First Impressions: You…you…you demon baby eater!
After years of being left in the dark, the Western world is finally getting their crack at the Shin Megami Tensei franchise – known as MegaTen to the hardcore. Though new to us, SMT’s events began many years ago, on the NES, and since then RPG purists have wondered exactly when this beloved Japanese RPG series would find its way here; of course, the cultist/satanic undertones didn’t exactly help our chances. Now though, Atlus has deemed us worthy of playing the Shin Megami Tensei saga, in two different forms. Firstly is the recently released Nocturne (which you will see a review of very soon here at GT), and this game, the ‘side story’ Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, or DDS: Avatar Tuner if you’re nasty. A strange mix of turn-based battling and…uh…demon consumption, DDS is a strange breed of role-playing, but one that has potential to be yet another cult favorite from cult-favorite publisher Atlus. Due in February 2005, Digital Devil Saga, like Nocturne, hopes to carve a niche in the west for the MegaTen, and create a strong fanbase for the future.
In DDS, the main character is Serph, a member of a group called Embryon. Serph and his friends are out battling some crazy religious war, they come upon a weird…plant, I guess, and are unconsciously transformed into demons. When they come to, they not only see this bizarre plant has disappeared and in its place lies an unusual woman, but also notice they’re quite hungry…hungry for some demons. The Embryons take the girl to their base before heading out to figure out exactly what happened to them. And so, Serph and his buddies now go out into the world eating stuff and probably ripping the world to shreds at the same time, going by MegaTen standards. From early impressions, DDS appears to be much more character-driven than Nocturne is, with actual voice acting and more modern RPG advancements (Nocturne has no voices). Though technically considered a side-story, it looks like Atlus is hoping to spin the Digital Devil Saga franchise into something that stands on its own.
The battle system of DDS is fairly traditional, using the standard turn-based system, but with a few new tricks. When a battle starts, your characters automatically form into their demon appearance, prepared to battle, cast magic, use items, and whatnot. The special thing you can do as a demon, however? Chow. Basically, the party can honest-to-goodness eat other demons to raise their new levels and learn new skills. A bit strange, yes, but creative at the same time. However, you can revert to human form, but you cannot devour demons anymore; instead you use traditional guns and various weapons. Characters can even combine moves a la Shadow Hearts: Covenant in human form, which leads to some unique strategic possibilities, especially given how challenging MegaTen games tend to be. Needless to say the battle system will offer many possibilities and some real depth.
