Review: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2)

You are cast as the leader of Serph, one of several tribes in an area dubbed the Junkyard. The opening sequence is a real head turner, as it sets alight the imagination. Unfortunately an incident has left demon marks on the majority of inhabitants of this godforsaken land. Conflicts and tribalism were the daily routine of life as each tribe sought to overcome others with the ultimate aim of controlling all of the Junkyard. This in turn would allow the ruling tribe to go forth to Nirvana, and leave behind their despairing existence. The Church of Karma propels each tribe to conflict with the promise of Nirvana and salvation for the controlling tribe. As the only real influence on each of the tribes – and the only neutral ground in the game – the Church has a pivotal role.

The arrival of the demons marks has upset the delicate balance, and created a new impetuous to reach Nirvana – and given birth to an unquenchable hunger to become stronger through consumption. The Embryon tribe respects Serph’s will to conquer, but your hope is to remove the marks, and return to normality. There are other matters to consider on route, such as the strange girl within your ranks (who was born from a demon egg), and, well, that would be spoiling things wouldn’t it?

Having played through Nocturne previously, it is easily to see the similarities between it and Digital Devil Saga; two hatched plots, with so much in common and the same atmosphere. It is disappointing to recognise many of the opponents (in random battles) that have been uprooted from Nocturne and placed into this release. The distinct visual style is again reminiscent, as is the overview maps and menus you utilise. With so much flair for creating unique characters and settings, Gamestyle hoped that Atlus could have injected far more originality into the all too frequent opponents, but alas it wasn’t to be.

Such random battles are unfortunately all too frequent in this release. While Digital Devil Saga does include an automatic fight option (allowing you to sit back and watch), the party AI is sadly missing. This forces you to intervene or just ignore the option all together, as straightforward battles are turned into a slog. The combat system is reminiscent once again, but being based on a solid RPG fighting system is at least a decent foundation. There are twists in store, as surprise attacks can leave your party feeling vulnerable in their human (and not demon) form. Rather than immediately transforming into your demon curse, there are unique attacks for individuals and the group as a whole in their weakened humanoid form.

Characters are levelled up through experience, which allows you to assign points to their demon characteristics. Although (again) you have no control over your followers – only Serph can be upgraded to your desire. There is a sphere system on offer, which allows you to guide each character. By ingesting opponents, you receive energy (Atma), which can be dispensed to purchase special ability spheres. Sometimes these can be gained through experience, but for the most part it’s a buying process.

Digital Devil Saga falls into the Zelda trap by giving each tribe a dungeon that you must overcome. These can be extreme in size, but any irritation is magnified by detrimental reliance on constant battles. The cynic in Gamestyle suggests that this is a poor attempt to boost the lifespan of the title, as developments in the story are drip fed to you in a dehydrating style. Many RPG’s these days (in Gamestyles’ view) benefit from taking a break, and returning (refreshed) to take on another enemy base.

This is an extremely slick release, and one from a confident developer. The loading is minimal; the cel-shaded graphics are subtle, detailed, but distinctive. Only the camera during on-foot sections, dares to irritate as it defaults behind the character when entering and leaving rooms. The soundtrack is barely noticeable, as it strengthens the atmosphere of the release by lingering in the background until needed. The voice acting is also above average – for those rare moments of plot development.

Despite all the positive aspects of Digital Devil Saga, it is relatively too close to Nocturne, which in itself was an epic release. This makes it extremely hard to recommend to all but the committed RPG player. In comparison DDS lacks that epic feel, and can be judged as the RPG version of the Empire Strikes Back - setting up the grand finale.

Having spent considerable hours grinding through DDS, the ending does come as an anti-climax. The only consolation is that the sequel will award bonuses if it reads a DDS save on your memory card. Gamestyle hopes that the finale is worth the time and effort spent reaching it.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Jason Julier