Zerth
Arbiter
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2016
- Messages
- 415
Summary
Autistic drivel version:
So I've been playing both titles recently, I've beat both several times, earned bazillion bonus points and unlocked optional content, etc. both games lean more towards visual novel genre than convencional tactics RPgs, specially Record Breaker.The core gameplay resembles grid based positioning with isometric view -like any other regular tactics jrpg- merged with a streamlined blobber combat mechanics, plus the good ole` SMT demon fusion and recruitment which is done through bidding at the demon's auction. Its execution is rather simple: you advance several tiles towards your foe, activate racial abilities if apply and then begin the skirmish, rinse and repeat until you wipe out all the demon critters on stage.
As expected, this small spin-off puts aside some traditional elements from mainline SMT games: few demon active and passive skills ( no -kaja or -nda abilities, no mudo nor hama skills, etc.) and even fewer skillslots, no special fusions and just a handful of demon races, although these actually do include some pretty neat things like human auto skills and some unique offensive and defensive abilities; that really makes a difference in the outcome of a skirmish.
Main Character has debilitate as assigned autoskill. It automatically applies debuff once at the start of skirmish.
with Omega demons race's ability in DeSu 2 Record Breaker), and everything is setup in favor of offensive leaning strategies. Of course I didn't mean that there is not room for defensive tactics, but generally are not worth the effort in contrast of just resorting on blowing up everything with almighty powa and spamming the broken multi-strike, -but if you want to insist in tanking, Desu 2 Hero+Tyrant or snake+Tyrant is a killer combination for useful tanking prowess- . This specially applies on DeSu 2 Record Breaker, since it extends the demon racial skill capabilities to ludicrous levels, and thus trivializing most combat encounters. Personally, I found the combination of dragon Evil Flow+ Fiend unearthy form+ Kishin matchless so powerful that your character will become into an entity closer to a Megaten boss with Beast eye/Dragon eye than anything else.
But in terms of writing, albeit far from be top-notch, Overclocked's story is relatively better written since It conveys Its premise in a more engaging way compared to Desu 2, as well as maintaining consistency within the SMT metaverse. DeSu 2 Record Breaker derails from both the mainline SMT and Persona only to end up with a bland plot that blatantly puts aside the cornerstone of SMT franchise: demons; and then scale them down to just fulfill the role of generic trash mobs in order to provide relevance to a bunch of geometry's abominations with a similar agenda to evangelion's Angels and an undewhelming implementation of Persona's social links.
Also, instead of unique bonus 8th days for some ending paths like in Overclocked , Record Breaker offers an entire new arc (The triangulum) readily available; which is based upon a mixed outcome of two entirely different Septentrione arc endings, invalidating player's choices from their sept arc playthrough
. Suffice to say that if Septentrione's arc wasn't retarded enough sometimes, Triangulum's arc goes beyond stupid; the only decent thing in regards of writing content from that arc is contained within some fate events, but the rest is just Hotsuin fanservice.More autistic drivel with spoilers:
In Overclocked, Yuzu despairs and desperately yearns for a way out, which is of course the most logical immediate goal to work towards, which MC and Atsuro agrees to go along until find out there are more stuff at stake that could made them rethink their original plan. This is the first objective narrative works towards: find a way to escape this madness. And this plan could be followed during the seven days if desired, but the more you find out about the implications of the lockdown, the more tempting becomes ditching Yuzu's plan and ponder over several bifurcations available.
There are a lot of missable stuff if not done properly, and priorizing events affect the outcome of several of them. Overclocked also handles well some things that if left unexplained could have lead to potential plot gaps by providing alright explanations of how the COMPs work, how the server manages the execution of a demon summoning and explore the possibilities of using demons for other kind of purposes besides violence. It never stops being oppresive, yet respects its own boundaries,since the deadline is under seven days, yet the more you find out the greater the magnitude of the problem seems to be.
In contrast, Record Breaker feels more banal than Overclocked, despite handling the issue at a greater scale (The world vs. A lockdown) going beyond its intended boundaries, losing itself within a convoluted metaphysical mess beyond time, gravity and space. Regardless, It's established under a promising premise: A world collapsing in a way no mortal is able to grasp, a mysterious demon summoning app and a secret government organization that monopolizes the whole situation. But then, all the relevant C&C is only available after reaching the already cramped endgame.
But then they made a great deal about the implications of leadership in a very shallow and player gratifying way. I mean, the only one that I saw being constantly lashed out by making harsh decisions is Yamato Hotsuin - Not that He would show a glimpse of regret when the outcome of his plans entail the loss of civilians or subordinates, but that's not the point- while MC, who almost never comes up with ideas by his own; his actions are immediately showered by praises. Even Ronaldo Kuriki has to deal with the consequences of leading people just for antagonizing a freaking government organization.
For a character whose whole reason to exist is to convey player's intention. The Main Character, most of times, is just the proverbial "jack" that everyone uses to convey their own interests; and despite some genuinely funny responses, his dialogue options are rarely quarrelsome or interesting and everything you need to know is already handed to you on silver platter through regular story exposure without even bothering with doing some time's investment into any optional events.
Also, except for the few times Record Breaker uses demons as plot devices; It keeps an oblivious attitude towards them, to the point that It seems that the writers didn't care whether they contradict themselves or not, e.g. Io Nitta UNIQUE medium's abilities are completely forgotten afterwards, demons behave like mindless critters being attracted to "Power" in the same way flies fly around a piece of turd. Besides that, is never clearly stated any other motivation (I'm not counting optional bosses, since those have zero relevance over anything in Devil Survivor 2) that made them come to the human world through "berserked" phones in first place -with Berserk it refers to phones with unfulfilled demon contracts that are left behind with the demon summoning app active, which creates a portal called "miasma" that funnels demons into the human world-.
Oddly enough, unlike the main storyline, I found about 60% of Desu 2 character cast kind of memorable, to the point I kept thinking about them long after finally putting the game down. I guess that was the intended purpose of Desu 2 Fate System, as a showcase of the value of leadership through kindness and caring for the fellow man instead of pushing others agendas. Is not coincidence that the title "Record Breaker" reveals which is canon ending, in a not very subtle way; but I digress.
Fate system related events -albeit not as a whole- actually are more engaging than the main storyline. But the issue with getting intimate with people and care for their personal problems is that It feels forced and insincere, even when their issues don't leave them completely detached from the apocalyptic scenario Septentrione and Triangulum arcs pretended to recreate. In other words, would the Main Character feels genuinely concerned about Otome motherly insecurities? Airi's favorite concert hall? Fumi's research? Io confidence issues? Hinako self-loathing? Keita's reluctancy to rely on others?.
Persona-wise, the devs encourage you as a player to increase character fate ranks with tangible rewards; such as unlockable demons and resistance bonuses. However, from my point of view, either the developers admit that exists an inherent selfishness by doing fate events or They added the fate system only as an attempt to cater on Persona's popularity and actually don't care whether the outcome was good enough to be on par with the Social links. Nevertheless, the whole fate system feels experimental considering They had to shove them within a timeframe of seven days, and I can't think of any game that attempted to convey social sim mechanics into a catastrophic setting.
Regardless, It could have been done better.
There are a lot of missable stuff if not done properly, and priorizing events affect the outcome of several of them. Overclocked also handles well some things that if left unexplained could have lead to potential plot gaps by providing alright explanations of how the COMPs work, how the server manages the execution of a demon summoning and explore the possibilities of using demons for other kind of purposes besides violence. It never stops being oppresive, yet respects its own boundaries,since the deadline is under seven days, yet the more you find out the greater the magnitude of the problem seems to be.
In contrast, Record Breaker feels more banal than Overclocked, despite handling the issue at a greater scale (The world vs. A lockdown) going beyond its intended boundaries, losing itself within a convoluted metaphysical mess beyond time, gravity and space. Regardless, It's established under a promising premise: A world collapsing in a way no mortal is able to grasp, a mysterious demon summoning app and a secret government organization that monopolizes the whole situation. But then, all the relevant C&C is only available after reaching the already cramped endgame.
But then they made a great deal about the implications of leadership in a very shallow and player gratifying way. I mean, the only one that I saw being constantly lashed out by making harsh decisions is Yamato Hotsuin - Not that He would show a glimpse of regret when the outcome of his plans entail the loss of civilians or subordinates, but that's not the point- while MC, who almost never comes up with ideas by his own; his actions are immediately showered by praises. Even Ronaldo Kuriki has to deal with the consequences of leading people just for antagonizing a freaking government organization.
For a character whose whole reason to exist is to convey player's intention. The Main Character, most of times, is just the proverbial "jack" that everyone uses to convey their own interests; and despite some genuinely funny responses, his dialogue options are rarely quarrelsome or interesting and everything you need to know is already handed to you on silver platter through regular story exposure without even bothering with doing some time's investment into any optional events.
Also, except for the few times Record Breaker uses demons as plot devices; It keeps an oblivious attitude towards them, to the point that It seems that the writers didn't care whether they contradict themselves or not, e.g. Io Nitta UNIQUE medium's abilities are completely forgotten afterwards, demons behave like mindless critters being attracted to "Power" in the same way flies fly around a piece of turd. Besides that, is never clearly stated any other motivation (I'm not counting optional bosses, since those have zero relevance over anything in Devil Survivor 2) that made them come to the human world through "berserked" phones in first place -with Berserk it refers to phones with unfulfilled demon contracts that are left behind with the demon summoning app active, which creates a portal called "miasma" that funnels demons into the human world-.
Oddly enough, unlike the main storyline, I found about 60% of Desu 2 character cast kind of memorable, to the point I kept thinking about them long after finally putting the game down. I guess that was the intended purpose of Desu 2 Fate System, as a showcase of the value of leadership through kindness and caring for the fellow man instead of pushing others agendas. Is not coincidence that the title "Record Breaker" reveals which is canon ending, in a not very subtle way; but I digress.
Fate system related events -albeit not as a whole- actually are more engaging than the main storyline. But the issue with getting intimate with people and care for their personal problems is that It feels forced and insincere, even when their issues don't leave them completely detached from the apocalyptic scenario Septentrione and Triangulum arcs pretended to recreate. In other words, would the Main Character feels genuinely concerned about Otome motherly insecurities? Airi's favorite concert hall? Fumi's research? Io confidence issues? Hinako self-loathing? Keita's reluctancy to rely on others?.
Persona-wise, the devs encourage you as a player to increase character fate ranks with tangible rewards; such as unlockable demons and resistance bonuses. However, from my point of view, either the developers admit that exists an inherent selfishness by doing fate events or They added the fate system only as an attempt to cater on Persona's popularity and actually don't care whether the outcome was good enough to be on par with the Social links. Nevertheless, the whole fate system feels experimental considering They had to shove them within a timeframe of seven days, and I can't think of any game that attempted to convey social sim mechanics into a catastrophic setting.
Regardless, It could have been done better.
The following is a summary of all the playable characters fate events from devil survivor 2 RB, sorted by plot relevancy:
Yamato Hotsuin: Take Naoya/Cain from desu, make him read Atlas Shrugged, and then swap his resentment towards god for Modern Japan's status quo. With that, I guarantee you can picture almost the whole Yamato's character.A secluded and strict life drove him to embrace the cold and manipulative genius trope. Although He's eventually mellowed by Main character influence; and starts to appreciate the untapped potential of mundane life.
He's the backbone of septentrione arc, becoming into either an endgame lukewarm ally or a total pain in the ass to deal with as antagonist. On Triangulum arc, He gains so much protagonism that leaves the main character's role redundant, whom does jack shit but be the designed group psychotherapist as always.
His Fate events would have been boring if not for the last taroyaki scene, because It brilliantly exposes that his own beliefs are mostly fueled by plain prejudice, albeit of being portrayed as ideal.
Miyako Hotsuin: Awww, Look how moe cute She is!! She couldn't pander for more fanservice because even devs would admit is too blatant.
I found really hilarious how in the Human Administrator ending, She attempts to join the Main Character as his "sword"; then Al Saiduq steps in, promptly cockblocks her and say "heh, this dude's rightfully mine I'm older, so stay away and then become totally human and stuff", so He locks himself with MC instead. Although I can't really tell whether the main character would prefer banging Miyako for all eternity over being stuck forever alongside his own adoring fan.
Anyways, She doesn't stand out much as unique character instead of being a mere genderswapped Yamato wielding a whip and a sword for extra swagger. Even one of her events is identical to one of Yamato's events, where She receives a candy as gift from a random person (this case is a child instead of a dying bloke) and wonder whether she deserves it or not.
Despite all the similarities, Atlus kind of nailed it again by illustrating the moment of defiance of her own ideals; when the climax of her fate event happens: instead of taroyaki, Miyako experiences a nervous breakdown after realizing She has developed selfish feelings towards the protagonist and actually don't give a damn about the rest of humanity.
Makoto Sako: After Yamato, She is undoubtebly one of the best characters Desu 2 has to offer. Her role is pretty vital because She represents the sane and kind-hearted side of an elitist organization (Jips) that hoards resources and spares little effort in providing assistance to the common civilian population because they're mostly regarded unworthy to be within its scope unless any of them proves individually his/her value otherwise.
Her fate events are also quite coherent with the depicted situation the world is goin' through. Hell, even if there was a romanceable option for her, like in persona, the whole thing would not be so out of place as well. Anyway, by following her fate event, to summarize, is revealed that She is very grateful that JPs gave her a renewed life's purpose after suffering a severe accident that left her unable to keep on with her aspirations of becoming a olympiad swimmer; and therefore She repays Jips back with blind loyalty. The problem is that She is unable to ignore her own dissenting voice, because She is not apeshit crazy about Yamato's take of meritocracy or shares his scorn towards the weak or unremarkable. On the other hand, She doesn't desire to dissent or make divergent decisions since She regards it as a betrayalto Jips interest.
Funnily enough,Yamato Hotsuin is so fascinated with the protagonist blowing up septentriones that He just doesn't care what the hell Makoto is doing or the outcome of her own decisions; like letting Ronaldo go or rescuing rioters from demons. For her distraught, She's not going to be "punished" anytime soon.
Ronaldo Kuriki: The guy is hilariously belligerent, almost to the Keita's level. The way He acts in his pursuit for "justice" can be easily regarded as downright terrorist: He seizes government's branches by force that belongs to Jips and has no qualms in including Yakuza members among his troops that kidnap people and relentlessly attack Jps agents.
Quite a shame He fell victim of lazy writing, since the little character development He gains by doing his optional fate events (his obligatory fate events are focused into revealing Yamato`s conspiracy with Polaris) is completely forgotten after reaching the endgame. Because during his personal events; He simmer down his insanity by setting apart his vengeful agenda in order to become a typical hero of justice, but after the sixth day, He returns to his old self equivalent of a post-apoc Raider chieftain.
Anguished One/Alcor/Al Saiduq: while Ronaldo, Yamato and Daichi restorer path represent variations of law alignment, Al is the only decent alternative that incarnates the Chaos alignment itself. He's depicted as the devil survivor equivalent of Prometheus, and his fate events during Sept arc are just a series of unamusing ruminations about humanity's necessity of free will.
If you increase his fate's rank to 4, in Day 7th; you can convince him to help you with your Polaris Overthrowing scheme - The only ending route which plan did came up by protagonist own idea; about time the guy showed some iniciative- and then transform AlSaiduq's stripey butt into a new primeval world, so He can fulfill his ultimate kink: to bear and be surrounded by his beloved human race for evah and evah.
Fumi Kanno: She's Jips lead data scientist, Jips telecom manager, IT staff, hacker,etc. *sigh* well, pretty much everything associated with computers. She at first stroke me as the typical condescending genius trope designed by someone that knows
crap about any field of science, since She tends to lose herself into pedantic technical ramblings and anyone bored enough could notice several gaps within.
However, It seems devs were aware of all the harsh criticism an omnitalented genius with big titties would arise, so they ended up giving her cartoonish traits: She almost has orgasms everytime She starts a new research, has a compulsive habit to carry several laptops around concealed in her cheongsam, the practical applications of her research tends to blow up(She's a brilliant scientist but a crappy engineer), etc. It also helps She is not going through an emotional distress like most of the normie characters.
Fumi Kanno can't be taken as seriously as Atsuro, but at least She's an amusing character and her stat distribution makes her a godlike offensive magic caster, unlike most of other magic oriented characters.
Io and Daichi: Pretty sure devs prioritized the writing of those two, other characters fate events felt like fillers in comparison. Their character development actually occurs at a better pace than the others, both deal with tough shit and devs made an effort to cohesively convey their personal issues with the apocalyptic setting they're dealing with.
Io's current fate rank can effect the outcome of certain event of the main storyline. Certainly, the outcome is whether She survives it or not, but is the only death video that can be averted by strenghtening bonds instead of showing up earlier; and the only C&C derived from a character relationship you will find before endgame, unfortunately.
Both Io and Daichi dislike strife, and since recent circumstances cause lots of It, They just can't always run away and rely on you to fix everything. Both eventually realize, given how far you develop their fate ranks, that their inaction might lead to the suffering of people more vulnerable than them. Then, Io ends up as a rookie mediator and Daichi becomes more reliable. However,Daichi is still a coward and for Io speaking her mind is still a daunting task, They just only learnt to control better their negative aspects; and I'm totally fine with that, because people don't change completely, and even less after dealing with a conflict that lasted just eight days regardless how traumatic was for them.
Yuzuru "Joe" Akie: Despite of being a minor character, Akie is an interesting fellow. He doesn't have any qualms to admit his wishy-washy attitude and his lax behaviour. Then again, He's usually pretty chill towards all the apocalypse business, in contrast of people like Makoto, who can enter in a triggered state when spotting any threat regardless of how insignificant it is.
Anyways, He has a ill girlfriend dying in a Nagoya hospital at the worst situation Desu 2 mankind has ever faced; so He's pretty much into a rough spot and since He's not used to cope with this kind of pressure, He's asshat enough to care more about the impression He might give when He finally decides to visit her instead of her well being. So that's pretty much his character's arc about: Joe recognizes the whole situation is superior to him and wish He just could let it be like always do, but He can't. The protagonist eventually inspires him some bravery to finally go visit his girlfriend and propose marriage to her.She eventually dies and Joe ends up loathing his own frivolity and swore never be late again.
Otome: She's Jips Osaka branch physician, although It seems to be the only doctor of the entire organization. Mostly there to tease Makoto feelings towards the protagonist, She also likes to talk about her newfound maternal instincts after adopting her orphan cousin Koharu, and how much regrets the fact She can't afford to spend enough time with her.
Is a bit awkward how She is eager to trust Koharu as your protégé despite you only see her like well....once. I'm aware protagonist actions has inspired awe among his friends, but sometimes is a bit too much; suddenly He became so reliable She'd not doubt trust her loved ones life to him above any closer friend of hers, like Makoto.
Jungo Torii: A serviceable character that only exists to support others instead of himself, like the protagonist. He's pretty much a japanese Forrest Gump with a recurring gag included (chawamushi). His whole fate event is only there to reinforce the fact He is a good guy, nothing else.
Hinako Kujou: She's generally cheerful, pushy and eager to help others. However, those positive traits constitute many layers of a facade that conceals her tendency to remain within her own cycle of self-loathing. Although It doesn't stop her to act and make herself useful whenever possible, Hinako often doesn't think that as a dancer She can put any value on the table, thus She deemed herself as worthless given actual circumstances. She is one of those characters that is emotionally clung to the protagonist and anything He says will eventually help rediscover her passion for dance since She will (duh!) realize that people gets bored and tired of just doing survival stuff and a bit of escapism helps boost morale.
Airi and Keita: Finally I'm scratching the bottom of the barrel. The worst of the bunch. For those people that remember the T.V show Hey Arnold? Imagine Helga or just Asuka from Evangelion; and you'll have the personality of those two already figured. Alas, both fit the "tsundere" type of personality, although Keita is the surlier one. Both have a crush on Main Character, getting all flustered or aggresive towards him and gift him with souvenirs during each introductory day. At any rate, both are shameless pieces of turd.
Keita fate's events change if Jungo is absent (dead). Nevertheless, with or without Jungo, It mostly consists of the Main character awkwardly standing as a semi-silent observer while Keita -obviously uncomfortable and secretly grateful for your presence- threatens but reluctantly opens up to him. The thing is Keita avoids relationships because his father was betrayed for close friends, thus He regards friendship as only fitting for the weak. Ironically, He seems terrified by the idea of end up like his father: betrayed and alone.
Airi doesn't have any redeeiming qualities to stand up: She is bitter, jealous, obnoxious, whiny, bossy, preachy, etc. No wonder she receives little respect and is usually the butt of others jokes, Main Character included. She is an introverted girl with an outrageously bland issue depicted as tragic: She is a supposely talented piano player (won a contest and everything) and wanted to be a concert pianist, but seems wasn't good enough to earn a scholarship and her family couldn't afford piano lessons any longer, so the lack of family support alongside the fact her father disappeared, contributed with the decision of downright quitting her dreams of becoming a concert pianist.
Therefore, She fakes pragmatism and pretends that doesn't care for it anymore, when in reality, the fact that She decided to stop playing the pianoas much as She does with her clitoris is slowly killing her inside.
She would have been a cooler character if not of her shitty character fate's arc. I think devs didn't put much effort on her events in order to rush her resolve at endgame, since is not very different than Keita events: Main Character is just there as a semi silent observer while Airi is staring at her favorite concert hall with a melancholic look on her face.
For putting up this kind of bullshit, I really wished there were an option to kick her entitled ass into the concert hall and set that shit on fire with her inside. Oh well, at least there is certain moment during her events that Makoto bitchslaps Airi as a reality check measure, I suppose that works too.
Dera-Deka: It seems as Airi's father He had to surpass her daughter in regards of how pointless a character arc can be. Except for the unlockable demon, his events are absolute waste of time , He provides a bit more backstory related to Hotsuin family and Jips but that's it. His motivations to remain in the shadows until He dies are flimsy, since Yamato Hotsuin would care for him as much He actually cares for his student Ronaldo: nothing at all.
He's the backbone of septentrione arc, becoming into either an endgame lukewarm ally or a total pain in the ass to deal with as antagonist. On Triangulum arc, He gains so much protagonism that leaves the main character's role redundant, whom does jack shit but be the designed group psychotherapist as always.
His Fate events would have been boring if not for the last taroyaki scene, because It brilliantly exposes that his own beliefs are mostly fueled by plain prejudice, albeit of being portrayed as ideal.
Miyako Hotsuin: Awww, Look how moe cute She is!! She couldn't pander for more fanservice because even devs would admit is too blatant.
I found really hilarious how in the Human Administrator ending, She attempts to join the Main Character as his "sword"; then Al Saiduq steps in, promptly cockblocks her and say "heh, this dude's rightfully mine I'm older, so stay away and then become totally human and stuff", so He locks himself with MC instead. Although I can't really tell whether the main character would prefer banging Miyako for all eternity over being stuck forever alongside his own adoring fan.
Anyways, She doesn't stand out much as unique character instead of being a mere genderswapped Yamato wielding a whip and a sword for extra swagger. Even one of her events is identical to one of Yamato's events, where She receives a candy as gift from a random person (this case is a child instead of a dying bloke) and wonder whether she deserves it or not.
Despite all the similarities, Atlus kind of nailed it again by illustrating the moment of defiance of her own ideals; when the climax of her fate event happens: instead of taroyaki, Miyako experiences a nervous breakdown after realizing She has developed selfish feelings towards the protagonist and actually don't give a damn about the rest of humanity.
Makoto Sako: After Yamato, She is undoubtebly one of the best characters Desu 2 has to offer. Her role is pretty vital because She represents the sane and kind-hearted side of an elitist organization (Jips) that hoards resources and spares little effort in providing assistance to the common civilian population because they're mostly regarded unworthy to be within its scope unless any of them proves individually his/her value otherwise.
Her fate events are also quite coherent with the depicted situation the world is goin' through. Hell, even if there was a romanceable option for her, like in persona, the whole thing would not be so out of place as well. Anyway, by following her fate event, to summarize, is revealed that She is very grateful that JPs gave her a renewed life's purpose after suffering a severe accident that left her unable to keep on with her aspirations of becoming a olympiad swimmer; and therefore She repays Jips back with blind loyalty. The problem is that She is unable to ignore her own dissenting voice, because She is not apeshit crazy about Yamato's take of meritocracy or shares his scorn towards the weak or unremarkable. On the other hand, She doesn't desire to dissent or make divergent decisions since She regards it as a betrayalto Jips interest.
Funnily enough,Yamato Hotsuin is so fascinated with the protagonist blowing up septentriones that He just doesn't care what the hell Makoto is doing or the outcome of her own decisions; like letting Ronaldo go or rescuing rioters from demons. For her distraught, She's not going to be "punished" anytime soon.
Ronaldo Kuriki: The guy is hilariously belligerent, almost to the Keita's level. The way He acts in his pursuit for "justice" can be easily regarded as downright terrorist: He seizes government's branches by force that belongs to Jips and has no qualms in including Yakuza members among his troops that kidnap people and relentlessly attack Jps agents.
Quite a shame He fell victim of lazy writing, since the little character development He gains by doing his optional fate events (his obligatory fate events are focused into revealing Yamato`s conspiracy with Polaris) is completely forgotten after reaching the endgame. Because during his personal events; He simmer down his insanity by setting apart his vengeful agenda in order to become a typical hero of justice, but after the sixth day, He returns to his old self equivalent of a post-apoc Raider chieftain.
Anguished One/Alcor/Al Saiduq: while Ronaldo, Yamato and Daichi restorer path represent variations of law alignment, Al is the only decent alternative that incarnates the Chaos alignment itself. He's depicted as the devil survivor equivalent of Prometheus, and his fate events during Sept arc are just a series of unamusing ruminations about humanity's necessity of free will.
If you increase his fate's rank to 4, in Day 7th; you can convince him to help you with your Polaris Overthrowing scheme - The only ending route which plan did came up by protagonist own idea; about time the guy showed some iniciative- and then transform AlSaiduq's stripey butt into a new primeval world, so He can fulfill his ultimate kink: to bear and be surrounded by his beloved human race for evah and evah.
Fumi Kanno: She's Jips lead data scientist, Jips telecom manager, IT staff, hacker,etc. *sigh* well, pretty much everything associated with computers. She at first stroke me as the typical condescending genius trope designed by someone that knows
crap about any field of science, since She tends to lose herself into pedantic technical ramblings and anyone bored enough could notice several gaps within.
However, It seems devs were aware of all the harsh criticism an omnitalented genius with big titties would arise, so they ended up giving her cartoonish traits: She almost has orgasms everytime She starts a new research, has a compulsive habit to carry several laptops around concealed in her cheongsam, the practical applications of her research tends to blow up(She's a brilliant scientist but a crappy engineer), etc. It also helps She is not going through an emotional distress like most of the normie characters.
Fumi Kanno can't be taken as seriously as Atsuro, but at least She's an amusing character and her stat distribution makes her a godlike offensive magic caster, unlike most of other magic oriented characters.
Io and Daichi: Pretty sure devs prioritized the writing of those two, other characters fate events felt like fillers in comparison. Their character development actually occurs at a better pace than the others, both deal with tough shit and devs made an effort to cohesively convey their personal issues with the apocalyptic setting they're dealing with.
Io's current fate rank can effect the outcome of certain event of the main storyline. Certainly, the outcome is whether She survives it or not, but is the only death video that can be averted by strenghtening bonds instead of showing up earlier; and the only C&C derived from a character relationship you will find before endgame, unfortunately.
Both Io and Daichi dislike strife, and since recent circumstances cause lots of It, They just can't always run away and rely on you to fix everything. Both eventually realize, given how far you develop their fate ranks, that their inaction might lead to the suffering of people more vulnerable than them. Then, Io ends up as a rookie mediator and Daichi becomes more reliable. However,Daichi is still a coward and for Io speaking her mind is still a daunting task, They just only learnt to control better their negative aspects; and I'm totally fine with that, because people don't change completely, and even less after dealing with a conflict that lasted just eight days regardless how traumatic was for them.
Yuzuru "Joe" Akie: Despite of being a minor character, Akie is an interesting fellow. He doesn't have any qualms to admit his wishy-washy attitude and his lax behaviour. Then again, He's usually pretty chill towards all the apocalypse business, in contrast of people like Makoto, who can enter in a triggered state when spotting any threat regardless of how insignificant it is.
Anyways, He has a ill girlfriend dying in a Nagoya hospital at the worst situation Desu 2 mankind has ever faced; so He's pretty much into a rough spot and since He's not used to cope with this kind of pressure, He's asshat enough to care more about the impression He might give when He finally decides to visit her instead of her well being. So that's pretty much his character's arc about: Joe recognizes the whole situation is superior to him and wish He just could let it be like always do, but He can't. The protagonist eventually inspires him some bravery to finally go visit his girlfriend and propose marriage to her.She eventually dies and Joe ends up loathing his own frivolity and swore never be late again.
Otome: She's Jips Osaka branch physician, although It seems to be the only doctor of the entire organization. Mostly there to tease Makoto feelings towards the protagonist, She also likes to talk about her newfound maternal instincts after adopting her orphan cousin Koharu, and how much regrets the fact She can't afford to spend enough time with her.
Is a bit awkward how She is eager to trust Koharu as your protégé despite you only see her like well....once. I'm aware protagonist actions has inspired awe among his friends, but sometimes is a bit too much; suddenly He became so reliable She'd not doubt trust her loved ones life to him above any closer friend of hers, like Makoto.
Jungo Torii: A serviceable character that only exists to support others instead of himself, like the protagonist. He's pretty much a japanese Forrest Gump with a recurring gag included (chawamushi). His whole fate event is only there to reinforce the fact He is a good guy, nothing else.
Hinako Kujou: She's generally cheerful, pushy and eager to help others. However, those positive traits constitute many layers of a facade that conceals her tendency to remain within her own cycle of self-loathing. Although It doesn't stop her to act and make herself useful whenever possible, Hinako often doesn't think that as a dancer She can put any value on the table, thus She deemed herself as worthless given actual circumstances. She is one of those characters that is emotionally clung to the protagonist and anything He says will eventually help rediscover her passion for dance since She will (duh!) realize that people gets bored and tired of just doing survival stuff and a bit of escapism helps boost morale.
Airi and Keita: Finally I'm scratching the bottom of the barrel. The worst of the bunch. For those people that remember the T.V show Hey Arnold? Imagine Helga or just Asuka from Evangelion; and you'll have the personality of those two already figured. Alas, both fit the "tsundere" type of personality, although Keita is the surlier one. Both have a crush on Main Character, getting all flustered or aggresive towards him and gift him with souvenirs during each introductory day. At any rate, both are shameless pieces of turd.
Keita fate's events change if Jungo is absent (dead). Nevertheless, with or without Jungo, It mostly consists of the Main character awkwardly standing as a semi-silent observer while Keita -obviously uncomfortable and secretly grateful for your presence- threatens but reluctantly opens up to him. The thing is Keita avoids relationships because his father was betrayed for close friends, thus He regards friendship as only fitting for the weak. Ironically, He seems terrified by the idea of end up like his father: betrayed and alone.
Airi doesn't have any redeeiming qualities to stand up: She is bitter, jealous, obnoxious, whiny, bossy, preachy, etc. No wonder she receives little respect and is usually the butt of others jokes, Main Character included. She is an introverted girl with an outrageously bland issue depicted as tragic: She is a supposely talented piano player (won a contest and everything) and wanted to be a concert pianist, but seems wasn't good enough to earn a scholarship and her family couldn't afford piano lessons any longer, so the lack of family support alongside the fact her father disappeared, contributed with the decision of downright quitting her dreams of becoming a concert pianist.
Therefore, She fakes pragmatism and pretends that doesn't care for it anymore, when in reality, the fact that She decided to stop playing the piano
She would have been a cooler character if not of her shitty character fate's arc. I think devs didn't put much effort on her events in order to rush her resolve at endgame, since is not very different than Keita events: Main Character is just there as a semi silent observer while Airi is staring at her favorite concert hall with a melancholic look on her face.
For putting up this kind of bullshit, I really wished there were an option to kick her entitled ass into the concert hall and set that shit on fire with her inside. Oh well, at least there is certain moment during her events that Makoto bitchslaps Airi as a reality check measure, I suppose that works too.
Dera-Deka: It seems as Airi's father He had to surpass her daughter in regards of how pointless a character arc can be. Except for the unlockable demon, his events are absolute waste of time , He provides a bit more backstory related to Hotsuin family and Jips but that's it. His motivations to remain in the shadows until He dies are flimsy, since Yamato Hotsuin would care for him as much He actually cares for his student Ronaldo: nothing at all.
Phew well, that's pretty much it. Hope Devil Survivor 3 devs forgets about human bias and deconstructs social links in order to create one for demons. That'd be a quite fresh concept to explore.
Last edited:
Anyways, Denebolas appears bunny hood ended up dying crushed as in septentrion arc and is Revived. Then is pretty much forced to recover other retards memories since you're the trigger.
