For reference, the quest I'm referring to is this week. Like I said in the cast, I like Oblivion a bit more because it's quest design is a lot more interesting than Skyrim's.

0:40:05 Garrett talks about his week.
The train did come through, Chris. Choo choo!

0:40:30 Garrett plays Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer
And good god I hate this topic. I know it's been years since the controversy was a big thing, but Mass Effect 3 still gets under my skin. It was that perfect, critical mass, where everything went wrong in all sorts of ways at the same time.
The multiplayer was just a symptom of that in my opinion. While still good, it felt super tacked on. I had the impression that, like the weapon crafting in Dead Space 3, it exists only for the microtransactions. The article I mentioned (here) talks about the sliminess of them a bit more. Even worse is that it's not for a F2P game, but for a game you're expected to put $60 down for.

0:46:00 Garret and I talk about bows and archery.
I don't consider myself much of an outdoors-man, but it is fun to shoot arrows at a target. It's much more of a mental activity than a physical one, at least for me. I often think back to my physics classes when shooting.
We also went into a discussion about all the various recent games that used bows in some capacity.

0:50:30 Sam joins us.
And Chris's internet REALLY impacts the cast here.

0:53:00 Garrett talks about Clive Barker's Jericho
And likes it more than most people.

0:58:00 I played Project X Zone.
It's an interesting game, to be sure. If I'm being honest, the whole crossover thing doesn't hold my interest as much as I thought it would. It gets a little monotonous the farther you go, because every chapter is more of the same. I'll keep playing because I need something to do on my commutes, but otherwise I don't know how much I'd play it.

1:03:10 Chris, Sam, and I play Dragon's Crown.
Chris and I have even played a few matches.
This game's art direction is equal parts amazing and off-putting to me. On one hand, the environments are cool and some of the characters look really nice. On the other hand, many characters just look so disproportional that it's almost comical.
I still think it's silly that you have to unlock going online. I should like to ask the developers why they decided to do that. The answer is bound to be interesting. Other strange decisions also crop up, especially with regards to online play and pacing, which make it an interesting game to talk about.
Still, I cannot deny that the game is super fun. It's a great brawler/RPG hybrid. The animation is fluid and the gameplay is solid. Playing with friends is awesome, and the risk/reward system encourages you to keep playing as much as possible. It's a game that works in many ways, despite its polarizing art style.

1:24:50 I play Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon.
What many people may not know is that the Megami Tensei series actually pre-dates Poke'mon in the monster capture. Only instead of capturing cute animal creatures, you capture gods and demons from various world religions (which is more awesome in my opinion).
Out of all the SMT games, the Raidou Kuzuhona sub-franchise is one of the better games to introduce someone into the franchise as a whole. Having said that, it is still an SMT game and has some of their usability issues.
I do like how the game encourages you to have a party that is balanced between combat, investigation, and negotiation ability. Lacking in any one aspect will cripple another aspect in some way, so keeping them in balance is the key.

1:34:50 I switch from Twitter's site to Tweetdeck.
As much as I like Twitter, I'm getting tired of all the shit they are trying to do with it. I don't care about what other people are favoriting. I don't need them to censor my feed like Facebook does. All I need is for them to do what they've been doing. It's like YouTube in that every update is making it worse and worse.

1:40:10 Chris plays Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls
It's actually really interesting to note how much they've changed Diablo 3 since launch day. When that game launched, it was an absolute mess. I mean the DRM is still on it, but at least they got rid of the auction house.
It seems like every time microtransactions enter the equation, the developers make their game worse to help justify spending money. Not to say that developers are actively doing this, just that it subconsciously breeds that mentality.

1:48:15 Chris gets a really bad acid burn at work.
Fortunately, he'll be fine. I just hope that it heals quickly and it doesn't scar.

1:52:10 Sam picked up his Vita and played Muramasa: Rebirth
And we spend a lot of time just gushing about that game (and Vanillaware in general) without saying much of substance in this conversation.
We did mention how important it can be to consider usability and other features like subtitles and rebindable controls. It's amazing how not doing small things like that make things work so much better.

1:59:10 Sam talks about how the Vita is doing well.
Compared to how bad some of those old, launch window Vita games were (like Uncharted and AC: Liberation), a lot of the ports and newer Vita games are doing so much better. I can safely recommend the Vita now, because what it does, it does very well.

2:08:35 Sam talks about computer gaming accessories.
And I make fun of him. Can you tell which one of us more serious about PC Gaming?
We also talk stupid titles for PC Gaming Keyboards/Mice. I think "corporate cool" is the best way to think about these kinds of titles. It's clearly trying to look "cool" for younger audiences, but it gives off the impression of trying too hard.

2:17:45 Viewer Question
"Do you think Doom would be a better game if it stayed true to Tom Hall's vision, or do you think it's simplicity was one of the reasons it was so successful to begin with?"
Honestly, I think Hall's vision wouldn't have work. It was too ahead of it's time. In this era, it might work. Back then, it wouldn't have. I submit System Shock 1's failure as evidence supporting my opinion on this matter. System Shock 1 had something more akin to Hall's vision, and it failed. In retrospect, people enjoy it. At the time, it wasn't highly rated. As much as I don't like to admit it, the evidence supports that line of thinking.
Nowadays, that flat out would not work. Games need a story to tie them together today. As a result, the old school mechanical thinking no longer applies. Games have changed a lot in recent years, and their presentations have to change along side them.
The Super Bunny Hop episode Sam refers to is here.

And the podcast cuts off. Again, this is because of the "seat of pants" way we recorded this episode. I apologize for it and promise we'll make up for the low quality next week!