Better the devil you know. SMT Devil Survivor Overclocked review/rant.

And he's not impressed with the buffet breakfast. No tips!

There used to be a time when I was able to draw an audience without relying on parodies of popular (although, questionable at that) TV shows. Huh? What was that? I don't have an audience anyway? Even better, let the copyright infringement continue I say.

Contrary to popular belief and my low budget Photoshop prowess, Devil Survivor is not about a competition in Hell where the last one standing gets awarded a sickening amount of cash money and every week somebody gets voted off the show. Although you are pardoned in thinking this is the latest entry of the Survivor reality TV franchise due to the rate they are cranking them out. Do people still watch that show?

For those of us whom can tear ourselves away from gripping reality TV long enough to turn on the 3DS, we might enjoy an equally gripping game called Devil Survivor Overclocked. Overclocked is a spin off of the SMT series and a remake of the original Devil Survivor released on the 1DS. As I have not played the original, I can only go by hearsay (meanwhile, somewhere Judge Judy is unimpressed while reading this blog) as far as what content have been added.

New content includes the following
* Voice acting for all scenes (and really good at that, featuring most of the Persona 4 cast)
* 8th day event for some of the paths (essentially post game story content)
* Demon compendium like other SMT games, though you won't be using it for a while as it can be quite costly
* Several new skills and some new demons.

Graphics
Despite being a remake for the 3DS, this is essentially a 1DS game, as there is exactly one instance where the game takes advantage of the 3D effects and that is the demon fusion sequence, which you'll likely only view in its entirety exactly once, before opting to skip the animation for all subsequent times. Graphics are also obviously made for the 1DS, as they compare quite poorly to 3DS games such as Fire Emblem. But this is one game you don't play for its graphics, instead the story takes centre stage.

It's the end of the world and she's got time for
hanky panky? Nice!

Story
The game starts out with your obligatory silent protagonist meeting up with your friends in Shibuya. You all receive a cryptic email predicting major events due to take place that day, and after a series of events I am sure no player is surprised they actually come true. Seriously anyone didn't see that one coming should go back to playing Pong. You also discover you are able to summon and control demons that will fight for you. The plot quickly escalates and a lockdown has been placed around Tokyo, no one can go in or out, and your team is stuck in the midst of it. The city has no power and no phone/internet reception, so people are going back to using their imagination to get off instead of relying on good ol' staple that is internet porn. What's even more disturbing is that you can see numbers above everyone's head, including yourself, that measures the number of days they have to live. When it hits zero, you're destined to die that day. Talk about confronting. You soon figure out you can utilise the fortune telling email service to cheat death, or save others from the same fate.

The game is really about choices. When faced with desperate situations people show their true colours and many tend to crack under the pressure. At the end of the game, most of your friends have their own opinion about how to end the lockdown and stop judgement day and you will have to pick which one of them you wish to help. This dramatically changes the storyline, and gives you around 7 difference endings, and 3 of them gets extended with an 8th day. Seriously, the story is where its at. One of the best stories for me in a long time, and really interesting to try out the other paths to see the difference.

Don't get too attached to your
fusion fodders.

Gameplay
It's about time MegaTen takes the strategy RPG route. Each human character forms a team on a grid map, and each human can have up to 2 demons in their team. Standard SRPG fare applies, eg, move and act, though each unit can take one non combat action, such as healing. When units engage, combat switches to first person like old school MegaTen. Battle then plays out for a single turn, though it uses a variation of the Press Turn system, so each character get the chance to take a second turn. This is a welcome change to the tried (sometimes tired) and true MegaTen formula. Human characters can equip any skills you've learned, provided they met the stats requirement, and you learn new skills by specifying which skill from which enemy each team wish to learn, and if you knockout that enemy, you'll learn their skill.

Bufu is also good at preserving seafood.

You gain new demons via essentially a virtual eBay using Macca earned in battle, and like good ol' MegaTen, fuse them into stronger demons. Demons can gain experience and level up, though the requirement goes up exponentially so it's more practical to fuse higher level demons. Demons also have racial skills that offer a variety of tactical advantages, such able to teleport through obstacles on the map, attack from 2 or 3 spaces away, attack or move twice (and when combined kicks major arse!) While not entirely original as games like Namco X Capcom have combined genres previously, but still very fun. I also love how they've made some design decisions to save time and reduce frustration, such as being able to pick exactly what action skills gets inherited in fusions and when you fulfil some conditions in battle, you can teach any action skill to any demon.

Audio
Meh. You're pitching to the wrong person. Music in the least important thing in games for me, which is a good thing as I swear this game only have like 5 tracks that loops every 20 seconds. Thankfully the voice acting is top notch.

+ Brilliant story, couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next.

Judge Judy approves.

+ Great replayability with many paths and endings, each also unlock exclusive content (eg, unique demons).
+ Challenging, but manageable. Grinding only required here and there, but the main reason is to be able to fuse higher level demons. It doesn't take that long.
+ Customisation options after the first clear game, can carry over things like skills, some demons, Macca, and other things to make your second game easier if you wish.
+ Fun gameplay. Game rewards strategy.

- Mediocre graphics and music. But not that much of a negative.
- Must wait tip day 7 for other paths, can make replay a bit of a chore as you have to get past the first 6 days to see new contents. The only real complaint I had of this game.

Judge Judy says
5 out of 5 pitchforks. Even the devil wouldn't mind indulging on some Overclocked guilty pleasure.