The Shin Megami Tensei series and its spin-offs are not always linked, but they do have one thing in common: demons. Devil Survivor is the first of the series to come to the Nintendo DS, and it appears to be yet another engaging and captivating role-playing game by Atlus. Set in the bustling city of Tokyo, Devil Survivor combines several elements from the role-playing and text-based adventure genre to create a strategy RPG adventure hybrid. This works out well, in case you’re wondering, and it’s easy to get into because you need to know only the very basics of SRPGs to jump right in.

You play as the quiet 17-year-old whose genius programmer cousin, Naoya, hands off three “COMPs”–communication tools that basically looks like a DS–to you and your friends, Atsuro and Yuzu. Atsuro hacks into these COMPs, but to his surprise, he summons three vicious demons that are ready to rip you all to shreds. Luckily, with your DS lookalike, you are able to defeat the creatures and tame them. With a feisty demon at your service, you and your friends investigate the city and all of the strange events that have been happening. The story isn’t hard to follow, but it’s very bizarre, like most SMT games and their spin-offs. Your COMP receives mysterious e-mails that predict the future, as well as cryptic messages from Naoya. There’s some kind of demon invasion going on, and it seems that only COMP holders have the power to stop it. There’s also a countdown number by everyone’s head to indicate how many days they have left to live.

The story unfolds like a text adventure in which you spend a good amount of time sifting through dialogue, but once in a while, you’ll get the chance to choose what you want to say. Your decisions throughout the game will affect the ending, so there’s replay value here if you want to see how many different ways it can pan out. Exploring Tokyo is just a matter of selecting which district you want to go to via the COMP menu, and locations that will move the story forward are marked with a timer. There are free battles to fight in case you want to level your characters a bit, but it doesn’t seem like you ever have to worry about being jumped because even upcoming battles are marked.

Devil Survivor’s battle system is an intriguing one. Once a fight begins, you’ll have to determine where you want to place your characters on the grid, like in a SRPG. You and your friends Atsuro and Yuzu can each have up to two demons cohorts, so when you’re setting your characters down, you’re actually determining where to put a team of three. Once you move next to an enemy and initiate an attack (get attacked), you switch to a first-person turn-based system and get one shot before the round is over. Extra turns are given to those who attack first, but you can lose this advantage if the battle doesn’t go well. For example, if you exploit the enemy’s weakness and it attacked you first, it could lose its extra turn. Your enemies also come in groups of three, and if you take out the ringleader in the middle, that fight is over; the same goes for you.

The first demons that you encountered formed a pact when they were defeated, but this isn’t always the case. To acquire more help, there is an interesting feature called the demon auction, in which you can bid on demons that are available. An e-mail sent to you in-game explains how this auction will save you from having to form pacts with the devils yourself. Other bidders can bid against you, so you have five seconds to try to win it. If more than one person is interested, you go into a final bid in which you have one more chance to win. We didn’t get a chance to experiment with this in our play time, but you can also fuse demons together to create a more powerful beast to accompany you in battle.

Bid on your favorite demons and fuse them together for a more powerful one.

There’s always a sense of style when it comes to the SMT games, and Devil Survivor is no exception. The character designs have a sleek look, but if you’re familiar with Suzuhito Yasuda’s manga or Kazuma Kaneko’s previous SMT games, then you can see where the influence is coming from. Takami Asano’s soundtrack is also very good, with metal-influenced tracks to keep the vibe edgy and sinister.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor looks set to be an excellent addition to the franchise and was clearly, judging from the story, designed specifically for the DS. The narrative starts off strong and sucks you in early on, so we’re eager to find out how these young teens plan to fend off hoards of demons and save Tokyo. Look for our full review when Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is released on June 23.

Check out the source at GameSpot

Related posts

• Zubo Nintendo DS Review (0)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Nintendo DS Review (0)
• Ragnarok Coming to Nintendo DS (0)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 DS Hands-On Preview (0)
• Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier Nintendo DS Review (0)

A new entry in the Zelda franchise has been rumored for some time, so it was only a mild surprise today when Nintendo unveiled that it is, in fact, working on Link’s next adventure. What did create a stir, though, is that this is not a new Wii game. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks follows on the heels of the hugely popular DS game Phantom Hourglass, and though details are sparse at this time, Nintendo has released a trailer that shows off a few of the new features. There is one concrete bit of information that is sure to delight eager fans, though: Spirit Tracks is set to come out later this year.

The cel-shaded art style from Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass returns in Spirit Tracks. Although Nintendo has not confirmed where this falls in the Zelda timeline, it appears as though this is a sequel to Phantom Hourglass. If true, this would be the first time a Zelda storyline has continued for three straight games. We’ll have to wait for Nintendo to fill us in on the plot details, but at the very least, this is an aesthetical sequel that seems to be every bit as charming as the games that preceded it.

As the name implies, Link has now ditched the boat that allowed him to traverse the globe in Phantom Hourglass in favor of a train. In Phantom Hourglass, you were able to draw your course on a map and set sail in the open seas, but things look a little different now that you’re restricted to rails. It appears as if the tracks are already laid out across this land and you are able to switch between routes on the fly. Link has always had the ability to travel across the countryside as he wishes–either by walking, riding a horse, or setting sail. It will be interesting to see how things will change if he has to follow the preset tracks the whole time.

Link is decked out in a fancy conductor hat to showcase his newfound vocation, and there are a number of other tiny details as well. When you come to a new set of tracks, a switcher will briefly appear on the touch screen, allowing you to stay the course or move over to a new path. There is also another meter, vertically oriented, that appears to control your speed. It’s impossible to know if fuel will be a concern at this point, but there are plenty of hearty trees lining the countryside. A whistle string dangles tauntingly above your head, begging to be tugged to make the world know of Link’s newly discovered love of the rail.

Luckily, Link’s magic train is armed with a cannon, so any enemy who stupidly wanders near your locomotive will meet a quick end. Like in Phantom Hourglass, it appears as though your aiming is controlled on the touch screen, letting you quickly point at whatever foe dares to cross your path. At one point in the trailer, a skulltula dangles menacingly above the tracks and Link is all too happy to blast it from its sticky throne. At another point, a herd of animals that look like pigs but have the markings of a dairy cow meander in a nearby field, but Link has decided to play the humanitarian and keep these docile creatures alive.

When Link reluctantly leaves his steam-powered hobby, he battles baddies in the same way as in Phantom Hourglass. A new weapon is showcased in the trailer that looks like a pinwheel gun. You can shoot out a miniature cyclone that can stun enemies and grab nearby keys. During another shot, it’s clear that Link still has a boomerang in his repertoire. Given that the pinwheel gun is performing many of the tasks the boomerang was accustomed to, it will be interesting to see what new role the boomerang has. Another weapon lets you control the giant metal guards who frequently tormented you in the last game. Actually, you had this ability in Phantom Hourglass as well, but it was restricted to the multiplayer. Here, you can direct the golem to cross fiery paths to flip previously inaccessible switches or battle an enemy while you run away in fear.

Finally, the two-screen boss battles from Phantom Hourglass are making a triumphant return. In the only battle showcased, you square off against a monstrous scarab beetle that has a forked horn sprouting menacingly from his head. Those tough exoskeletons only protect the back of these overgrown insects, though, so Link can slash away at their glowing weak spot by flipping them upside down. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long before Nintendo reveals more information, but at least we’ll have to wait only a few more months before the final game comes out. Spirit Tracks is scheduled for release later this year.

Related posts

• The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Nintendo DS Hands-On Impressions (0)
• GDC 2009: Treasure World DS Preview (0)
• GDC 2009: President Satoru Iwata Talks Future of Nintendo (0)
• GDC 2009: Miami Law DS Preview (0)
• GDC 2009: Early DSi Adopters Get $10 in Points, Wii Arcade Announced (0)

Related posts

• Tokyo Beat Down Nintendo DS Official Trailer (0)
• Pokemon Platinum for DS Q&A (0)
• Pokemon Platinum DS Review (0)
• Boing! Docomodake Launch Trailer for DS (0)
• The Conduit Videos Galore (0)

Related posts

• New Pokemon Platinum Trailer for DS (0)
• Boing! Docomodake Launch Trailer for DS (0)
• The Conduit Videos Galore (0)
• Super Meat Boy Teaser Video (0)
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 Nintendo Wii First Video (1)

Related posts

• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Q&A for DS (0)
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS (0)
• Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (0)
• Nintendo DS Lite – Worth the Money? (0)
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars DS Review (0)