• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 |OT| Big Dipper and Bigger Boobs

cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
The cast of this game is just insane. They're all too good! And none of them are really unlikable either.


FISH OR DIE


:D
 
K

KarmaCow

Member
Woo found a copy after Bestbuy crapped out on my preorder.

Now to decide between finishing Tales of the Abyss or jumping into this game.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
Finally got to the point where I could fuse away Thor and Baphomet.

Now I have Odin, Mikazuchi, and Pazuzu. I even got Anti-Force on Odin, and DRAIN! Motherfucka is gonna mop the floor with the next few enemies.

I'm a fan of Chaos Wave + Double up in certain situations. Awakening + MC + Drain/Holy Dance is ungodly.
 
R

RPG_Fanatic

Member
Yes. Finally managed to beat Ghost Q and knock that smug grin off his face.

Involved a lot of warping around and stumbling onto a loophole with a evil wave demon.
It was on one side 6x2 obstacle and I across on the other side. I think it didn't want to move because doing so would increase the distance between us. When I moved one square to attack I different demon it used phantasm reach me and attacked directly, instead on wait one more turn to position itself for a long distance attack.
 
C

charlequin

Banned
Mitama said:
Oh btw, here's the list of rewards and titles that you can get, just typed them out:
Click to expand...

Ugh, I forgot this game would use the dumb Overclocked NG+ system instead of the helpful DS one. :(

duckroll said:
The solution to optimal or preferred fusion solutions is definitely not as simple as you make it sound. Often there can be 10 or more fusion pairs for a given demon, and only one has a possible root that you can trace to inherit a given skill into that demon. It becomes even more challenging when you want to consider specific stat boosts and planning the inheritance of more than one skill.
Click to expand...

Right. The interest comes in with fusion is in creating monetarily efficient fusions, or enabling certain kinds of stat boosts to make a specific demon stronger, or combining skills from multiple sources to create demons with certain kinds of skill combinations that aren't normally possible. While there's technically no real "lose" condition, there's a huge range of potential efficacy between utilizing the system well and sucking at it. Comparing it to Tower of Hanoi is just kind of dumb.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
charlequin said:
Ugh, I forgot this game would use the dumb Overclocked NG+ system instead of the helpful DS one. :(
Click to expand...

Yeah I had no idea about the new NG+ system in Overclocked/DS2.

Though I can't say I'm totally against it. Assuming I can't transfer all my demons on the first go, I'll now have a chance to fuse the ones I missed last time. It helps keep things a bit fresh I guess.
 
P

PK Gaming

Member
Well the original New game+ system was kind of broken, and aside from
Lucifer
and the other paths,there wasn't any incentive to replay the game.

I can honestly this is one of rare times where a compartmentalization of an old feature is a good thing.
 
C

charlequin

Banned
PK Gaming said:
Well the original New game+ system was kind of broken
Click to expand...

It's a NG+ mode, that's the whole point. It lets you speed back through, making all the decisions during the game however you want, to get the other endings. That's the whole reason Chrono Trigger invented NG+ in the first place.

This way means you're constantly throwing away all your effort and you basically have to play the whole game again for real, minus a few minor gimmes, each time. I might as well just Youtube the endings if it's going to take 200 hours of repetitive play to get all of them.
 
Laughing Banana

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Wait... the new game plus is like the grade system in the Tales game? o___O

Supposedly I want to play the game from the beginning for the third time... does my "points" over the last two playthrough accumulate or not? Say if I do an "A" in my 1st playthough that netted me 200 points, will my points become 400 if I do "A" again in my 2nd playthrough?
 
P

PK Gaming

Member
charlequin said:
It's a NG+ mode, that's the whole point. It lets you speed back through, making all the decisions during the game however you want, to get the other endings. That's the whole reason Chrono Trigger invented NG+ in the first place.

This way means you're constantly throwing away all your effort and you basically have to play the whole game again for real, minus a few minor gimmes, each time. I might as well just Youtube the endings if it's going to take 200 hours of repetitive play to get all of them.
Click to expand...

To be perfectly fair, you can actually speed through the game by bringing 1 (even 4 is overkill) super powerful demon. Titania is literally invincible and should speed you through the entire game without any trouble. Literally, you can solo the the entire game with MC + a strong Titania, bringing the rest of them is just overkill. You should have no problem getting 1+ endings this way, and after beating the game a 2nd time, you should have racked enough points to get even more demons or unlock more bonuses. The title + reward gives you incentive to play yet again, more than the endings did imo. (In the original DS, I stopped at 2 endings; it was too much for at the time, and I honestly opted to see the rest of the endings online)

I'm not even counting EXP removed limit, or the the ability the bring back old skillsets, both of which cost dirt cheap and affect the game in a BIG way (Holy dance early on? Hell yes. Magic Yin? G_G). So really if you buy EXP removed limit, the ability to bring back oldskillsets, and 1 demons you're basically experiencing the original games new game+ anyway.

This game (and DSO) changes things. It gives you a chance to be greedy, and it always leaves you wanting more. On top of wanting to replay the routes, you can also aim for achievements (no deaths / no free battles) which keeps the game fresh imo.

Differences of opinion I suppose.

Wait... the new game plus is like the grade system in the Tales game? o___O

Supposedly I want to play the game from the beginning for the third time... does my "points" over the last two playthrough accumulate or not? Say if I do an "A" in my 1st playthough that netted me 200 points, will my points become 400 if I do "A" again in my 2nd playthrough?
Click to expand...

No. But when you unlock something you unlock it permanently.
 
Laughing Banana

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
PK Gaming said:
No. But when you unlock something you unlock it permanently.
Click to expand...

Oh, then I don't see what's the problem with it. This is a good incentive for players to replay the game, to achieve all sorts of things.

Also, in my hypothetical scenario above, if I do the A again in my 2nd playthrough even though I have done it in my 1st playthrough, will I still get that 200 points?
 
M

Mitama

Member
No, you will already have the title (achievement) and won't be rewarded for it again. I also agree with PK Gaming, it's a proper incentive to keep you playing. In the original Devil Survivor, I saved at the cut-off point and then reloaded to see all the different endings. You get everything at the end anyway.

Don't worry charlequin, it's still very much a true new game+ mode, after completing it for the first time you can already unlock the fusion cap, keep your skills, transfer over 4 demons, unlock mitamas and remove the EXP cap. I also love how this lets you keep track of everything you've achieved so far, and showing you how much of the game you've completed, percentage wise.

Also, here's a good endgame build that you can transfer over:

Fairy Titania (Drain/Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)
Nulls all elements, reflects physical
------------------------------------------------------------------

Get from auction (4-5 stars if possible; necessary for some skills):

* Fairy Vivian (platinum auction) (Drain)
* Femme Rangda (platinum auction) (Phys Repel)
* Dragon Ym (platinum auction) (Holy Dance)

Femme Rangda x Dragon Ym = Ghost Purple Mirror (Holy Dance/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)

(Recommended) Element Flaemis x Dragon Ym = Dragon Asp (Mana Surge)

(Recommended) Fairy Vivian x Dragon Asp/Femme Yuki Jyorou = Fallen Bifrons (Drain/Mana Surge)
Fairy Vivian x Beast Caith Sith = Femme Hariti (Drain)
Fairy Vivian x Beast Nue = Femme Dzelarhons (Drain)
Fairy Vivian x Dragon Ym/Femme Ixtab/Femme Peri = Fallen Orobas (Drain)

(Recommended) Ghost Purple Mirror x Fallen Bifrons = Fairy Titania (Drain/Holy Dance/Mana Surge/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)
Ghost Purple Mirror x any of the above = Fairy Titania (Drain/Holy Dance/Dual Shadow/Phys Repel)
 
J

jaxword

Member
Could someone SUMMARIZE the game up to chapter 3 for me? I've been playing it in Japanese as practice for my class, but I'll admit I'm sure I've lost lots of nuances and details in my broken translating.

I have the general gist of it but I'm sure someone here could give a better summary than my current understanding that
There was an "earthquake" and this secret government organization is now in charge
.
 
D

DTJAAAAM

Member
Hit another wall. This time it's the last boss and its final form, which wipes out my whole team before I can even try attacking it twice. Back to grinding and fusing!
 
D

duckroll

Member
charlequin said:
It's a NG+ mode, that's the whole point. It lets you speed back through, making all the decisions during the game however you want, to get the other endings. That's the whole reason Chrono Trigger invented NG+ in the first place.

This way means you're constantly throwing away all your effort and you basically have to play the whole game again for real, minus a few minor gimmes, each time. I might as well just Youtube the endings if it's going to take 200 hours of repetitive play to get all of them.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, there is a reason why the NG+ in DS2 is more limited. They allow you to carry over at least enough to make the game significantly easier initially, but at the same time the NG+ is meant to be balanced to introduce new optional boss fights every single day, which unlock further fusions.

Ultimately, the end result is that for a person who plays properly and pays attention, the first time you complete the game, you will be able to carry over all your cracked skills, a few demons, and unlock Mitamas. Even starting at lvl1, being able to equip all your cracked skills on leaders, and having 4 endgame demons in the party..... is going to basically sail you through most of the proper game. Simply playing through the game will level your leaders up as you go along, and it would also allow a full re-spec for the MC.

The limitations also mean that the new optional battles might remain challenging without being totally unfair like what they did in DS1. At least, that's my hope. I'm looking forward to it.
 
T

Torraz

Member
Haivng problems with early Day 3.

Yes, this concerns ghost Q, but perhaps not in the way one would have expected. At 07.00 am I was forced between three people-meeting events. I went with Io over Daichi and Makoto (iirc). Then Ghost-Q popped up. The problem is that no matter what Io will pop up in the cutscene and ghost Q will run away. How do I prevent that? My MC is more than strong enough to beat up everything.

Thanks
 
M

Mitama

Member
Torraz said:
Haivng problems with early Day 3.

Yes, this concerns ghost Q, but perhaps not in the way one would have expected. At 07.00 am I was forced between three people-meeting events. I went with Io over Daichi and Makoto (iirc). Then Ghost-Q popped up. The problem is that no matter what Io will pop up in the cutscene and ghost Q will run away. How do I prevent that? My MC is more than strong enough to beat up everything.

Thanks
Click to expand...
You needed to face him while the MC was still alone :/
 
M

Mitama

Member
Obsessed said:
Wait is it possible to be unable to purchase all the unlocks even after subsequent playthroughs?
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't you be able to purchase all the rewards? You earn enough points and each ending gives you 60P; defeating optional bosses also earns you a nice amount of points.
 
M

Mitama

Member
Torraz said:
Ah, thanks. I still have a save from before, but that would make me fight merak again. By your estimation, is ghost Q worth that?
Click to expand...

Not at all, just get him on the next playthrough. I never even fused him because he wasn't anything special.

Here's his stats:

Fiend Ghost Q / Lv 26
Command skills: Berserk / - / -
Passive skills: - / - / -

HP: 216
MP: 103
ST: 9
MA: 11
VI: 10
AG: 12

Racial ability: Uncanny Form (immediately act again, cannot be used more than once per turn).
Resistances: Strong vs. ice, elec and curse, normal vs. the rest
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
charlequin said:
It's a NG+ mode, that's the whole point. It lets you speed back through, making all the decisions during the game however you want, to get the other endings. That's the whole reason Chrono Trigger invented NG+ in the first place.

This way means you're constantly throwing away all your effort and you basically have to play the whole game again for real, minus a few minor gimmes, each time. I might as well just Youtube the endings if it's going to take 200 hours of repetitive play to get all of them.
Click to expand...

Can you make a hard save just before the last day, and then use Suspend saves to save your progress on the last day?

That's how I saw all the endings on Devil Survivor on the DS without having to play thru the whole game half a dozen times.
 
M

Mitama

Member
Curufinwe said:
Can you make a hard save just before the last day, and then use Suspend saves to save your progress on the last day?

That's how I saw all the endings on Devil Survivor on the DS without having to play thru the whole game half a dozen times.
Click to expand...

Yes you can. However, in Devil Survivor there was nothing to gain from getting a different ending. This time, there is, so it's actually worth replaying for multiple endings.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
You did get a new person added to the title screen when you finished the game after getting their ending. But that counts as nothing.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
The game had me mentally prepared for an easy boss fight, but I lost badly.

Time to rethink my strategy.

Also Holy Dance is far weaker than I thought it would be. I'm going to stop using it during certain boss fights since taking advantage of elemental weaknesses seems critical.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
Fuck this boss fight. Day 5/6
Mizar
. Why are normal enemies getting so many more turns than I am?

edit: lol. found out how to beat the boss. Jesus, they give you Null Phys during the battle.
 
D

duckroll

Member
I'm catching up. One Day 6 now! I just did the first battle of the day
where you first encounter the Mizar splinters. Fumi and Airi blew them all away in like 2 turns, lol.
 
U

Ultratech

Member
RPG_Fanatic said:
Yes. Finally managed to beat Ghost Q and knock that smug grin off his face.

Involved a lot of warping around and stumbling onto a loophole with a evil wave demon.
It was on one side 6x2 obstacle and I across on the other side. I think it didn't want to move because doing so would increase the distance between us. When I moved one square to attack I different demon it used phantasm reach me and attacked directly, instead on wait one more turn to position itself for a long distance attack.
Click to expand...

Same here, except I
just kept the one snake jar demon alive and went and took out Ghost Q in one turn with my Phys MC, Angel, and Waira. Yay for Extra Turn and Crits.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
Is there an "easy" final route like there was in DS1?

I'm very tempted to either go with the
Communism route
, or one of the Neutral routes for my first time.

I'll leave the
Ayn Rand route
for the future.
 
P

PK Gaming

Member
There isn't an "easy" route in this. All of them have you more or less fighting the same final boss
whereas in the old game you could skip it entirely in some routes


duckroll said:
I'm catching up. One Day 6 now! I just did the first battle of the day
where you first encounter the Mizar splinters. Fumi and Airi blew them all away in like 2 turns, lol.
Click to expand...

Nice. I love how beating each
Septentrione
boss gets progressively and progressively harder in terms of plot.
 
D

DTJAAAAM

Member
PK Gaming said:
Feel free to post your teams + levels and i'll try you in any way I can.
Click to expand...

Will try to when I get home. Is there anyway to neutralize the damage from Supernova besides staying out of the way? Also, how long do I have before that move happens again. I don't know since it's the attack that always kills my last two attackers, haha.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
duckroll said:
I'm catching up. One Day 6 now! I just did the first battle of the day
where you first encounter the Mizar splinters. Fumi and Airi blew them all away in like 2 turns, lol.
Click to expand...

That's the battle I had a lot of trouble until I realized that
Null Phys could easily be cracked and put on someone. The boss only has Phys attacks. Fire Dance + Null Phys + demon with some speed increasing ability/phantasm = instawin.

I'm almost shocked the game did that.

edit: Decided to go with a Neutral route. Jesus fuck the enemies suddenly got strong. No cheap tactics, but just really reallllllly powerful demons. Gonna have to revise my strategy/skills.

So many new fusion options....
 
D

drtomoe123

Member
I just beat
Phecda
and my MC totally killed each half in essentially one turn with Double Up.

I'm really enjoying the game so far, but I can't wait to get further and really get SMT'd.
 
C

CornBurrito

Member
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH I HAVE THE POWER!

Since I'm at the end game it probably wont be broken, but I managed to get Megami Isis with Drain and Anti-Phys, and Diety Mithra. Sadly I couldn't get any ice resistance on Mithra. But this means when they are paired with my MC I have: Awakening + Megido + Megido + Drain...

So much holy power!

Sadly I had worthwhile to fuse Odin with, so he will be with Fumi as "fuck everything up with magic" team 2.

I'm also going to miss Genma Kresnick and that delicious Phantasm ability. But meh.
 
P

PK Gaming

Member
Obsessed said:
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH I HAVE THE POWER!

Since I'm at the end game it probably wont be broken, but I managed to get Megami Isis with Drain and Anti-Phys, and Diety Mithra. Sadly I couldn't get any ice resistance on Mithra. But this means when they are paired with my MC I have: Awakening + Megido + Megido + Drain...

So much holy power!

Sadly I had worthwhile to fuse Odin with, so he will be with Fumi as "fuck everything up with magic" team 2.

I'm also going to miss Genma Kresnick and that delicious Phantasm ability. But meh.
Click to expand...

It looks like you're starting to hit your stride. Awesome ♪

What day are you on?
 
D

DTJAAAAM

Member
Yessssssss, grinding, building a bunch of demons that can Repel Phys, and giving that same skill to my main did the trick against the final boss. Watching the ending now! :)
 
Koroviev

Koroviev

Member
Finally made it to Day 4. If I could rename characters,
Ronaldo
would henceforth be referred to as "Duck Puncher." The boss monster is situated a square or two away and all the lousy, albeit overpowered, bastard can do is punch the duck monster on the other sqaure. At least he's strong enough to survive the AI's suicidal tendencies =_=
 
F

frequency

Member
Hasn't Start + Select + Shoulder buttons been a standard way to reset a game to start screen for a while now? Like going way back to the PSX?
 
D

duckroll

Member
Koroviev said:
Finally made it to Day 4. If I could rename characters,
Ronaldo
would henceforth be referred to as "Duck Puncher." The boss monster is situated a square or two away and all the lousy, albeit overpowered, bastard can do is punch the duck monster on the other sqaure. At least he's strong enough to survive the AI's suicidal tendencies =_=
Click to expand...

Oh man. The WEIRDEST thing about the AI in that fight was how
if the boss is COMBINED, he will always target the boss. But when the boss is separated and actually vulnerable, he will NEVER attack the boss as long as there is another enemy in range. It was really hilarious.
 
V

vall03

Member
I have a question about the Wednesday boss,
do I really have to fight it several times when it moves around the map?
I feel as if I could have beaten it in one turn...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LTTP | Shin Megami Tensei : Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker
LTTP
2
382
DelireMan7 replied
Shin Megami Tensei Vengeance releases June 14th 2024 [Multiplatform]
News 4 5 6 7 8
392
28K
Danjin44 replied
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance - New Trailer + Preview Thread
Opinion Trailer 2 3 4 5
244
14K
Arsic replied
Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 Soundtracks Join Streaming Services for 20th Anniversary; 139 Songs
News
13
897
Werewolf Jones replied
Shin Megami Tensei series character designer Kazuma Kaneko leaves ATLUS after 35 years, joins COLOPL
News Game Dev
31
3K
Madonis replied
Top Bottom