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If the strikingly long and odd name didn’t clue you in, yes, this is a Japanese RPG. It’s actually one in a long and venerable series of Japanese RPGs that date back to the early 90’s. It may not elicit quite the warm feelings many gamers have when they think of Final Fantasy, but, despite some similarities, this is a very different, much more dark line of games. Devil Summoner is a bit of a departure for the series, but fans should feel right at home.

Continuation

The Shin Megami Tensei series has wandered all over the map, and the calendar, recently sending gamers far into an apocalyptic future in Digital Devil Saga, earlier into present-day Tokyo. In Devil Summoner, which actually ties in to a 1995 Sega Saturn release of the same name, you travel a little further back, visiting Tokyo in the early 20th Century, a time when it was still struggling to establish itself in the world and shed its traditional ways in favor of modern Western fashions.

You play the role of a devil summoner, one able to see demons who are invisible to normal people. Not only can you see them, but you can fight them and, if you’re good enough and if the phase of the moon is just right, you can capture them and use them against other devils. At the start of the game you walk through a quick initiation to learn your abilities, then are sent away from the temple where you were schooled into the city of Tokyo.

You’re assigned to work as a private detective and investigate some odd happenings there. It’s not long before a missing girl opens up a massive spiral of intrigue that, the further you progress along it, the bigger and bigger it gets. It’s a dark story, like most Shin Megami Tensei games, but it has some light aspects as well. The devils you capture, for example, tend to be rather cheeky, cracking jokes when you summon them. Occasionally the humor feels a little out of place, but it helps to make the game a good bit less depressing than some of its predecessors have been.

Action Packed

Devil Summoner is much more action-focused game than its predecessors, which were mostly rather traditional turn-based RPGs. You still get sucked into random battles as you run around the map, but while you get warped into a limited arena to fight in the battle takes place in mostly real-time. It’s mostly real-time because if you use an item or summon a devil the action stops while your character does his thing. Beyond that, all attacks and spells take place happen without delay.

While there’s nothing wrong with real-time combat, it feels a little clumsy here. You can attack with a sword, fire a weapon, and parry an attack, but dodging or blocking enemy attacks is tricky, especially when you’re swarmed by multiple opponents. Facing off against five or six in a very small battle area without taking damage is nigh impossible, regardless of your level. Thankfully, you’ll almost always have some backup.

You won’t form parties here with NPCs, instead you’ll summon those devils you’ve captured to fight on your side. As you use them in battle they’ll gain experience and loyalty, the former making them more powerful while the latter makes them, well, more loyal and happier to serve you. When you have two or more captured demons with maximum loyalty you can make a stop by the local binary fusion dungeon and merge them together to form one new one.

While the new devil will typically be a more powerful fighter than the two that spawned it, it’s not always a good idea to merge as soon as you can. Each devil has a particular elemental affinity, making them more or less effective against others. Plus, devils will sometimes come with healing spells and the like, making them far more valuable than their battlefield prowess may indicate. So, it’s good to have a wide array of devils in your back pocket, even if some never see combat. 

Classic Stylings

Like many RPGs, Devil Summoner keeps its 3-D work to a minimum, relying on pre-rendered backgrounds for most environments. This means you’ll see 3-D characters wandering across mostly static backgrounds. It looks just fine in most games, and for the most part it works here, but the backgrounds have a tendency to be somewhat drab and lifeless.

However, while it’s far from a graphical marvel, the game has a very interesting look. Every creature and character has an interesting design and a style that’s very characteristic of the series as a whole. Audio too is good. While there’s no spoken dialog (get out those reading glasses), the game’s tunes are good and catchy.

Happy Fans

This is definitely a game that will make series fans happy if only thanks to the addictive devil collecting and the moody storyline. Some may find the real-time combat to be quite a bit more frustrating and less rewarding than the earlier turn-based stuff, but it’s far from a deal-breaker.

Article by: Tim Stevens
Video produced by: Mike Benson