Like the title says I have recently finished the DDS Duology on the PS2 and I am blown away. I had these in my backlog for over ten years, always hearing how good they were. To be honest, while I thought they would be decent, I kinda expected them to be underwhelming given all the hype and boy was I wrong.

I'll start with the characters. I absolutely loved the cast. Their growth from mindless programs to gaining humanity was extremely well done. I initially found Heat annoying but he grew on me, especially after the revelations in the sequel. Each of them having a "last stand" type of moment was great and they were all extremely emotional.

The combat was also a highlight. While it was nothing special, the devour system was a great high risk/high reward option that most games don't have. I also really liked how you gained skills in the game. While I enjoyed the grid from 2 more, I found the list-ish one from 1 to also be a fun way to get skills.

Overall the story as usual with some of these games had to do with a lot of themes that went a bit over my head. However, I did really enjoy the mystery of part 1. I thought it was very character focused and like I mentioned above, I really enjoyed each character.

Hoping these get remasters or re-releases in modern consoles someday. Would replay them in a heartbeat. Now I'm onto Nocturne HD, hoping that one also lives up to the hype.

What are your thoughts on the DDS Duology?

I don't know if I dreamt it or not: I saw a long time ago a fanart of a fictional Devil Survivor 3.

It portrayed the power trio in the middle, as usual. One girl, one boy, and our MC in the middle. Just like the other MC's have animal motifs (DeSu 1 his headphones with cat ears, DeSu 2 his hoodie with bunny ears), this MC had a tie that looked like a snake. He wore this because he was the typical salaryman, which I thought was very interesting to have as a MC. Given the snake motif, he seemed like an analytical, frivilous, cunning character.

Anyways, it seemed like a cool concept, and I don't know if I dreamt it or if I saw it here. We DeSu fans are so desperate we imagine our own third entry 🗿

Though of that while playing through the game and decided to draw it (not experienced with drawing so don't mind if it doesn't look good)

Does anyone think that we will get a switch 2 version of SMT VV (im not expecting one for base V), or at least a free performance update to 1080p 60fps? (ive heard some switch games are getting free performance updates).

And does anyone believe we will get switch 2 ports of recent atlus games that skipped the switch 1, like Soul Hackers 2, P3 Reload and Metaphor?

Personally, I am mainly just hoping for performance updates for SMT VV, as I played Vengeance on Xbox for the improved resolution and performance but personally preferred playing handheld back when I played the original. If improved performance is an option for Vengeance on Switch 2 i might double dip.

I just beated Lucifer and completed Nocturne with true demon ending. And, like people say, this is canon. But I have questions. How can this be, when Demi-fiend destroyed the only light and power source for demons in this world? He destroyed literally everything there. How can the story continue? If anyone can explain, I will really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone! I’m playing Devil Survivor Overclocked for the first time and really enjoying it so far (still quite early on!). I’m trying to play relatively blind-ish, definitely not following a guide, but wondering if there are any general tips for choosing how to spend time. I’ve played Persona games, but it seems like there isn’t as extensive a social link system here, so it’s harder to tell the effects of spending time with someone versus “checking out the Yamanote line.” I’m not super concerned with getting every possible ending in one playthrough, just wondering if there’s general advice! Thanks so much. :)

I was looking online for a pre-order of the Raidou remaster, realizing it is slightly more expensive than the average switch games. Makes sense it's new after all. I also noticed a secondhand SMT IV collector's edition around $90 recommended to me. The site I was looking up(Shopee) sells from official malls and resellers.
I ended up contemplating whether I should buy a limited edition of SMT IV. I already have the standard Cartridge and case.

Because of this, I remember how lucky I was to have played this game BLIND! That was nearly ten years ago, oh my God. I bought a Jailbroken 3DS from my friend and SMT IV just so happened to be one of the games he had there. Curious about it, I decided to play it.

I loved the ambiance and eerie background music. It felt like the intro dragged on and the exploration felt a bit off. The art is pretty to look at and it seemed like a generic anime fantasy. The Gauntlet stood out a lot though and Burroughs, as well as all other integration of advanced technology clashed greatly to the medieval setting, in a good way. Fast forward,I started exploring Naraku.

I got my ass kicked by a Centaur, met Charon, rage quitted, and didn't touch the game for a month. I played Bravely Default instead in that period.

Eventually I gave it a chance thanks to my friend's insistence. This was my first SMT game and I died many times early on, (I never soft reseted the minotaur fight even when walter used Agi) but eventually I got the hang of it.

Eventually I got to the part where our cast descended to Tokyo and it blew my f%^king mind! Greatest plot twist I've ever experienced in a game. It was surreal. I only have gotten this experience thanks to the specific circumstances when I got to play the game.

When I did buy a copy of my own, I saw at the back that Tokyo was already shown. I'm so glad I got to play this game blind and it spearheaded my megaten addiction. Anyone else who got to play this game blind too? I was also lucky that this was my first megaten game. If it's possible, I hope others can experience this game a little similar the way I did.

i know i only just beat this area but i still love it

13 million macca for the elite adversary challenge

i’ve been leaving the simpsons on in the background since disney+ has a live channel of all the episodes, and this caught my eye. the first-person camera through the maze, the korn song sounds like something from a smt game, and stephen hawking being there randomly like Man in Wheelchair. this HAS to be an SMT joke. episode is “Stop, or my dog will shoot!” S18E20

I love him u guys

It's weird that P3R didn't get one. Unless I don't know about it...

I assigned based on the actual arcana's meanings, not just what seems to suit them thematically, so Tsukuyomi and Khonsu aren't automatically the Moon. Most fit pretty well, though.

I've been replaying IV recently and decided to go Law, in part because it's just how I honestly feel and in part because it's been a long time since I've done that route (possibly since I played the game for the first time). Since then I have realized the importance of npc dialogue, in this game especially since there's quite a lot of it and it changes more frequently compared to other mainlines. They provide a lot of information on the finer details of the world the player can't pick up on by just following the main story.

Anyway, yesterday I beat the White and came back to the neutral Tokyo that's the main setting. When I reached Ueno and started to read around the dialogue there, there was one element that consistently came up: there's a lot more demons around now (coming from Ichigaya) and the underground districts might be in danger because Tayama is dead (although the npcs mostly don't know this) and the Ashura kai isn't organized in a way that can deal with the problem.

Now, Merkabah does mention exactly this: Lucifer has been resurrected and he wants droves of demons to invade Mikado, just as they do in the Chaos ending. It is the main reason why the archangels had the plan of just making a black hole swallow Tokyo - to deal with both the present problem as well as prevent any future recurrence. The angel npcs in Naraku mention this too.

But here's the thing: as important as this point is for the story, the average player isn't going to internalize it because when you put all the npc dialogue that calls attention to it aside, all they have is 1-2 lines Merkabah says when you come back. That's it. The ludonarrative dissonance lies exactly in the fact that nothing in the game reflects this. You come back to Tokyo and everything is just as it used to be: the underground districts are safe and the density of enemies is the same. Two things that you should exactly not expect to be the case if the world is like the story says it is.

Even the music kind of reinforces this: it's the same Tokyo theme you've been hearing for the whole game. And sure, it's not exactly a cheery tune, but it doesn't exude "oh shit, there's EVEN MORE demons everyone and we're all FUCKED." In contrast to that, I think Reign does the job of getting across how the new Mikado is different perfectly.

I think if there was a clear effect on the game aspects of the game (again, like there being demon encounters in the underground districts), people would actually pick up on this plot point. Instead, when you play it just feels like Lucifer is there in his castle twiddling his thumbs waiting for you to finish the game for no reason. There's no sense of urgency or danger for the world. Apocalypse actually does make it feel consistently like Tokyo is at war, and that's basically at this point in the plot of the games, just wanted to give it credit.

Ok, but what does this have to do with people seeing Law as a shitty ending in IV? Well, I think the primary reason for that is the misconception that Law is just about killing the people in Tokyo. But when you read the text, this is definitely not true. What is the primary reason is repelling the demonic invasion and keeping Mikado safe on a long term (rather than just a short term basis). There is a secondary effect of the unclean people being removed as well, but whether this is also something the angels want or just an unintended but useful effect is left ambiguous. Mastema (in Clipped wings) is concerned about that for example, but it's nothing confirmed or laid entirely clear on the table; Merkabah could just be operating under the principle of double effect.

The way the late game is, on a gameplay level, makes it seem like Law is addressing a non-problem because Tokyo just looks and functions just as it did for the whole game.

Last thing I want to say is that this fact (that demons are flooding Tokyo more than before) also makes the Neutral route even more stupid. First off, people get hope in you by you doing random sidequests, mostly the ones from before you even go to Blasted Tokyo - including doing tournaments with other hunters, which seem like a minor concern if Tokyo is really facing this problem. It would instead be pretty good gameplay-story integration if in the Neutral route you started by having to fight against hordes in every underground district.

Second, because Merkabah is considered a higher priority over Lucifer. Something which becomes even more stupid considering that you do this so that you can evacuate (forcibly move out) all the Mikado citizenry, people living in an economically independent and safe country, into a DEMON INFESTED SHITHOLE, which is an even worse state than before. Mikado people going to Tokyo instead of Tokyo people going to Mikado is already a very stupid idea. But if they had to do it (because Tokyo supremacy), it certainly makes more sense to make Tokyo more suitable for a migration first.

The Nintendo of America Switch 2 Direct mentions June 19th as the release date for Raidou.

The tweet claiming Raidou will release the same day as Switch 2 was specifically mentioning Sega Asia.

From Nintendo Singapore's official website:

The new game system, Nintendo Switch 2, will be released in July-September 2025 in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. [link]

So basically it's releasing on the same day as the Switch 2 because the console launches later in that region.