Review: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon

Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon is the follow up to 2006′s Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army. Interestingly enough, this is the fourth game in the series. The other two did not make it stateside (just a small tidbit of information). While the first game was a good action RPG, it did have its problems and did suffer from a slightly cumbersome battle system. Atlus sought to rectify these problems in the sequel, while still sticking to what worked. And I can safely say that they were successful in ironing out the issues.

The game places you in the role of Raidou Kuzunoha the 14th, a devil summoner who is charged with protecting the peace of the Capital and its people. He has been called to, once again, save the Capital. It seems that people have been losing their luck, and he has to find out why. He is joined in this assignment by his mentor Gouto, a talking cat, and Narumi, a private investigator that worked with Raidou on his last case. What follows is an interesting story with plenty of twists, interesting characters, and a villain you can’t really hate. The story is affected by the choices you make, and you can end up with one of three endings (Law, Neutral, or Chaos).

The gameplay is probably the best part of the game. Battles are fast paced, and rarely take more than 20-30 seconds to complete. Raidou has two types of attacks at his disposal: a light slash that combos, or a heavy attack that acts as a finisher (which depends on the weapon equipped). You can also block with L1, and dodge with the X button. Raidou also has help in the form of demons he can summon to his aid. You may have up to two on the battlefield at a time, but can carry up to 20. You issue orders to demons by pressing the R1 button (which pauses the game) and you can assign a skill for them to use, or just let them use physical attacks. I really think that Atlus found a great formula in this battle system.

Another facet of the gameplay is the MAG system. Every skill a demon uses costs a certain amount of MAG to use. You only have a finite amount, and it is shared between you and your demons. If you run out, then battles are much more difficult. Fortunately, you can restore MAG by exploiting the weaknesses of your enemies. Once you hit them with their weakness, there is a chance they will be paralyzed. Once they are immobilized, you just attack them physically to regain some MAG. It’s a worthy addition to the battle system, and really emphasizes strategy.

There’s also the matter of recruiting demons. You can get them from fusing them, or negotiating. Fusing is by far the better option, as it allows the resulting demon to have moves from its “ingredients”. Fusing is actually pretty fun, and creating a demon with a perfect moveset is really rewarding. Negotiating, on the other hand, is pretty random. Simply put, you can talk to demons during anytime in battle to get make them your ally, get an item, or allow you to escape. Unfortunately, the correct choices tend to be random and it can get frustrating. Your demons can help out, but it doesn’t really change too much. The conversations themselves tend to be pretty entertaining, though. It’s certainly an interesting aspect, and there’s certainly fun to be had in getting new allies.

Demons also serve another use outside of battle. During investigations, you can send out demons to gather information, destroy barriers, and obtain items. You can also use them to transform yourself into other people and protect you from environmental hazards. Demons have many uses, and are vital to progressing through the game.

And finally, there’s the issue of leveling up. Like all RPGs, you gain levels through acquiring EXP from defeating enemies. After leveling up, you are allowed to put one point into any stat you want to (strength, magic, vitality, and luck). Unlike most RPGs, though, there is a loyalty bar. You gain loyalty like EXP, but in smaller amounts. Once a demon’s loyalty is maxed out, it will gain a passive skill and may also heal your team. It is important to grind for loyalty, as it allows you more tubes for demon storage.

The game looks nice, if a bit dated (but that is not a fault of the game). The environments are pre-rendered, and certainly do look well detailed. The characters have an eerie and gothic style to them, and each character looks different. What really steals the show are the demon designs. Each demon has a creative design while still being based on their mythology. There’s plenty of style and creativity present to make up for its somewhat dated presentation.

Devil Summoner 2′s soundtrack is composed by Shoji Meguro, who has once again, managed to create some really nice tracks. The songs consist of rock and jazz, for the most part. Each song sound unique, with none sounding alike. There is no voice acting present in the game, but it actually works, surprisingly.

In terms of extra content, there is a fair amount. There are multiple endings, based on your alignment. There’s also New Game+, a hard mode, and extra missions depending on your alignment when you beat the game. The game can easily eat up 60+ hours of your life.

Now, I suppose I should point out some flaws. The game is pretty easy, as most bosses can be defeated by employing simple strategies. The hard mode, on the other hand is pretty freaking hard (though it’s extra content, so it really doesn’t deduct from the score). Demon negotiation is too random for my tastes, as there are no set correct choices. The loyalty system is a bit of a drag to properly utilize, as it takes forever to grind (unless you know what you’re doing). Also, the final boss fight is pretty tedious, and it will take forever to finally beat. The issues are minor, but noticeable.

Devil Summoner succeeds in not only being a great sequel, but a great game on its own. The improvements really show, and it is apparent that there was quite a bit of effort put into this. If you are an Atlus fan, or just liked the first Devil Summoner, I suggest you pick this up right now. To those interested in the genre, I implore you to at least look into this game.

The views and opinions expressed in this review are by Ckarasu who is no longer with us, and does not represent those of the Spawn Kill staff.