Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a 2009 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS. It is a spin-off within the wider Megami Tensei series. An expanded version subtitled Overclocked was released on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan and North America by Atlus in 2011, and in Europe by Ghostlight in 2013. Following a group of teenagers in Tokyo who are trapped inside a government lockdown following an invasion of demons, the gameplay is divided between story events tied to an in-game clock, and tactical grid-based combat with a turn-based battle system. Which events and battles are completed can unlock different endings.
Devil Survivor was developed by veterans of the Growlanser series, with the goal being to expand the Megami Tensei series to a wider audience. Its gameplay was reworked to appeal to newcomers, and the character were designed by light novel artist Suzuhito Yasuda. The storyline, which was inspired by Biblical texts, caused problems due to its size and structure. The music was primarily composed by Takami Asano of Japanese rock band Godiego. Sales exceeded Atlus's expectations, and the game was praised for its storyline and gameplay design, though its graphics drew mixed reactions. Overclocked was also praised, but critics noted a lack of new features. The game was adapted into multiple other media including a manga. A sequel, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2, was released in 2011.
Gameplay
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a tactical role-playing game in which players take on the role of a silent protagonist after they are trapped in a lockdown within Tokyo. The game takes place across seven days, and is divided into two modes: location visits and story sequences which take up half an hour of the in-game timer, and combat encounters either tied to the story or within a free battle arena. All characters are portrayed using sprite-based graphics on the field and static character portraits during dialogue. Some story events take place at the same time, with choosing one removing the other. The player can also skip time to the next main story battle.Combat is divided into two halves: the combat arena viewed from a top-down perspective on a grid, and battles between parties which are portrayed in first person: combat information is split between the Nintendo DS's two screens. The player controls up to four units made up of a human character and two assigned demons, who are positioned before the start of battle and can move, perform special out-of-battle skills, and engage in combat once per turn. Each action has a Turn Cost, which impacts the character's placement in the battle's turn order timeline.
In combat, the game switches to a first-person view for a turn-based battle: each side is given one round of turns: actions include standard physical attacks, skills which cost health or magic to cast and can either deal damage, heal or alter statistics, or using items. The player can select an auto-battle option, or control the battle manually. Both player and enemy parties consist of a leader and two other fighters, with the leader's defeat automatically winning the battle. Landing critical hits or exploiting weaknesses grants an extra combat round. The game ends if a predetermined battle condition is failed, or all characters are defeated.
Combat rewards the in-game currency Macca and experience points to all party members, with actions such as eliminating all members of an enemy team and how much damage was taken impacting the reward. Upon leveling up, the protagonist is allocated skill points which can be allocated by the player to adjust their statistics, with other characters and demons having pre-determined statistical gains. Human characters gain new active and passive skills from enemies using Skill Crack, where they target a skill from a specified unit, then must defeat that unit with the assigned squad. Once cracked, the player can assign these skills across all human characters.
The party's first demons are recruited during the prologue battle after defeating them. Demons level up alongside the human characters, and can be taugnt new skills using magnatite earned from battles. The two ways of gaining new demons are the Demon Auction House, and Demon Fusion. At the Auction House, the player bids against AI-controlled characters for demons using macca, either outbidding other parties or buying the demon outright. Demon Fusion is done through the Cathedral of Shadows, where two demons can be fused to create a new demon: the demon can either be in the party roster or summoned from the Demon Compendium for a price. As part of the Fusion, the player can choose skills the new demon will inherit from its parent demons.
The game's overall story is non-linear, and choices made earlier in the game can affect which characters and battles are available in later sections and which ending the player unlocks. There is a New Game Plus unlockable upon completing the game, with its implementation being different depending on the version of Devil Survivor: the original release automatically carries over some elements into a new campaign, while the expanded Overclocked release has players use points awarded by completing tasks during the playthrough to select their bonuses.
Synopsis
Setting and characters
Devil Survivor is set in modern day Tokyo within the Yamanote Line. Due to the game's events, which see an outbreak of demons, the Japanese government and Self-Defense Forces place the area within the Yamanote Line into lockdown under the pretence of a major gas leak, cutting off electricity and basic services. The situation worsens when people use a program in their COMPs, small portable gaming devices, to make contracts with demons and use them to fight both other demons and humans within the lockdown area. When the demons appear, everyone gets a "Death Clock", a unusually-invisible timer counting down seven days when everyone within the Yamanote Line will die.The game's silent protagonist is a high school student who receives exclusive warning messages from his COMP's Laplace Mail service, and can see the Death Clock counters. The protagonist is joined by his high school friends, Atsuro Kihara and Yuzu Tanikawa. During the seven days they meet and can team up with a number of other characters including Atsuno's timid school friend Keisuke Takagi, cosplay idol Midori Komaki, gang leader Tadashi "Kaido" Nikaido, pop singer Yoshino "Haru" Haruzawa, bar owner Eiji "Gin" Kamiya, elementary school teacher Mari Mochizuki, and Self-Defense Forces soldier Misaki Izuna. Key characters are Naoya, the protagonist's cousin and a programmer who created the COMP's demon summoning functions; and Amane Kuzuryu of the Shomonkai religious cult.
Plot
One day, the protagonist and his friends Atsuro and Yuzu are given modified electronic devices called COMPs by the protagonist's cousin Naoya. Shortly afterwards, a demon outbreak occurs, prompting the lockdown of Tokyo and trapping many including the three within the Yamanote Line. In the aftermath, vigilante groups emerge, the COMPs are shown able to recruit friendly demons to fight enemies, and the protagonist becomes able to see counters over people's heads indicating when they will die. Using this skill the protagonist can change the fate of multiple characters including Haru and Keisuke. Early on the three learn from Keisuke that everyone within the quarantine will die within seven days. After defeating the powerful demon Beldr, the protagonist is recruited into the War of Bel, an effort by humans including the Shomonkai cult and their priestess Amane to gain access to the mystical Throne of Bel.The lockdown is revealed to have been triggered by a planned battle between factions, with the aim of judging humanity's worth. If the demons remain in Tokyo by the seventh day, the angels will destroy humanity, while the Japanese government knew of the event and has put in contingency plans to destroy Tokyo before the apocalypse can be triggered. Naoya and the protagonist meet on the fifth day, when Naoya reveals he and the Shomonkai created the COMPs to trigger demon summonings and trigger the lockdown, with Naoya seeking to have the protagonist ascend the Throne of Bel. Depending on the route, Naoya and the protagonist are revealed to be incarnations of Cain and Abel, with Naoya seeking vengeance for Cain's downfall. Amane seeks to create a peaceful world under angelic rule, Yuzu wants to escape the lockdown, Atsuro wants to take control of the demons in humanity's name, while Gin wants to banish the demons and return Tokyo to normal.
Depending on the choices made during the seven days, and the characters the protagonist saves, different endings are unlocked on the seventh day. An early ending is unlocked by following civilian demon tamers through a break in the quarantine, failing the trial and costing humanity its free will. A second similar ending on the seventh day has Yuzu convince the protagonist to break through the quarantine by force, allowing demons to escape and trigger the apocalypse. If the protagonist chooses to approach the Throne of Bel, the demon invasion is stopped in multiple ways: the protagonist can side with Amane and the angels as a representative of God; with Naoya as the Demon Overlord to declare war on Heaven; with Atsuro to reprogram the COMPs and enslave demons in service of a third technological revolution; or with Gin and Haru to permanently banish demons from the human realm while still passing the trial.
The "8th Day" scenario of Overclocked depicts new events following Yuzu's, Naoya's and Amane's endings. In Yuzu's path, following their escape and being branded as terrorists by the government, the party returns to the lockdown and defeats Belberith, patron of the Shomonkai: depending on the completion of a side quest, demons either continue to invade or are barred from the world. In Naoya's route, the protagonist's party must fight the angel Metatron, who is prolonging the lockdown to hunt the new Demon Overlord: the protagonist's actions of either killing or sparing Metatron's agents influence how he rules Earth after defeating Metatron. In Amane's route, the protagonist's efforts to further God's rule are resisted by Japan's creator deity Okuninushi, who demands that the protagonist guide Naoya to salvation: the protagonist succeeds and Naoya helps defeat Okuninushi.