Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker is the enhanced port of devil survivor 2 exclusively for Nintendo 3DS. As mentioned the game is not just a port but an enhanced version similar to ‘Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor Overclocked’ whcih was also an enhanced port – with fond memories. If you do not know what to expect from a game that has the Megami Tensei name attached to it, it is a tactic JRPG where you have to defend yourself from demons with demons.
The story, well, there are two, the original story from the main game which starts when you, the silent main protagonist and your two friends see your own death in a death video via a death video YouTube like clip via a program called Nicaea. As the train comes crashing through and almost killing you, you save yourself by summoning demons using a summoning app that summons demons to fight for you getting you involved with a whole heap of problems that just seem to escalate. You are left asking questions like why is this happening, what are these demons and how are you going to survive, let alone find a solution to this apocalyptic castrophy. The formula for the story has not particularly changed from the first game on the starting premise, however, towards the end things change a little and the story takes a very interesting twist with some of the characters being “Villains” depending on what you have done to set your end game. Also, like the previous game, it has retained those great characters that you still feel for and start to get a little attached too ,and get super annoyed at when you do not quite get to them fast enough and they end up splattered across a wall. Maybe picking the fe-male Nicaea assistant was a mistake to with her overzealous happiness, but even she has her charm that you get used to. This is not the only story, as the enhanced port has a second campaign that you can play from the start which takes place after the seventh day in the original campaign. Well, to technically start “again” I feel going more into this would probably spoil it too much – needless to say the mystery never ends.
The gameplay does not stray too far from the original if you have played it and is an improvement on the first devil survivor game. With each fight taking place on a map like a standard tactical RPG with the occasional changing parameters such as to win you must “make sure all civilians are saved” or “do not let Daichi die” there is not much more to explain. Things do get a bit more complicated with the fusing of demons as like in the previous first game you could acquire them via the demon auction house or summoning past demons you summoned. You can now, also improve on the fusion process by adding add-ons which can buff anything from a bonus level for the monster to a random fire type skill. Also, with the introduction of the fate system which enables you to see how strong your bond is with members that are in your group and the bonus that comes with the strong bonds you share now your dialogue choices have a direct effect on the choices you can make in combat. This is made even more relevant with the fact that each action you make uses time, which you only get a certain amount of – kind of like in real life. Another awesome feature that I cannot quite remember if it was present in the second devil survivor is the choice of difficulty as you can select either blessed or apocalyptic difficulty. This was nice as it allowed me to get back into the whole effectively making the right demons for the task with the ability to temporally change the difficulty down and then put it back up after that little road bump. The game is also quite forgiving if you fail a mission as you get to re-start it with everything you have accumulated during the failed skirmish such as cracked skills, experience and levels and that good old demon money macca.
Aesthetically the improvement from the original is slightly noticeable, the character design still retains their look, so do not worry if you are worried about that favourite character getting a re-design, and everything just looks a little fresher. One noticeable improvement however is the fact that almost all the dialogue is voice acted with English voice actors, which sounds great. In-fact I think the only dialogue that you do not hear is the occasional lines you hear in combat. The sound, like the aesthetics, also feels a little tuned up and works well just like the original with the interesting mix of genres.
Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker is a great game to play if you have played the first Devil Survivor or the Overclocked version and enjoyed it craving more or even if you are a fan of simple tactic RPG games. Also with the addition of a second campaign and the introduction of small new features such as how spotpass and street pass has been integrated I would also recommend playing it if you played the original Devil Survivor 2 as the extra content really adds more to the game.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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