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SMT: Digital Devil Saga - Offially, finally, 100% for-sure released. Official thread!
- Thread starter BuddyC
- Start date
Tortfeasor
Member
Got my copy from my local gamestop along with lego starwars!
Jupiter Jones
Member
I preordered mine at ebgames and picked it up this morning. Haven't started playing it yet, though.
Just got back from the shop with mine. Sucks that the Soundtrack just got kinda tossed in there in a disk sleeve. Thought it would be packaged inside the Amaray case.
The Stella Deus ad on the placeholder sleeve for DDS2 was eye-catching though.
The Stella Deus ad on the placeholder sleeve for DDS2 was eye-catching though.
Prince of Space
Banned
Got it. I'll be starting it tonight. 
I just wanted to watch the intro and ended up playing for an hour. Feels like a streamlined version of Nocturne, which is very very encouraging. Nothing against Nocturne, mind you, there was just so much to it that I felt like I was unable to properly play without devoting several hours a night to it. Digital Devil Saga, thus far at least, seems a lot more approachable.
Yes, I am excited for it on those same reasons Buddy. Nocturne is great, but at times very overwhelming and time-consuming, particularly when it comes to fusions and skill organization for boss encounters and whatnot.
DDS appears to have a more relaxed pace as a traditional RPG adventure. Looking very forward to diving in.
DDS appears to have a more relaxed pace as a traditional RPG adventure. Looking very forward to diving in.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Brandon F said:
Which was EXTREMELY ineffective...
...since a SD purchase is a lock anyways.
The OST is nice and listenable; I miss the dog-bark vocal J-Metal battle music, though.
I just noticed something odd; I compared the tracks on the US soundtrack to the Japanese original, and they're the exact same EXCEPT the US release is missing the original track 23 - Configuration. Why did they bother to make it the exact same and only take out one track? And the US Danger song isn't on there, which isn't a suprise, although it would have been nice if they had taken off that one track to make room to put Danger on there =/.
Preordered mine from dvdboxoffice.com weeks ago, and i get an email yesterday with the subject "back order"
Okay so i don't order online all that often so i don't know a lot about it, but isn't the whole point of preordering something to prevent THIS from happening? Like, when someone preorders aren't they supposed to order in enough copies to ensure that person gets one? And whats this about "non pre order items will be shipped as soon as stock arrives. Note: We receive stock everyday and fulfill back orders on a first come first
served basis."?? i DID PREORDER!! A MONTH BEFORE THE RELEASE!!
Is it normal for this shit to happen? should i send them an angry email telling them i preordered or something? Damnit i hope they send it to me soon i want this game so bad
Okay so i don't order online all that often so i don't know a lot about it, but isn't the whole point of preordering something to prevent THIS from happening? Like, when someone preorders aren't they supposed to order in enough copies to ensure that person gets one? And whats this about "non pre order items will be shipped as soon as stock arrives. Note: We receive stock everyday and fulfill back orders on a first come first
served basis."?? i DID PREORDER!! A MONTH BEFORE THE RELEASE!!
Is it normal for this shit to happen? should i send them an angry email telling them i preordered or something? Damnit i hope they send it to me soon i want this game so bad
Well I got nocturne from them with no problems at all and until today, none of the sites I usually use for this had it listed at all (i wanted to preorder to ensure i got a copy). It seems videogamesplus.ca updated today so i might just cancel my order and buy from there.
btw I can't get it locally because I'm in Australia
btw I can't get it locally because I'm in Australia
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
Of course my TRU didn't get it in. Fuckers.
So what would be the best deal right now for ordering it online? Anything good?
So what would be the best deal right now for ordering it online? Anything good?
Some random strangeness:
-Box mentions multitap support
-Girls with 'black' colored hair are considered odd in this game
-Voice acting is generally good thus far(ferricide called it)
-Initial set of skills max out about 40 minutes before I beat first dungeon, lots of wasted Atma potential cuz the game doesn't let me move up on the tree yet?
-Apparently mutant zebras are much stronger than mutant chickens
Loving it so far.
-Box mentions multitap support
-Girls with 'black' colored hair are considered odd in this game
-Voice acting is generally good thus far(ferricide called it)
-Initial set of skills max out about 40 minutes before I beat first dungeon, lots of wasted Atma potential cuz the game doesn't let me move up on the tree yet?
-Apparently mutant zebras are much stronger than mutant chickens
Loving it so far.
IMO DDS is a lot easier than nocturne. basically, you can fuck up the press turn system and stilll live through the battle.. so that makes it easier =)
and no, i didn't play teh cheater review build. when i found out that's the build that they had sent out, i talked to gail to get a corrected one.
and no, i didn't play teh cheater review build. when i found out that's the build that they had sent out, i talked to gail to get a corrected one.
Mantras don't open up until you visit the Temple for the first time, then you can start downloading new ones. I ADORE this game so far, had to tear myself away so I could sleep for work! Love the music and the voice acting is nice, can't wait to see Heat get into a fight with the team(oh you know it's coming). Very dark but fun game!
Agreed, I had to pull myself away so I can get some sleep for work as well. It's an awesome game. Nocturne was awesome, but let's face it, sometimes it was a chore with the demon fusions, and making sure you had the right abilities and demons and so on. This game is basically the same thing, but they got rid of most of the stuff that was so over the top indepth/tiresome (depending on who you talk to). I'm really really enjoying this so far. And I noticed that multitap thing too, what IS that for?
ferricide said:
Yea, in retrospect I think DDS is very moderate in difficulty. After finishing DDS2 I went back and read my DDS1 review and I was pretty surprised at what I had written. The main difference was that I had felt DDS1 was hard like SMT3, yet I feel DDS2 is very moderate in difficulty until the final bits. I can't imagine the difficulty level between the two is that different so I think I just sucked at DDS.
Though I think I've realized the main difference. In DDS1 I used to keep 1 of each major element attack spell and one of each elemental defense spell (either shield, reflect, or drain); especially for boss fights. I'd spend most of the fights blocking their attacks and countering back. But in DDS2 I kept zero defensive skills on my party and instead set up my 3 main characters with the strongest elemental attacks in all the elements + hunt skills and exp/ap bonuses + their weakness destroyer. So even in boss fights, rather than playing back and forth, I just massacred them non-stop against their weakness and hunt skills and the game was much easier. I think overall DDS really pushes the aggressive play style with the weakness/hunt system.
Also the mantra learning is so so much better in DDS2, so it's easier to amount any spell you could possibly need by the time it's required. Leveling is also easier as there is no half-karma getter, only full-karma getter and it's one of the first skills you can learn
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
10 hours in so far...
Love the new system - I much rather prefer to equip any skill I want than having to replace a skill and lose it permanently. (fuck you Nocturne! I'm not going to spend 20 minutes fighting for money to hire a monster I only need for one battle!)
Hate the voice acting - Oh dear lord it's terrible! Atlus lets me down for the first time in the voicework department!
Story - I think they have a good story to keep me interested, but it's somewhat lacking...very original, but filled with cliche crap, poor dialogue, and some plot that is not quite explained to my liking
Love the new system - I much rather prefer to equip any skill I want than having to replace a skill and lose it permanently. (fuck you Nocturne! I'm not going to spend 20 minutes fighting for money to hire a monster I only need for one battle!)
Hate the voice acting - Oh dear lord it's terrible! Atlus lets me down for the first time in the voicework department!
Story - I think they have a good story to keep me interested, but it's somewhat lacking...very original, but filled with cliche crap, poor dialogue, and some plot that is not quite explained to my liking
Brandon F said:
If you just play the main story of DDS2 you get a couple of things:
--Hard mode unlocked at the start of DDS2 (ummm, I guess if you're really hardcore this is a plus. I just did normal mode anyway ^^
--You get a little more money at the start
--The dialogue choices that you make have a profound impact (almost SMT3 level) on several things in DDS2. The branching works excellently as just like SMT3 my character branched exactly in the way that matched how I personally had responded throughout the games. R&D1 writes the best branching ever
Now if you go ahead and beat the bonus bosses in DDS1 your save also:
--gives you various skill rings, these are basically stat upgrading items in DDS2.
--if you beat the final final new game+ hidden boss of DDS1, I think you start with base stats+5 or so for all characters.
So in short it doesn't seem like much, but when you get to the end of DDS2 and you realize that all your branching choices made a huge difference you'll be really happy with what the save imported.
keeblerdrow
Member
Got it. Too drunk to play it, though.
Thanks for that info Bebpo, was also curious about the dialogue choices, but I forgot to ask. (recall your original review stating only a single ending in DDS1)
Anywho, I am kinda miffed at the lack of soft reset in this game, not even a 'Load' option in the status menu. Strange omission.
Also, not being able to view skills before buying into them on the tree is another headscratcher. I have had to refer back to the SMT:Nocturne guide just to decipher the opaque nomenclature of some of the skills. (Not THAT big a deal since you can pretty much guess based on class)
Too bad the enemy stats and weaknesses were all remixed, would be nice using Nocturne's beastiary as well since many of the "big bads" don't like to be analyzed on the first date.
Anywho, I am kinda miffed at the lack of soft reset in this game, not even a 'Load' option in the status menu. Strange omission.
Also, not being able to view skills before buying into them on the tree is another headscratcher. I have had to refer back to the SMT:Nocturne guide just to decipher the opaque nomenclature of some of the skills. (Not THAT big a deal since you can pretty much guess based on class)
Too bad the enemy stats and weaknesses were all remixed, would be nice using Nocturne's beastiary as well since many of the "big bads" don't like to be analyzed on the first date.
Riskbreaker
Member
Is it possible to change the name of the main character (serf)?
Jared Goodwin
Member
My review copy is coming in the mail, sometime later this week. I'm looking forward to it.
Done.
Kinda feel a bit non-plussed by that ending, really getting a .hack vibe from this IP given the total content of this $55 game is about on par with volume 1 of Bandai's marketing ploy. Though I really dug the preceedings, this "saga" would be better served in compilation form than costing $100+ via an installment plan. It's just an incomplete game. (YES, yes I knew this the moment my package arrived, but it REALLY doesn't hit home until you reach those ending credits.)
Thankfully the combat was rad, Chrono Trigger-esque combo attacks were a great inclusion and the Press turn system really is ingenious stuff, though a bit too dry in the lategame when you have almost free-reign to exploit it. Optional bosses are a nice challenge, and the game gives you plenty to face off with.
The dungeons were a mix of neat (that 'puzzle mansion' at Coordinate 136); to fall asleep boring (Sewers of Manipura). The final dungeon alone took me 7 hours to run through...yes, a quarter of my overall gametime dedicated to one dungeon, it was a biggie.
The plot was rather timid overall as well, had a few moments of perkiness, but the situations are mostly regurgitated from atypical anime #432. "Wispy young female holds the key to some mysterious great power and falls for boy toy no. 1, played by you."
I am interested to see where it all goes in Act II, but only because this "saga" is just beginning at hour 30.
Pretty solid dungeon hack regardless, got me in the mood to hunt down Grandia Xtreme all of a sudden.
Kinda feel a bit non-plussed by that ending, really getting a .hack vibe from this IP given the total content of this $55 game is about on par with volume 1 of Bandai's marketing ploy. Though I really dug the preceedings, this "saga" would be better served in compilation form than costing $100+ via an installment plan. It's just an incomplete game. (YES, yes I knew this the moment my package arrived, but it REALLY doesn't hit home until you reach those ending credits.)
Thankfully the combat was rad, Chrono Trigger-esque combo attacks were a great inclusion and the Press turn system really is ingenious stuff, though a bit too dry in the lategame when you have almost free-reign to exploit it. Optional bosses are a nice challenge, and the game gives you plenty to face off with.
The dungeons were a mix of neat (that 'puzzle mansion' at Coordinate 136); to fall asleep boring (Sewers of Manipura). The final dungeon alone took me 7 hours to run through...yes, a quarter of my overall gametime dedicated to one dungeon, it was a biggie.
The plot was rather timid overall as well, had a few moments of perkiness, but the situations are mostly regurgitated from atypical anime #432. "Wispy young female holds the key to some mysterious great power and falls for boy toy no. 1, played by you."
I am interested to see where it all goes in Act II, but only because this "saga" is just beginning at hour 30.
Pretty solid dungeon hack regardless, got me in the mood to hunt down Grandia Xtreme all of a sudden.
I don't see how anyone can be upset with the content you get for $55. How long did the game take you overall?
For most people it should take 25-35 hours which is longer than .Hack ep1 (15 hours), about the same as: Tales games that aren't Symphonia (30 hours), most FF games (30 hours), and basically 50% of the rpgs out there. Then you have the bonus bosses which should add another bunch of hours if you're interested.
Don't worry I fully understand your issue with the story and I agree it's a lot like .hack ep1. But I don't agree with the complaint that your not getting your money's worth of rpg from the game.
Anyhow DDS1 is the first 20% of the plot, DDS2 is the last 80% of it. But the way they split it makes a lot of sense once you see the overall story. DDS1 is a dungeon crawler. DDS2 is a real rpg.
Hmm, I should write my review of DDS2 now
For most people it should take 25-35 hours which is longer than .Hack ep1 (15 hours), about the same as: Tales games that aren't Symphonia (30 hours), most FF games (30 hours), and basically 50% of the rpgs out there. Then you have the bonus bosses which should add another bunch of hours if you're interested.
Don't worry I fully understand your issue with the story and I agree it's a lot like .hack ep1. But I don't agree with the complaint that your not getting your money's worth of rpg from the game.
Anyhow DDS1 is the first 20% of the plot, DDS2 is the last 80% of it. But the way they split it makes a lot of sense once you see the overall story. DDS1 is a dungeon crawler. DDS2 is a real rpg.
Hmm, I should write my review of DDS2 now
I'd be very interested to read your DDS2 review Bebpo, particularly curious about those 'half -demon transformations they added, and the new Mantra system.
DDS1 took me about 40 hours, which is actually a solid length, though a good chunk of that involved levelling and preparing for the many optional bosses, which I did end up taking down. In direct comparison .hack 1 took something like 25 for me to do the same, (optional bosses/padding out Ryu books).
What really separates this one from say...Tales or FF, is that so little actually happens in this game. It's a total dungeon crawl, which I was happy with, but I'm really just dissatisfied with the price scheme. Serving up each volume at $30 and I wouldn't be complaining, it's just that this game feels a bit 'long in the tooth' rather than full-bodied, that $55 per volume is a wee bit outrageous is all.
The game is good enough that I don't want to seem like a raving lunatic that feels burned, but I just have a hard time coming to grips with paying a c-note for this combined non-epic.
DDS1 took me about 40 hours, which is actually a solid length, though a good chunk of that involved levelling and preparing for the many optional bosses, which I did end up taking down. In direct comparison .hack 1 took something like 25 for me to do the same, (optional bosses/padding out Ryu books).
What really separates this one from say...Tales or FF, is that so little actually happens in this game. It's a total dungeon crawl, which I was happy with, but I'm really just dissatisfied with the price scheme. Serving up each volume at $30 and I wouldn't be complaining, it's just that this game feels a bit 'long in the tooth' rather than full-bodied, that $55 per volume is a wee bit outrageous is all.
The game is good enough that I don't want to seem like a raving lunatic that feels burned, but I just have a hard time coming to grips with paying a c-note for this combined non-epic.
VictimOfGrief
Banned
not yet.BuddyC said:
Brandon F said:
To be honest, I still feel this way as well, having just come off of devoting 70+ hours to SMT: Nocturne ($50) while bypassing large chunks of its content. Paying $100 more to see Nocturne's recycled monster models in a stripped-down battle system is something I'm reluctant to do.
Semjaza Azazel
Member
Thus far I'm very happy with the game. I'm inside the ship right now, finished placing the bombs. I don't really know how anyone could have had time to finish the entire game by now, but I guess I don't have as much time to play as I thought lol.
I was already set up for the idea that little, if anything, was going to be fully answered in this title and that most of it would wind up in the second half. Even considering this, I'm finding the game interesting and I am enjoying the characters, particularly Argilla. I don't really mind the role of a girl who has some power that will save everyone or whatever else. It's done well and in a convincing manner. I, personally, am completely burned out on anime in general and the general themes, but something like that has appeared since the dawn of storytelling. I can't really fault it if it is approached well and other things make up for it.
I also enjoy the little things in the game that are not majorly important, but might be worth reading into elsewhere to find out more about them. Nocturne had a lot of this thanks to its references. DDS has far less, but there are still a lot of interesting religious-type references that I've been reading about. Chakras, for example, and how the different Tribes' sectors are named after them. It's mostly small things, but I enjoy that aspect of MegaTen in general.
As for the gameplay, I like it. The Mantra system is a nice middle ground after what was done in Nocturne. Actually being able to choose your skills and set them as needed can be a godsend at times. Maybe I've not reached any major battles yet, but I've not had any deaths thanks to bosses thus far with the way I have my characters set up.
I was a bit annoyed by the reused enemy models, but there are quite a bit of new ones as well. In the scheme of things, it really didn't affect much. The battles were still engaging and entertaining. In fact, I think I've used the Auto mode in this title far less than in Nocturne for several different reasons. A lot of the time it's just not in my best interest to use the same attacks over and over for some of the battles.
So I don't know, even so far I feel I've gotten my money's worth. I don't care that the story won't be completely resolved because there's so much to do in the game otherwise. Considering some of the other stuff I could be wasting that money on software-wise, I'm content. There's as much to do in these games than anything anyone would be willing to spend $50 on otherwise, so I can't really expect to pay $30 apiece for these things.
I was already set up for the idea that little, if anything, was going to be fully answered in this title and that most of it would wind up in the second half. Even considering this, I'm finding the game interesting and I am enjoying the characters, particularly Argilla. I don't really mind the role of a girl who has some power that will save everyone or whatever else. It's done well and in a convincing manner. I, personally, am completely burned out on anime in general and the general themes, but something like that has appeared since the dawn of storytelling. I can't really fault it if it is approached well and other things make up for it.
I also enjoy the little things in the game that are not majorly important, but might be worth reading into elsewhere to find out more about them. Nocturne had a lot of this thanks to its references. DDS has far less, but there are still a lot of interesting religious-type references that I've been reading about. Chakras, for example, and how the different Tribes' sectors are named after them. It's mostly small things, but I enjoy that aspect of MegaTen in general.
As for the gameplay, I like it. The Mantra system is a nice middle ground after what was done in Nocturne. Actually being able to choose your skills and set them as needed can be a godsend at times. Maybe I've not reached any major battles yet, but I've not had any deaths thanks to bosses thus far with the way I have my characters set up.
I was a bit annoyed by the reused enemy models, but there are quite a bit of new ones as well. In the scheme of things, it really didn't affect much. The battles were still engaging and entertaining. In fact, I think I've used the Auto mode in this title far less than in Nocturne for several different reasons. A lot of the time it's just not in my best interest to use the same attacks over and over for some of the battles.
So I don't know, even so far I feel I've gotten my money's worth. I don't care that the story won't be completely resolved because there's so much to do in the game otherwise. Considering some of the other stuff I could be wasting that money on software-wise, I'm content. There's as much to do in these games than anything anyone would be willing to spend $50 on otherwise, so I can't really expect to pay $30 apiece for these things.
I ordered DDS through outpost.com when they had it for 39.99. Looking at Airborne's website the estimated arrival date is the 13th, but I don't trust estimates. I think 14th at the least, but friday or some time next week is more likely. BTW anyone know when DDS2 is supposed to come out in the US?
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
zarkand said:
Atlus doesn't have a date on their site, and EB is saying late August, so I'm gonna guess mid to late september. Which is fine by me because I still have to finish SMT3, which isn't gonna happen soon. Trumpeter is rocking me ten ways to tuesday.