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

7Th

Member
Did Not!Kaworu also remind you of Joshua from The World Ends With You? Whenever he did that mouth hand covering gesture all I could hear was Joshua's giggle.

Now that you say it, their mannerisms have certain similarities. AO is a lot more innocent than both Kaworu and Joshua, though; specially late in the game.
 

Requeim

Member
I really like most of the characters in the game, with a few exceptions. Ronaldo and Yamato both suck, and i think Joe is a bit meh, but that's it. I thought Makoto would belong here too in the beginning, but she's kind of hilarious if you try to make her embarrassed (specifically thinking about the Otome/Makoto mission here)
 

jorgeton

Member
So is it possible to get all playable characters on one playthrough?

Don't have any favorites yet, but Io is pretty endearing, as are Joe and Daichi. I hate that little asshole that joined me in Osaka (Keita?). He's decent in battle, but jesus christ what a dipshit.

Am half way through Day 3 so far.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Well sorta

You need to get every characters fate level to at least 4 AND pick Daichi's route; easier said than done since dialogue responses influence fate levels. I doubt you'll do this on the first playthrough. In fact its not as fun either since you're restricted. Oh yeah and Ao is doomed to die.

Edit
 

7Th

Member
Well sorta

You need to get every characters fate level to at least 4 AND pick Daichi's route; easier said than done since dialogue responses influence fate levels. I doubt you'll do this on the first playthrough. In fact its not as fun either since you're restricted.

You still have to kill AO; AO is a playable character.
 

Koroviev

Member
Plenty of love for Joe's. He's so damn awesome, and his sidequests are a mixture of fun, touching, heart-warming and sad the same time.

Plus he totally references lonely island.

Girl, you know we've been together such a long, long time...
♪

I love Joe! :)

Wasn't so sure at first, but he grew on me. He reminds me of Vincent from Catherine.

The only character that annoys me is Airi. Don't really care about her. Ronaldo isn't bad per se, but I can't sympathize with his cause, because dat thug artwork.
 

7Th

Member
You caught me in the middle of an edit, for this you deserve to most brutal death imaginable.

AO is part of your party in his own route, though. He isn't exactly doomed to die. Then again, in his route Ronaldo and Yamato kill themselves after you beat them... basically, it goes like this:

-AO route: Yamato and Ronaldo die
-Daichi route: AO dies
-Ronaldo route: Yamato and AO die
-Yamato route: Ronaldo and AO die
 

jorgeton

Member
Thanks for the heads up 7th and PK.. and the massive spoiler I got when I quoted your replies! No worries though.

Seems like saving everyone is a big hassle, I'll just keep on playing as usual and not worrying too much about it. I had my first cast member die on me last night and was thinking about going back to an earlier save and trying to help them, but I'll leave it as is.
 

duckroll

Member
A little OT here but can someone give me a little synopsis of what Persona is? I played some version on the PSP a little while back at some game store, but it was just all talking parts. If I like Final Fantasy tactics will I like this game? It seems really different than most JRPGs, but a lot of people like it and I love RPGs so I will probably like it too.

Why are you asking about Persona here? It's not just OT, it's totally irrelevant.
 
So, question: I notice in the opening movie that it has Io flying up into the air before launching a massive lightening bolt. Is that a cutscene, or do the characters somehow get special abilities?
 

Golbez

Member
I could easily find myself doing that if not for the fact that you can only store six of them, so you'll have to blow them no matter what.
 
Wednesday's boss has kicked my ass so hard twice already. I need to come up with a new strategy ASAP. And here I was thinking I had a beast of a team, but damn did this boss take me down a few pegs...
 

Koroviev

Member
Wednesday's boss has kicked my ass so hard twice already. I need to come up with a new strategy ASAP. And here I was thinking I had a beast of a team, but damn did this boss take me down a few pegs...

Yeah, I know that feeling. I have a magic-focused MC, so I
enabled Ice Dance for my guy and mabufu for the other mage. I had to sacrifice some of my preferred demons for high-magic demons with mabufu/ice dance. Having a Genma (Hanuman, in this case) made it so that the mob of standard demons couldn't trap me in a corner when the boss moved around.
 

Frosteey

Neo Member
I don't see any point in trying to turn your MC into a physical attacker when Hinako is pretty much perfect for the job; she has the ideal balance between AG and STR.

I found multi-striking for vast amounts of damage was the most mindless way to ensure full-group kills on a wide variety of enemy teams you come across (meaning all of them) so it was ideal for just letting the main character solo half of the map and get all the levels for fusing.

Having a complete glass cannon, with literally no investment in magic or vitality, to just punch every boss to death instantly really made so much stuff pretty trivial.

Also having two physical characters is fine. Resistance gets a little up there towards the end, but it's not as dumb as the first game and there's actually enough skills to reasonably equip two people and have them do things

Second run I am doing 3 vitality to 1 magic I'm sure this will be a thing.
 
I found multi-striking for vast amounts of damage was the most mindless way to ensure full-group kills on a wide variety of enemy teams you come across (meaning all of them) so it was ideal for just letting the main character solo half of the map and get all the levels for fusing.

Having a complete glass cannon, with literally no investment in magic or vitality, to just punch every boss to death instantly really made so much stuff pretty trivial.

Also having two physical characters is fine. Resistance gets a little up there towards the end, but it's not as dumb as the first game and there's actually enough skills to reasonably equip two people and have them do things

Second run I am doing 3 vitality to 1 magic I'm sure this will be a thing.

Technically, a magic glass cannon would operate in much the same way. Just use elemental dances on an enemy until they die. I think of physical-based attacks as an element, like any other. Physical builds still have plenty of nuance - they may all seem sameish (being the same "element", and all), but unlike magic they all operate under different circumstances, and are governed by a variety of different stats. Who knows. Perhaps Phys feels so fresh for me because I made my MC in DS1 a magic nuke for every playthrough. DS2 is my first time making a physical MC, and I'm not bored of it yet.

Progress report: I'm in the middle of Wednesday.
Just saved Joe.
I started out thinking the story was a bit lacking in comparison to DS1, but after
the introduction of the Anguished One and the doubts over JP's
it's starting to pick up and really hold my interest. I'm no longer "waiting for the good part", but advancing the story specifically to find out what happens next. I can't wait for the various paths to start delineating themselves - I'm still not sure who stands where. The suspense is killing me!

My favorite character so far would probably be Fumi and Joe, for managing to keep their cool in their own unique ways despite the shit going down around them. Fumi has the sort of detatched attitude that you'd sort of have to have if you hoped to survive a crisis like that, and Joe's so delightfully weird you can't help but like him (Favorite Joe scene so far:
MC and Daichi spying on the female physical...and Joe pops out of nowhere, having been there the whole time
lol).

My least favorites...Keita didn't sound too cool, but he died so I won't know until my second playthrough. Death deadlines are really unforgiving in this game. Yamato's a dick, but the game sort of encourages you to dislike him. Hinako's sort of a pointless fan-service character. I'd say the only character I genuinely dislike despite the game encouraging you to like her would be Io, who's meek submissiveness and "healer chick" archetype sort of makes her my least favorite JRPG stereotype. I share Airi's frustration with Io - she apologizes too much. Really useful in battle, though.
 

Torraz

Member
Just started day 5. Day 4 (wednesday) had some nice grinding spots, that was hard to leave behind.

I like most of the cast well enough, but I think overall the female characters are more likable than the male cast members, well except for
mr. (?) mysterious.
. And I guess
Ronaldo
is cool enough, better than Yamato at least.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Day 5 is poetry.

"I've been waiting for this."
"You and me both, brother."

Also, Torraz:

Mysterious guy becomes a lot more interesting once you know who he is.
 

Koroviev

Member
Technically, a magic glass cannon would operate in much the same way. Just use elemental dances on an enemy until they die. I think of physical-based attacks as an element, like any other. Physical builds still have plenty of nuance - they may all seem sameish (being the same "element", and all), but unlike magic they all operate under different circumstances, and are governed by a variety of different stats. Who knows. Perhaps Phys feels so fresh for me because I made my MC in DS1 a magic nuke for every playthrough. DS2 is my first time making a physical MC, and I'm not bored of it yet.

Progress report: I'm in the middle of Wednesday.
Just saved Joe.
I started out thinking the story was a bit lacking in comparison to DS1, but after
the introduction of the Anguished One and the doubts over JP's
it's starting to pick up and really hold my interest. I'm no longer "waiting for the good part", but advancing the story specifically to find out what happens next. I can't wait for the various paths to start delineating themselves - I'm still not sure who stands where. The suspense is killing me!

My favorite character so far would probably be Fumi and Joe, for managing to keep their cool in their own unique ways despite the shit going down around them. Fumi has the sort of detatched attitude that you'd sort of have to have if you hoped to survive a crisis like that, and Joe's so delightfully weird you can't help but like him (Favorite Joe scene so far:
MC and Daichi spying on the female physical...and Joe pops out of nowhere, having been there the whole time
lol).

My least favorites...Keita didn't sound too cool, but he died so I won't know until my second playthrough. Death deadlines are really unforgiving in this game. Yamato's a dick, but the game sort of encourages you to dislike him. Hinako's sort of a pointless fan-service character. I'd say the only character I genuinely dislike despite the game encouraging you to like her would be Io, who's meek submissiveness and "healer chick" archetype sort of makes her my least favorite JRPG stereotype. I share Airi's frustration with Io - she apologizes too much. Really useful in battle, though.

Yeah, I learned my lesson. If I see a death clip, then I head into action immediately. Oh well, I suppose losing people provides a good incentive for playing again >:)
 

Torraz

Member
So far my MO has been to clear any story battle before doing any other events.

story events > events that are "necessary" (finding certain "items" in scenes etc) > normal 30 minute passing scenes.

I read that one needs
level 4
with
ALL characters
to receive an ending? Not sure I'm going to reach that as all my people are at 1-3 although I noticed that there was a lot more socializing time starting day 4 and proceeding long into the evening...
 
Phys MCs start to lose their edge near the end of the game with so much Phys Reflect flying around. You get Holy Dance a lot sooner than that skill that turns your phys attacks into almighty damage.
 
Phys MCs start to lose their edge near the end of the game with so much Phys Reflect flying around. You get Holy Dance a lot sooner than that skill that turns your phys attacks into almighty damage.

I guess I'll deal with that when I come to it. Worst case scenario, my more than capable party and cadre of demons will pick up MC's slack until he cracks Pierce.
 
Middle of Day 7 now. The battle really ramp up here. I didn't have to time to go in slow. I really had to focus my attention on completing the mission objectives asap.
 

7Th

Member
Phys MCs start to lose their edge near the end of the game with so much Phys Reflect flying around. You get Holy Dance a lot sooner than that skill that turns your phys attacks into almighty damage.

To be fair,
Polaris has no defense against Phys!

I still find it easier to just Holy Dance everything, though. Holy Dance plus a Dragon with Evil Wave turns you into the ultimate nuke.
 

Mitama

Member
Phys MCs start to lose their edge near the end of the game with so much Phys Reflect flying around. You get Holy Dance a lot sooner than that skill that turns your phys attacks into almighty damage.

Hardly; 2 bosses tops with Phys Repel and very few enemy parties. The hardest optional bosses even have Anti-Almighty, so there's that too.
 

Mitama

Member
So far my MO has been to clear any story battle before doing any other events.

story events > events that are "necessary" (finding certain "items" in scenes etc) > normal 30 minute passing scenes.

I read that one needs
level 4
with
ALL characters
to receive an ending? Not sure I'm going to reach that as all my people are at 1-3 although I noticed that there was a lot more socializing time starting day 4 and proceeding long into the evening...

Don't worry, that's only required for one particular ending. All other endings don't require anything special like that.
 

Koroviev

Member
So far my MO has been to clear any story battle before doing any other events.

story events > events that are "necessary" (finding certain "items" in scenes etc) > normal 30 minute passing scenes.

I read that one needs
level 4
with
ALL characters
to receive an ending? Not sure I'm going to reach that as all my people are at 1-3 although I noticed that there was a lot more socializing time starting day 4 and proceeding long into the evening...
I delayed at first because I thought the story extras would disappear Q_Q

Edit: Anyone else been winging it with 3 leaders? It seems like I'm always short on demons...oh well, I think it has improved my strategy x_x
 

Ken

Member
I ordered Overclocked since it was restocked on Amazon. Should I go through that first before opening DS2? I know they're not related character or story-wise but what would be a good order to play them for the best experience I guess.
 

Koroviev

Member
I ordered Overclocked since it was restocked on Amazon. Should I go through that first before opening DS2? I know they're not related character or story-wise but what would be a good order to play them for the best experience I guess.

I would play through DS2 first. If you end up liking the voice acting in Overclocked, then it will seem conspicuously absent in DS2.
 

Ultratech

Member
Made it to Day 5. Lots of new fusion possibilites open, so it's macca-spending time!
Plus some of my stuff needs upgrading bad.

Day 4 Boss was a pain in the ass.
Could've killed him on my first try, but I didn't realize I needed flight to get all the damn generators, so I ended up failing eventually. Also, that damn boss moving around...UGH!
On the 2nd try, I had a better idea of what to do, so it went a little smoother since I broke the generators and just tried to wear the boss down. Kinda bullshit how it often gets multiple moves to move, attack, and heal. Was VERY annoying.

Joe's my favorite core party member. Well-balanced battle-wise, with a weird, easy-going personality. One of my party mainstays.

Indeed. Plus he's got funny dialog, so that's why I like him the best so far. It's also why he's at Fate Lv4 right now.
 
Took out Wednesday's boss last night - experienced my first gameover! What a pretty gameover screen. Succeeded on my second try by
leaving people behind at the points Megrez travels to throughout the battle. Fumi with Ice Dance did most of the heavy lifting. I just booked it straight to the boss, not worrying about his minions. I left one party member behind with Petra Eyes to disable them and draw their fire. I equipped everyone else with Wilders or Avians for their mobility, and then switched out those demons for Ice Dance-equipped Baphomets when I was in attack range. All in all, it was a curb-stomp battle. I would have killed Megrez a couple times if he didn't hold on to that last bit of health prior to shifting his position.
 
Pretty close to the end of the game. I've been fusing some sick demons. One thing I like about this game though is that you can't get too attached to any demons you currently have. You have to constantly keep upfusing and getting those stat bonuses on new demons.

Anyways
just beat benetnasch on my first try because of how insanely overpowered the evil flow race ability is. I put two of these guys on different teams and just went balls to the wall high MA demons to rip apart the enemies. Inti with 34 MA, Silky with 31. Each with powerful dances. Also made sure my pythons had high MA too. Now I just became able to fuse titania and I got her to 38 MA after fusion with Holy dance by using the holy set add on and null phys and resistance to curse. ( So she's immune to everything save almighty and stat afflictions). Alright, on to fight and kill polaris if that's what happens next!
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
I'm trying to avoid spoilers since its my first run but is this game like DS1 late game, where phys damage gets heavy countered? Cause I'd always make my hero a mage and just have one member be the phys battery. Also who is the best phys damage dealer and what exactly is Joe? A heavy caster or a jack of trades?
 

Koroviev

Member
I'm trying to avoid spoilers since its my first run but is this game like DS1 late game, where phys damage gets heavy countered? Cause I'd always make my hero a mage and just have one member be the phys battery. Also who is the best phys damage dealer and what exactly is Joe? A heavy caster or a jack of trades?

Joe is an agile mage :)
 

Mitama

Member
Pretty close to the end of the game. I've been fusing some sick demons. One thing I like about this game though is that you can't get too attached to any demons you currently have. You have to constantly keep upfusing and getting those stat bonuses on new demons.

Anyways
just beat benetnasch on my first try because of how insanely overpowered the evil flow race ability is. I put two of these guys on different teams and just went balls to the wall high MA demons to rip apart the enemies. Inti with 34 MA, Silky with 31. Each with powerful dances. Also made sure my pythons had high MA too. Now I just became able to fuse titania and I got her to 38 MA after fusion with Holy dance by using the holy set add on and null phys and resistance to curse. ( So she's immune to everything save almighty and stat afflictions). Alright, on to fight and kill polaris if that's what happens next!

Noooo.. get Phys Repel on Titania. So much more useful, really!
 

Mitama

Member
I'm trying to avoid spoilers since its my first run but is this game like DS1 late game, where phys damage gets heavy countered? Cause I'd always make my hero a mage and just have one member be the phys battery. Also who is the best phys damage dealer and what exactly is Joe? A heavy caster or a jack of trades?

Nope, demons with Phys Repel are very rare in this game. The strongest physical attacker is Hinako with AG-based attacks such as Multi-Hit and Multi-Strike or a ST/VI-focused char with Berserk/Deathbound.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Nope, demons with Phys Repel are very rare in this game. The strongest physical attacker is Hinako with AG-based attacks such as Multi-Hit and Multi-Strike or a ST/VI-focused char with Berserk/Deathbound.

Is a mage hero still really strong? I havent read up on anything regarding tweaking or min maxing just cause I wanna take it easy first playthrough since, if this game is like 1, there will be plenty of stuff I'll miss and can go back for on a new game. But I kinda wanna make sure my hero is relatively well statted.
 

Mitama

Member
Is a mage hero still really strong? I havent read up on anything regarding tweaking or min maxing just cause I wanna take it easy first playthrough since, if this game is like 1, there will be plenty of stuff I'll miss and can go back for on a new game. But I kinda wanna make sure my hero is relatively well statted.

Both physical and magical based builds are very viable, yup.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Both physical and magical based builds are very viable, yup.

Generally in one I'd go heavy on magic followed by agi and vit after and id have a certain amount of str so I could use things like the dances. Are there any stat thresholds I should try to get to on a heavy caster?
 

Torraz

Member
Nope, demons with Phys Repel are very rare in this game. The strongest physical attacker is Hinako with AG-based attacks such as Multi-Hit and Multi-Strike or a ST/VI-focused char with Berserk/Deathbound.

Whoa, I've been taking Jungo as my physical attacker but it seems I should switch to hinako then...

Generally in one I'd go heavy on magic followed by agi and vit after and id have a certain amount of str so I could use things like the dances. Are there any stat thresholds I should try to get to on a heavy caster?

Blitzkrieg is 8 STR i think.
 
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