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

survivor

Banned
I love the character design overall, but I find Io's boobs to be incredibly distracting and not in a good way. They just look wrong, which is a bummer considering that I actually really like her bust art expressions.

If you enjoy demon variety, definitely check out Strange Journey. While I like the demons in DS2, I think the selection should have deviated more from the original.

The biggest difference I'm noticing is the change in music. So glad that I can strategize sans 5-second wailing guitar riffs.

Yeah I have Strange Journey in my backlog. One of these days I will beat it
 

7threst

Member
I'm still hoping that the new releses ghostlight was teasing a while ago referred to them expanding to the region-locked 3ds (hello, captive audience ;_;.....) and doing overclocked.

Yeah that's what I am hoping too. It sucks so much living in Europe and just not being able to import all those awesome games :(
 

Koroviev

Member
Yeah, Overclocked in Europe would definitely be awesome. I really want to play OoT, Resident Evil: Revelations and Overclocked, but I'm still waiting for a redesign and a new SMT game.



Only demons that are a maximum of 3 levels higher than your fusion level (the MC's level) will show up in that list.

3DS library is still very anemic as far as I am concerned. The only reason I have one is that I was able to get it for $100 with a trade-in. That said, I am looking forward to the new Fire Emblem. I'll be more excited about the new SMT game when there are screenshots :p
 

Koroviev

Member
Yeah I have Strange Journey in my backlog. One of these days I will beat it

I'm roughly 35 hours into it. Overall it's easier than the Devil Survivor games, but the challenge derives from the fact that the dungeons can be a real bitch to map out. Also, the bosses are pansies and like to hide/flee. I'm hoping that I can beat it by the 50-hour mark.
 

Mitama

Member
3DS library is still very anemic as far as I am concerned. The only reason I have one is that I was able to get it for $100 with a trade-in. That said, I am looking forward to the new Fire Emblem. I'll be more excited about the new SMT game when there are screenshots :p

Same here, I just hope that by the time the redesign is here, there's a couple more games that I really want to play. I didn't know they were actually working on an SMT title for the 3DS though, that's great news! I'd love a brand new game or even a remake of Strange Journey. Strange Journey has to be my favourite SMT title so far. The story, the music, demon sources, passwords, Alice, there's just sooo much to love in that game! :)

I just hope it's not gonna be a new Persona game. I gave P3P a try and really didn't like it as much as the other games. I'll give Persona 4 a try and if it still doesn't click then I'm done with Persona. I actually enjoyed the Persona on PSP but then again that's so much different from the PS2 entries.
 
Man, Day 4 Boss is fucking cheap.

I also think I fucked myself over by fusing certain demons away for new ones. Hmm.... maybe I need to grind.

Question: What happens if I
choose not to go with Fumi/Pink haired girl?
I assume they
die from not having enough manpower
but I'm not sure if that is the case.
 

PK Gaming

Member
Man, Day 4 Boss is fucking cheap.

I also think I fucked myself over by fusing certain demons away for new ones. Hmm.... maybe I need to grind.

Question: What happens if I
choose not to go with Fumi/Pink haired girl?
I assume they
die from not having enough manpower
but I'm not sure if that is the case.

They're fine. Sense too since Fumi's magic stat is just outrageous
 

Golbez

Member
Nothing like a boss that nulls everything to say "YOU CAN'T WIN THIS YET."

Edit: Day three boss spoilers:
Um... wow. Is it normal to beat the day three boss by draining him over and over until he dies? He split up once, I killed one half, he rejoined, then never split again. 20 or so Drains later I win easily.
 
So I'm probably worrying about this too early, but my current party is at Rank 1 in the fate system, but I've started Day 2 and I've yet to see another Fate moment with them. Is that normal, or am I missing out on particular scenes or responses?
 

Koroviev

Member
Man, Day 4 Boss is fucking cheap.

I also think I fucked myself over by fusing certain demons away for new ones. Hmm.... maybe I need to grind.

Question: What happens if I
choose not to go with Fumi/Pink haired girl?
I assume they
die from not having enough manpower
but I'm not sure if that is the case.

This is how I'm feeling with the Day 2 Boss. Got a little too fuse-happy :(

Oh well, I know how to fix it
ALL THE ZAN
...pfft, stupid easy free battles -_-
 

Koroviev

Member
So I'm probably worrying about this too early, but my current party is at Rank 1 in the fate system, but I've started Day 2 and I've yet to see another Fate moment with them. Is that normal, or am I missing out on particular scenes or responses?

The Fate increases are kind of haphazard. My advice is to focus on your favorite characters. The ones you pass up may just end up being ones you can't get during the first play-through.
 

Koroviev

Member
Same here, I just hope that by the time the redesign is here, there's a couple more games that I really want to play. I didn't know they were actually working on an SMT title for the 3DS though, that's great news! I'd love a brand new game or even a remake of Strange Journey. Strange Journey has to be my favourite SMT title so far. The story, the music, demon sources, passwords, Alice, there's just sooo much to love in that game! :)

I just hope it's not gonna be a new Persona game. I gave P3P a try and really didn't like it as much as the other games. I'll give Persona 4 a try and if it still doesn't click then I'm done with Persona. I actually enjoyed the Persona on PSP but then again that's so much different from the PS2 entries.
I've had a good time with P3P and I picked up P2P because it seems a bit more similar to the SMT games. I'm not sure whether I enjoy Persona or SMT more. It's a really tough call. I must say that I am a huge fan of the breadth of fusion possibilities in SJ, especially the special demons, such as
Black Frost and Frost Ace
...and of course, dat dragon race. I swear, I think I spend more time on the fusion screen than actually battling. What, I have to go do battle? I just want to sit in my lab and rub monsters together to get better monsters :(
 

Ultratech

Member
Finished the 1st day...good ol' Devil Survivor.

Yeah, 1st day boss was kinda funny in how it got taken down. And now I got Fusion available, so it's FUSION TIME!

Think I'm gonna rock a Physical MC this time around, since I heard it's pretty viable in DS2, as opposed to DS1 where you damn near needed Magic. (Especially towards the end of DS1 with lots of Null/Reflect Phys shit.)
 

Koroviev

Member
Finished the 1st day...good ol' Devil Survivor.

Yeah, 1st day boss was kinda funny in how it got taken down. And now I got Fusion available, so it's FUSION TIME!

Think I'm gonna rock a Physical MC this time around, since I heard it's pretty viable in DS2, as opposed to DS1 where you damn near needed Magic. (Especially towards the end of DS1 with lots of Null/Reflect Phys shit.)

Don't over-fuse, it'll come back to bite you :(
 

Koroviev

Member
Made it to Day 3. Second time was the charm for Monday's boss. Lost
Keita
, but that character didn't really interest me to begin with.

Game is reporting ~8 hours of play time, while the 3DS activity log is reporting nearly 12. I expect some discrepancy, but I'm a bit skeptical that it's that significant. I have only died twice at this point...maybe I spent more time than I thought testing fusion possibilities...
 
They're fine. Sense too since Fumi's magic stat is just outrageous

Damn, so I went with the harder group for no reason. Or maybe they aren't the harder group.

Anyway I won on my second try, because this time I was prepared for
the boss moving around the map.
 

Torraz

Member
I'm stuck on a boss during day 2.
Merak
to be exact.

I realize one should only attack the boss from the sides, but what is a good distribution? 1 char on merak and 3 on bombs/additional spawns or 2 and 2? I guess I need 1 fast travel demon and possibly somewith with bind/heal/zan or force dance which seems like a tall order...
. My team is
MC (magic), Keita, Io, Joe
.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
I'm stuck on a boss during day 2.
Merak
to be exact.

I realize one should only attack the boss from the sides, but what is a good distribution? 1 char on merak and 3 on bombs/additional spawns or 2 and 2? I guess I need 1 fast travel demon and possibly somewith with bind/heal/zan or force dance which seems like a tall order...
. My team is
MC (magic), Keita, Io, Joe
.

I used that team as well. Here's my advice:

Ignore the bombs. Have all four run up the side and blitz Merak. Hit him with everything you got. Bring Force Dancers. I suggest Angel. You'll do insane damage to him, and he'll be dead long before they go boom.

Can't hurt to bind a couple along the way if you have Ogre.


How the heck are you supposed to fight Ghost Q on Day 3? Eff that.
 

Torraz

Member
I used that team as well. Here's my advice:

Ignore the bombs. Have all four run up the side and blitz Merak. Hit him with everything you got. Bring Force Dancers. I suggest Angel. You'll do insane damage to him, and he'll be dead long before they go boom.

Can't hurt to bind a couple along the way if you have Ogre.


How the heck are you supposed to fight Ghost Q on Day 3? Eff that.

Thanks, I was wondering if
full offensive mode
was worth a try. I'll give it a shot. I'm missing another fairy to fuse with the bird/turkey demon to get an angel since I need the one I have, but I got force dance on a waira (2 levels early) from a data cube instead of money.

Just unlocked the gold level on the auction house.
 

duckroll

Member
Made solid progress on Day 4 today. The story and events are getting really interesting now. I spent about 30 minutes fusing demons to improve my team setups, and I think I'm a wee bit overpowered right now. <3 SMT <3 :D
 
I used that team as well. Here's my advice:

Ignore the bombs. Have all four run up the side and blitz Merak. Hit him with everything you got. Bring Force Dancers. I suggest Angel. You'll do insane damage to him, and he'll be dead long before they go boom.

Can't hurt to bind a couple along the way if you have Ogre.


How the heck are you supposed to fight Ghost Q on Day 3? Eff that.
I had an MC who pumped magic exclusively, and I could kill nearly any enemy leader within a single combat phase if I hit their weakness. Nearly every battle I just had MC nuke the enemy leader while his 2 companions would defend. Hopefully you got Anti-Curse as well. I started by hiding close to the start point, such that the Waira in the east will just be out of range even with Devil Speed. Don't forget you can swap out demons if they're running low on MP for healing. Even with this strategy it took a bit of luck to beat him.
 

Mitama

Member
I used that team as well. Here's my advice:

Ignore the bombs. Have all four run up the side and blitz Merak. Hit him with everything you got. Bring Force Dancers. I suggest Angel. You'll do insane damage to him, and he'll be dead long before they go boom.

Can't hurt to bind a couple along the way if you have Ogre.


How the heck are you supposed to fight Ghost Q on Day 3? Eff that.

Haha yeah, I had to reload quite a few times for that fight. If I recall correctly, I first used a Dragon Toubyou and Genma Jambavan to attack the first enemy team (the first turn I went 2 steps down, that way the first enemy team will move 2 squares above you on their first turn, which allows you to take it down from a distance). Then I rushed to Ghost Q, switched out my Toubyou for Divine Angel and then just had a go for it. I had to reload quite often since he would sometimes poison me and then I did too little damage to kill him in 2 turns (he'd always kill me on his first real turn because of his Fiend racial allowing him to attack twice).

Thanks, I was wondering if
full offensive mode
was worth a try. I'll give it a shot. I'm missing another fairy to fuse with the bird/turkey demon to get an angel since I need the one I have, but I got force dance on a waira (2 levels early) from a data cube instead of money.

Just unlocked the gold level on the auction house.

Divine Angel + Element Aquans + Magic user = a very sad Merak. I solo'd him with that team and actually had to retreat with it so Merak wouldn't kill himself and the MC could finish the job to get the skill crack (Mow Down).

Made solid progress on Day 4 today. The story and events are getting really interesting now. I spent about 30 minutes fusing demons to improve my team setups, and I think I'm a wee bit overpowered right now. <3 SMT <3 :D

Yeah, that was also the point were the story finally started picking up in my opinion. Lots more action then on. :)
 

Torraz

Member
Divine Angel + Element Aquans + Magic user = a very sad Merak. I solo'd him with that team and actually had to retreat with it so Merak wouldn't kill himself and the MC could finish the job to get the skill crack (Mow Down).

I'll have to try that, thanks. Not sure if I was extremely unlucky in my past attempt or if I'm approaching this the wrong way.
I'm taking keita + magic MC down to the boss. I use demon's speed twice. After this I am, apparently, within the attack range of the boss who gets to attack me 4 times in a row (2 times combat with 1 x extra attack each). He does ice dance for each attack which hits my entire team for 4 x 50 damage killing it. Not sure how to stand up against that...
 

Mitama

Member
I'll have to try that, thanks. Not sure if I was extremely unlucky in my past attempt or if I'm approaching this the wrong way.
I'm taking keita + magic MC down to the boss. I use demon's speed twice. After this I am, apparently, within the attack range of the boss who gets to attack me 4 times in a row (2 times combat with 1 x extra attack each). He does ice dance for each attack which hits my entire team for 4 x 50 damage killing it. Not sure how to stand up against that...

That's why the team I recommended is perfectly suited for this fight. Divine Angel resists Ice and has Force Dance while Element Aquans will just reflect his Ice Dance right back at him. If you put someone that can heal in that team, you will be pretty much untouchable. After the fight, you can have the Angel use Blood Wine and just heal up. Then it's just rinse and repeat.
 
I always make a backup save after fusing away my powerful demons for marginally more powerful ones.

I now only have enough top tier demons for 3 party members, but that should be fine.

<3 Thor + Magic heavy MC.

Too bad I had to fuse away my Chaos Wave demons for now.

Also, I fucking LOVE Assassinate. Especially when a team of two powerful demons is led by a weak leader.
 

Torraz

Member
That's why the team I recommended is perfectly suited for this fight. Divine Angel resists Ice and has Force Dance while Element Aquans will just reflect his Ice Dance right back at him. If you put someone that can heal in that team, you will be pretty much untouchable. After the fight, you can have the Angel use Blood Wine and just heal up. Then it's just rinse and repeat.

Well, I killed it, not sure if it was my "brilliant" strategy or if I inadvertedly exploited the AI.

I never figured out what I would need to fuse to get the element aquans, so I didnt do that. I put Io and Joe in charge of killing the two upper demons (and cracking their delicious skills), while MC and Keita went down below. Magic MC (zan) had weira (with force dance) and angel (force dance). The two demons ran into MP problems quickly, but by that point the boss was heavily damaged.

The reason I think I might have inadvertedly exploiting was that I put Keita within the bosses attack range, but not into a position where Keita could attack the boss. His two ogres (first a weira + ogre to get into position) and himself were the 100% prime target of the boss, probably because he was in no position to fight back. This made it very easy for him to tank it (+ the two frost resistant ogres didnt take much damage). MC only got attacked when he initiated combat which made it easy to survive
 

Mitama

Member
I always make a backup save after fusing away my powerful demons for marginally more powerful ones.

I now only have enough top tier demons for 3 party members, but that should be fine.

<3 Thor + Magic heavy MC.

Too bad I had to fuse away my Chaos Wave demons for now.

Also, I fucking LOVE Assassinate. Especially when a team of two powerful demons is led by a weak leader.

Thor is definitely a keeper! I got Life Surge, Berserk and Brutal Hit on him and I used him until the final fight of the game. Awakening is so good, especially in combination with a Tyrant. A magic based MC will really benefit from that setup too. Three party members are just fine, I played most of the game with just three and only added a fourth member after a while for healing the other teams.

Well, I killed it, not sure if it was my "brilliant" strategy or if I inadvertedly exploited the AI.

I never figured out what I would need to fuse to get the element aquans, so I didnt do that. I put Io and Joe in charge of killing the two upper demons (and cracking their delicious skills), while MC and Keita went down below. Magic MC (zan) had weira (with force dance) and angel (force dance). The two demons ran into MP problems quickly, but by that point the boss was heavily damaged.

The reason I think I might have inadvertedly exploiting was that I put Keita within the bosses attack range, but not into a position where Keita could attack the boss. His two ogres (first a weira + ogre to get into position) and himself were the 100% prime target of the boss, probably because he was in no position to fight back. This made it very easy for him to tank it (+ the two frost resistant ogres didnt take much damage). MC only got attacked when he initiated combat which made it easy to survive

Good job! Now get ready to curse at Ghost Q at the start of day 3. :D
 
Glad to hear this, I used Thor for like... half the game in DevSur 1, heh.

I never even bothered with Thor in DS1.

Also I think fusing is an addiction. Backed up my save in case fusing certain demons turns out to be a mistake. But I just got Berserker (holy shit he looks so powerful), and a few others.

How much do you guys plan out your fusions?

Tangent: Whoever designed Io's chest should be fired.
 

Golbez

Member
For Ghost Q I cracked the Force Dance that was sitting on one of the demons along the way and blitzed him with it. Having at least one of your demons with another Force Dance helps too.
 

Mitama

Member
I never even bothered with Thor in DS1.

Also I think fusing is an addiction. Backed up my save in case fusing certain demons turns out to be a mistake. But I just got Berserker (holy shit he looks so powerful), and a few others.

How much do you guys plan out your fusions?

Tangent: Whoever designed Io's chest should be fired.

Well, I'm always looking for certain attributes when looking at the latest demons I've unlocked, such as a high STR or MAG or the latest demon from a race I like using. I'm also a big fan of rank up fusions, so I've used those a lot and have been able to pass on most of my best skills that way. Because I can just pass them on between generations I don't need to do a lot of planning when trying to get decent skills on a newer demon (for these fusions it's just the previous demon + an element).

When I find a demon with exceptional qualities though, I go out of my way to get some nice skills on it and if it's really good I'll use one of my best add-ons. One example of this is Titania, who has Nu for all elements and is Wk to phys. If you get repel or drain phys on her, along with Drain, Holy Dance/Megidolaon/Mediarahan and Life Stream + Mana Stream she's pretty much invincible.
 
Well, I'm always looking for certain attributes when looking at the latest demons I've unlocked, such as a high STR or MAG or the latest demon from a race I like using. I'm also a big fan of rank up fusions, so I've used those a lot and have been able to pass on most of my best skills that way. Because I can just pass them on between generations I don't need to do a lot of planning when trying to get decent skills on a newer demon (for these fusions it's just the previous demon + an element).

When I find a demon with exceptional qualities though, I go out of my way to get some nice skills on it and if it's really good I'll use one of my best add-ons. One example of this is Titania, who has Nu for all elements and is Wk to phys. If you get repel or drain phys on her, along with Drain, Holy Dance/Megidolaon/Mediarahan and Life Stream + Mana Stream she's pretty much invincible.

I don't think I've used elementals at all yet. I haven't really had to though. I've also neglected to use addons since I am planning on saving them for the final day, or NG+.

I don't do intense planning, but I at least try to get appropriate stat bonuses, and skills on a fusion. Especially for end game demons.

I remember DS1 when I had Metatron with his weaknesses changed to either DR/ST/NU, and Drain. Fucking invincible against everything but the bonus boss.
 

PK Gaming

Member
I always make a backup save after fusing away my powerful demons for marginally more powerful ones.

I now only have enough top tier demons for 3 party members, but that should be fine.

<3 Thor + Magic heavy MC.

Too bad I had to fuse away my Chaos Wave demons for now.

Also, I fucking LOVE Assassinate. Especially when a team of two powerful demons is led by a weak leader.

Oh man me too, Assasinate is such a badass ability. I picture the user takes a small Wakizashi (http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00716/wakizashi.jpg)quickly slashes the leader and walks away slowly like a boss.
 

Torraz

Member
I don't think I've used elementals at all yet. I haven't really had to though. I've also neglected to use addons since I am planning on saving them for the final day, or NG+.

I don't do intense planning, but I at least try to get appropriate stat bonuses, and skills on a fusion. Especially for end game demons.

I remember DS1 when I had Metatron with his weaknesses changed to either DR/ST/NU, and Drain. Fucking invincible against everything but the bonus boss.

You can only store 6 addons, so no use in being overly conservative with them.
 

survivor

Banned
Just beat day 1. Started fusing some demons but I'm not too sure on what I want.

How does the friendship bar thing progress? Do I just need to visit locations with the character's picture on it or does it depend on dialogue choices as well?
 
Beat the 2nd day. Got my first game over for ignoring the boss spawns.
Really enjoying myself.

I really love the dialogue choices.

"What do you want?"

"What DON'T I want."
 

Kazerei

Banned
Just beat day 1. Started fusing some demons but I'm not too sure on what I want.

How does the friendship bar thing progress? Do I just need to visit locations with the character's picture on it or does it depend on dialogue choices as well?

It depends on dialogue choices as well.
 

Koroviev

Member
I think I spend more time fusing demons than I do fighting with them.

You're in good company ;)

I can't help it, I needed those megamis and a Jack Frost! :(

Edit: The battle to save
Jungo
was positively infuriating. Fucking suicidal AI.
 

Ultratech

Member
Day 2 Complete.

That was an interesting boss. Anywho, I barely managed to kill the boss with some Force Dances and my Physical (i.e whack the shit out of anything/everything) MC.
Cracked some good skills as a result, so I can't complain.
(Mow Down and Ice Dance; yay for Joint Skill Crack!)

Sadly, I lost half my team. Boss doesn't screw around. Also forgot about damn attack range.

And I found out the recurring theme for our unnatural enemies. I'm curious to see how this pans out.
So they're based off the stars in the Big Dipper? Didn't see that coming. And of course, we got 5 more bastards to take out now...
 

duckroll

Member
Fuck I think I fused off some of my better demons for a dud. Definitely just made one of my teams a bit weaker. Hmm....

Some fusing tips to consider when you're fusing new demons to upgrade your teams:

- Ask yourself if you want to retain a team's strategy dynamic or if you want to change it.

- Based on that, assess what Racial Skills would be most beneficial to either retaining that dynamic (for example Animal Leg + Double Up, or Devil Speed + Flight, etc). Based on this, you should then first decide which new higher base level demons to aim for in the first place.

- After you have decided on the demon to create/replace, check what demons are required for the fusing, and what the primary stats and skills those demons have.

- For the maximum benefit, you should select a combination which results in increased stats and supplementary skills for the demon which is actually worthwhile. It is pointless to make a physical attack demon with high MA for example, unless you also plan on inheriting a Dance spell or some sort of healing on it for a secondary back-up strategy.

- If you are going to use demons which are currently in your teams to create new ones, ALWAYS remember to also plan replacements for them. Otherwise you might find that while you strengthen one team significantly, you might have weakened another one badly.

- Do not be afraid to spend some time to completely change team dynamics if you find that you cannot continue using the same strategy for teams moving forward with new higher level demons. This also means completely stripping all cracked skills from Leaders, and planning what sort of dynamic a team should have from scratch.

- Don't be afraid to swap stuff around for the specific purpose of a single battle if you think it benefits you. For example, if the enemies in a certain battle don't benefit your current spell set ups in the teams, just a quick mix and match for the leaders and the cracked skills you have can make a world of a difference.


Spending more time on this can create very, very overpowered teams. Devil Survivor's strategy is very much favored towards planning before battles. If you plan really, really well, then the outcome should be pre-determined before the battle ever starts.
 
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