New SMT game - Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs Avadon King

[CoffeeEdge]

Seems like Persona gets all the attention these days, but I'm a big fan of Devil Summoner, myself (I have the Saturn original, somewhere...).

Anyways, the sequel to Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army was just unveiled in the latest Famitsu. It's called Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs Avadon King:

http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m400/tallg3/1217392417874.jpg


Looking forward to this one.

[Gabers]

Holy hell.. look at that face. Kazuma Kaneko is either losing his touch or someone else is handling the art...

[Dead of Knight]

I just couldn't get into the first game, unfortunately.

[squid]

I really liked Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army. His face does look a bit different..

[pete5883]

Isn't it probably Abaddon instead of Avadon? Seeing as the former is a demon and one is someone's best guess at romanization?

[happy]

I never tried the first one but I'm loving nocturne (playing it now) so I'll probably get this if I can find it cheap.

Would have preferred a SMT 4 for PS3 announcement, maybe at TGS.

[vherub]

nice announcement, I have a 4 game backlog of SMT alone to work through first

[62t]

the need to make some improvement as the other ps2 devil summoner isnt that good

[Nephlabobo]

The story was fine, but the combat did get repetitive.

Hopefully they'll spice it up a bit.

[Gabers]

I never tried the first one but I'm loving nocturne (playing it now) so I'll probably get this if I can find it cheap.

Would have preferred a SMT 4 for PS3 announcement, maybe at TGS.
Atlus has supposedly been hiring programmers for PS3 and Xbox 360, so hopefully they're working on it.

Just imagining the atmosphere of a next-gen main Shin Megami Tensei game seems promising. :)

[LeafPanda]

I might try the 1st one now.

[62t]

It looks like there will be a version that comes with Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Manaix Chronicle Edition, basically Nocturne with Radiou (I am guessing Dante will be replaced)

http://www.siliconera.com/2008/07/30/raidou-to-star-in-a-ps2-devil-summoner-sequel-and-in-a-shin-megami-tensei-nocturne-remake/

[Nephlabobo]

It looks like there will be a version that comes with Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Manaix Chronicle Edition, basically Nocturne with Radiou (I am guessing Dante will be replaced)

http://www.siliconera.com/2008/07/30/raidou-to-star-in-a-ps2-devil-summoner-sequel-and-in-a-shin-megami-tensei-nocturne-remake/

I kept wondering why people were saying it was coming with Nocturne, because I couldn't find any news on it. I wonder if the story (such as it is) will change with Raidou? Interesting indeed.

[Halo05]

Ooh, great potential if they actually release the special edition here. Nocturne was crazy.

[62t]

I wonder if Atlus can sell both games for $50. The demand for Nocturne reprint was high and the sales for the first devil summoner was poor, so it would make sense to bundle the two games together.

[Chacrana]

Man, if Raidou doesn't replace Dante in Nocturne, this could be fucking great.

And is that screenshot from the new Devil Summoner game? Because it looks nothing like the original, and that's a very good thing. Press turn 4 lyfe.

[CoffeeEdge]

And is that screenshot from the new Devil Summoner game? Because it looks nothing like the original, and that's a very good thing. Press turn 4 lyfe.

The screen is Nocturne.

[LeafPanda]

I wonder if this and Nocturne gets localized. If Mana Khemia 2,this and Nocturne's 2nd Japan Remake gets localizes it'll be one hell of a 2009. I think Poison Pink is coming soon too.

[62t]

atlus hints at poison pink

http://www.atlus.com/new_forum/viewtopic.php?t=1908

As for 2009, it is going to be Xbox 360's year with Namco and Square giving full support with games like FF13 and Star Ocean 4

[LeafPanda]

atlus hints at poison pink

http://www.atlus.com/new_forum/viewtopic.php?t=1908

As for 2009, it is going to be Xbox 360's year with Namco and Square giving full support with games like FF13 and Star Ocean 4
That sounds about right. Hey 62t you should make a thread about the newly announced hidden game by Atlus.

[62t]

looks like play asia has a listing now for poison pink/eternal poison. Comes with a bonus soundtrack.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-44-49-en-70-2x5z.html

[Monsta Mack]

Wait, so Nocture is getting remade or just replaced with a character as was said? eh, I'm confused.

I want a new Nocturne game, not a shitty summoner game. Atleast thats what I read, because I never bought any of the summoner games.

[willardhaven]

Vs. The Soulless Army sucked pretty hard. It had a good setting and a seemingly interesting plot, but I hated the boring battle system and frequent random encounters.

[62t]

Wait, so Nocture is getting remade or just replaced with a character as was said? eh, I'm confused.

I want a new Nocturne game, not a shitty summoner game. Atleast thats what I read, because I never bought any of the summoner games.

it is not a remake, more like a minor update with new character and maybe other things.

[CoffeeEdge]

Man, whateva. I looooved Devil Summoner.

[fatbeer]

The last devil summoner felt more like Pokemon, but in real time and you can control your trainer. Those neon glow sticks seem like pokeball and those special mosnter abilities that are used to advance to next checkpoint, draw a close line between Pokemon surf or cut ability. The problem that game, it is incredibly imbalance. If you pump all your stats in strength, you can rifle through that game real fast. Not to mention, high encounter rate and it's super repetitive, but that's pretty standard in hack/slash games.

[Masterkyo]

Eternal Poison
http://www.atlus.com/eternalpoison/

[jeremywoods]

>__<

[Rodimus]

I'll definatly pick this up. The first one was very repetative but the presentation made up for it in my book. Hopefully they give Raidou more than 3 moves. I've always been addicted to the SMT fusion process. I would often spend 30 minutes fusing one demon, getting him just right.

And even though I liked Persona 3's different art direction it felt odd without Kaneko's touch. Glad to see his designs again.

[Rei no Otaku]

Vs. The Soulless Army sucked pretty hard. It had a good setting and a seemingly interesting plot, but I hated the boring battle system and frequent random encounters.
I have to agree with this. Hopefully they fix this one up.

[depascal22]

I should probably get around to playing Devil Summoner one of these days.

[eau]

Atlus just posted picture of the ultimate Atlus spoil to date. Very, very nice retail packaging unlike their other Atlus spoils.

http://www.atlus.com/res/devilsummoner2_finalpackage.jpg

[Dead of Knight]

They're doing an amazing job marketing this game, that's all I can say.

Preordered it as soon as it was available to preorder.

[CoffeeEdge]

ATLUSSSS. You are busting my balllllssss. And my wallleeettttt.

[systris]

i am ALL about this game, i'm playing the first one and its pretty good...the persona/SMT series has overtaken my love of all things FF and Suikoden.

[meerkatgamer]

My game shiped today I can't wait to play it though I'm almost done with the first one I really need to finish it. :lol:

[Dead of Knight]

Got mine today. Each collector's edition is numbered. Highest number reported so far according to GAF is 40000. Mine is 13666, the devil's number. :hot: It works considering what game it is. I'll start playing sometime this weekend or earlier.

[Rei no Otaku]

Mine's 26905. Got it Tuesday.

[Rodimus]

I got 39047.

[cindersphere]

Mine is 36129

[pete5883]

15866. Gamestop sent it in a humorously large box.

[cindersphere]

Anyone had a chance to open this up and play it yet? I still got another hour of Fallout 3 before I can open this up and was hoping someone had some early impressions on the game.

[Rodimus]

Sure, but this is a copy/paste of what I wrote in the RPG thread:

Started up Devil Summoner 2 a few days ago. My biggest praise is much better control over your demons during battles. You get 2 demons instead of 1, you can select their opening attack, and by holding L2 your demons hide so the can't get hit plus they regroup on you. This really helps when a boss is about to pull off a huge attack. Raidou has a couple new tricks, he can dodge, they added a strong attack button and he can use diffrent weapons like axes & lances.

With all that said there are a few things that annoy me. Keep in mind I'm only 7 hours in. So far the game is pretty much a copy/paste of the first one from music, locations, demons & world map. And IMO the story isn't that interesting so far. Some might hate that the random encounter rate is still high, but so far the dungeons are small and you only fight enemies while you're in the "Dark Relm"

[Dead of Knight]

I still haven't opened the box. Hope to tomorrow. I wanted to get some work out of the way tonight. I'm glad they revamped the combat system.

[pete5883]

Rodimus, have you actually gotten all of your demons back from the first game? They say here (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=951791&topic=49427263) that the only demons you get back easily are:


Ukobach
Jack Frost
Agathion
Poltergeist
Moh Shuvuu
Obariyon
Mokoi
Ippon-datara

If this is the case, I have no reason to fill out my compendium in DS1 (though there does seem to be a monetary bonus for loading data with > 60% compendium completion.)

[Rodimus]

I didn't know that. I only asumed you could get them all back. Anyways if that's true then that sucks. Those are some low level demons.

[Dead of Knight]

Just played through the intro tutorial and I can already say that the battle system is over 9000 times better than the original's.

[bjstucker]

I got this on Saturday.. I have a huge backlog so I plan to open this sometime around X-mas probably. All of the Xenosaga's, Wild Arms 3-5, Suikoden 3-5, Gradia 2,3 and Extreme, FF XII and Lunar 1 and 2..... So many games sooo little time. :/

[cindersphere]

Grandia 1 and 2 were awesome, WA 1-3 were awesome and xenosaga was alright. FF XII was over rated. Lunar 1 and 2 are my favorite games. Sorry just had to comment.

[pete5883]

Demon negotiation fucking blows. I doubt this is the last time I'll be posting that. And does the game really have to explain to me the concept behind a save point every time I reach one?

[Dead of Knight]

Demon negotiation fucking blows. I doubt this is the last time I'll be posting that.

Oh, cry some more. It is way easier than Persona 2's.

[Rodimus]

Finally had a chance to play more last night. I'm in Chapter 2. I like the fact that the demons play a larger role in dungeon exploration.

Also I was happy to see Raidou's hard attack changes depending on what type of weapons you have equiped. His axe/hammer attack is very cool.

[LXL_Guy]

Won't even open my copy till I open and play through one. Might be awhile seeing as I have a huge back log as well.

[pete5883]

Is using an axe or a hammer slower? I haven't forged any yet.

[lowlowgoodprice]

omg its so awesome i like this game but lol am i sad for feeling bad for fusing them demons esp when they turn out ugly?

[xsouthparkx]

Should I play the first devil summoner or just play this one? I'm on the fence... I don't know if the story requires it or not.

[Dead of Knight]

Should I play the first devil summoner or just play this one? I'm on the fence... I don't know if the story requires it or not.

It doesn't. Buy this.

[LostRoad]

Hows the story going so far for this? I have yet to open my copy and doubt I will be getting around to it till next weekend, but I had to force myself though the first one, found the story in it to be bland.

[forweg]

Demon negotiation is the main reason I'm loving this game so much. It gives the demons so much more personality... and the demons are the centerpiece of Shin Megami Tensei to me.

Anyway, this is now my second favorite RPG on the PS2 after Nocturne.

[Rodimus]

Hows the story going so far for this? I have yet to open my copy and doubt I will be getting around to it till next weekend, but I had to force myself though the first one, found the story in it to be bland.

Story-wise it's on the same level as the first, but I'm only in the 3rd Chapter.

[pete5883]

Really like it so far. Demon negotiation hasn't blown in a while - back in Ch 1, I needed an Obariyon to break a rock, and of course every time I tried to negotiate with one, it would suck me dry and run away. After I finally bit the bullet to go back to Gouma-den to just buy the demon, I had to walk all the way back to the end of the dungeon. And on my way there, I kept being forced into conversations that took forever to get out of, when all I wanted to do was run away. No complaints since then.

[forweg]

I'm finding the story way better than the first, too. The whole Marriage Ritual/Lord Tento thing (being vague to avoid spoilers) is pretty original and interesting.

[pete5883]

Atlus needs to learn something called "pacing." Chapter 5, so far, for me, was 2.5 hours of investigation, followed by 3 hours of several recycled dungeons in a row. Followed up by an annoying, slow boss.

[Dead of Knight]

Atlus needs to learn something called "pacing." Chapter 5, so far, for me, was 2.5 hours of investigation, followed by 3 hours of several recycled dungeons in a row. Followed up by an annoying, slow boss.

Fuuuuuck. I'm at Chapter 4 right now.

EDIT: Yeah, I'm in Chapter 5 right now... I can see where this is going. 2.5 hours of investigation is a little on the high side though unless you were doing sidequests.

[pete5883]

Fuuuuuck. I'm at Chapter 4 right now.

EDIT: Yeah, I'm in Chapter 5 right now... I can see where this is going. 2.5 hours of investigation is a little on the high side though unless you were doing sidequests.
Yeah I was taking my time a bit. It was definitely a bit long though. At least things pick back up before the end of the chapter.

[forweg]

My only complaint is the localization. It's not bad at all, but bad for Atlus USA's high standards. I've seen text go out of boxes, demons' immunities go off the screen, and... What's a TarrTarrasque?

[pete5883]

My only complaint is the localization. It's not bad at all, but bad for Atlus USA's high standards. I've seen text go out of boxes, demons' immunities go off the screen, and... What's a TarrTarrasque?
Gotta say after 30 hours I haven't seen any of this. You're playing a retail copy?

[Rodimus]

Gotta say after 30 hours I haven't seen any of this. You're playing a retail copy?

Same here, not seen anything odd yet.

[forweg]

Yes, I'm playing a retail copy. I guess all those things I mentioned are easily missable, but I promise you they're there. (I think the demon whose "Drain:" goes off the screen is either Gdon or Throne... it's some sort of flame demon, at any rate.)

[pete5883]

Yeah just checked on it, in the demon dictionary Throne has text running off the right side of the screen. Haven't seen any dialogue going out of boxes, though.

[forweg]

The shop guy's text goes out of the box when you talk to him after buying a certain amount. Not that big of a deal at all, just sayin'.

[pete5883]

I guess I'm at the last dungeon. Story wasn't nearly as good as I'd been lead to believe.

[Dead of Knight]

I guess I'm at the last dungeon. Story wasn't nearly as good as I'd been lead to believe.

Yeah it went downhill fast after the midgame. Just started Chapter 6.

[Rodimus]

I've realized I don't like the whole detective perspective. It takes Raidou & his pals out of the plot while they act more like a 3rd party. The story (so far) has nothing to do with Raidou, he's simply the dude that's gonna save the day.

Still, I like the battles and fusion. But I haven't had any trouble in battle what-so-ever. Are there any boss fights you guys have had difficulties with so far?

[Dead of Knight]

Like I said, I just started Chapter 6. Only somewhat challenging bosses thus far was one of the ones in Chapter 5 and the White and Red Riders. Black was easier imo despite it appearing later.

[pete5883]

I found the Riders long and boring. Gave up on Pale, I think, because he stoned and 1-shotted me. The last boss is apparently very cheap, and a huge pain in the ass. It seems a couple Somas are necessary. I'm not looking forward to it.

[Dead of Knight]

I found the Riders long and boring. Gave up on Pale, I think, because he stoned and 1-shotted me. The last boss is apparently very cheap, and a huge pain in the ass. It seems a couple Somas are necessary. I'm not looking forward to it.

I read the same. The rest of the game has been pretty easy too.

[pete5883]

Nevermind, according to GameFAQs you can only carry one Soma at a time.

[Dead of Knight]

Nevermind, according to GameFAQs you can only carry one Soma at a time.

What. The. Fuck.

:wall::wall::wall:

EDIT: Yeah, apparently that's shown right on the menu screen, didn't notice it. Weak.

On Chapter 7 now. Chapter 6 was pretty short.

ProTip: You can easily find Luck Locusts in Dark capital areas by transforming into Tatsumi and using square to whistle. Probably 80% of the time this automatically gets you into a battle with 1-2 Luck Locusts. This will save a lot of time later on.

[pete5883]

Don't despair, I beat the last boss in 1 try. Did not come close to dying. His weaknesses:

On the first form, it changes after he uses one of his unique elemental skills.
-At the start: [Null: Gun; Absorb: Death, Mind]
-After using his Fire skill: [Frail: Ice; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Fire]
-After using his Ice skill: [Frail: Force; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Ice]
-After using his Elec skill: [Frail: Fire; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Elec]
-After using his Force skill: [Frail: Elec; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Force]

On the third form, it changes after he comes back from using his long range attacks (like Judge Eye). Of the four patterns he chooses, it's random.
-At the start: [Frail: Fire]
-Pattern 1: [Frail: Ice; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Fire]
-Pattern 2: [Frail: Force; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Ice]
-Pattern 3: [Frail: Fire; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Elec]
-Pattern 4: [Frail: Elec; Strong: Phys; Null: Gun, Death, Mind; Absorb: Force]

Strategy:I was ~lv 68, demons ~60. Had 2 or 3 "breath" attacks, these do a lot of damage in multiple hits. When the 3rd form prepares to do a big attack, run to one of the back corners and hide your demons. When "Judgement Eye" appears on screen, run to the other back corner. Repeat a few times. After every round of judgement eyes, test him out with different dyne spells to see what his new weakness is. Really very easy.

[JEKKI]

whoo! I beat chapter 1! this game is awesome!!

[Dead of Knight]

Wow... the game just referred to Dahn as "Dan." Epic fail.

Also, is the bigass ball the final dungeon or do I still have more to go? I plan on doing sidequests before I tackle it so...

[pete5883]

Yeah, bigass ball is it. Bring Repulse Waters. Make sure you do the "imposter Raidou" sidequest.

[mowmow]

this game is next on my to play list. I 'm gonna play the first game first before i play this one.

[Dead of Knight]

Yeah, bigass ball is it. Bring Repulse Waters. Make sure you do the "imposter Raidou" sidequest.

Done and done. Gonna screw around in the optional dungeon that opens up after the Imposter Raidou quest then beat it. Thanks for replying.

[Dead of Knight]

Beat it. A bit under 50 hours on the clock but it took a little less than that because I stopped playing for a while while keeping the game still on a few times (no pause feature AFAIK). Final boss was pretty easy, I didn't know WTF was going on with the second form at first, but once I figured that out it was a joke. Not a very hard game, but I really enjoyed it.

[pete5883]

I thought the ending was kind of insulting. They forgot about Louis, and after all those moral choices, the only thing that changes in the ending is whether Dahn or Akane dies.

[Dead of Knight]

I thought the ending was kind of insulting. They forgot about Louis, and after all those moral choices, the only thing that changes in the ending is whether Dahn or Akane dies.

Ah, so that's what changed in the ending. I was wondering what the differences were. Did you do chaos or law? I was law. Also, did the penultimate boss change depending on if Dahn or Akane dies? I fought Dahn. Is there a third ending available on New Game+ that includes all the new shit you can do on it? Also, it really cheesed me off that I had to fight the Riders THREE TIMES. First randomly on the new moon so I could summon them, then for Louis's quests, then again in the final dungeon. They were super easy by then, but come on. There are plenty of mythological people/creatures they could have used to have the same effect.

[pete5883]

Ah, so that's what changed in the ending. I was wondering what the differences were. Did you do chaos or law? I was law. Also, did the penultimate boss change depending on if Dahn or Akane dies? I fought Dahn. Is there a third ending available on New Game+ that includes all the new shit you can do on it? Also, it really cheesed me off that I had to fight the Riders THREE TIMES. First randomly on the new moon so I could summon them, then for Louis's quests, then again in the final dungeon. They were super easy by then, but come on. There are plenty of mythological people/creatures they could have used to have the same effect.
I kinda wanted to go for lawful, but the choices at the end pushed me to neutral. I fought Akane. I don't think there's another ending, but I haven't really looked into it. The only new game + bonuses I know about is a few quests that get you Lucifer if you finished the game as chaotic. I didn't bother with any of Louis' quests, but after all these SMT's, I'm quite used to Atlus reusing everything over and over.

[erehwon]

I picked this game up a week ago and it's sitting unopened on my shelf. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it. I don't really think I have the money for it and I'm not sure when I'll get around to playing it. I'm replaying KOTOR at the moment and I need to continue with Lost Odyssey.

[thelonepig]

I hated the first game despite my desire to get into it and my love for the era and presentation. That was roughly two years ago.

I decided I'd give it another try before getting into the second game and it's not at all the game I remember. I'm having a lot of fun! Just finished Chapter 8 and am excited to see how the second game improves on the formula.