RPG on cannibals anyone? (Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner (PS2))

Member Name: Zack131

Product:	Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner (PS2)
Date:	17/10/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great story, interesting battle system, nice graphics, good soundtrack

Disadvantages: Dungeons can become repetitive, a lot of battles

Note: The title says Avatar Tuner. This is the Japanese name for the game. The title here is Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga.This game by Atlus can be a bit of a mouthful to say. You will more often than not see it referred to as SMT: DDS for simplicity.

SMT:DDS begins in a wasteland where battles between 6 tribes are constantly raining death. After an unusual occurence on the field, everyone is printed with a strange symbol on various parts of their body. This changes them into demons and the uncontainable hunger for each other sparks even more devastating battles. The term 'Devour or be devoured' was quickly known well by the tribes. Promised by a mysterious voice that the tribe victorious will reach Nirvana, each of them begin to plan their attacks. Betrayl, vengeance and sorrow are effectively intertwined throughout to produce a powerful and captivating story. The player takes control of Serph, the silent leader of the Embyron tribe.

The story isn't the only aspect which sets this game out from the crowd. The gameplay is very enjoyable and slightly different from most Role Playing Games. The player can use their party in either human or demon form, or even both. Although human is far less powerful, their guns can be particularly effective against certain enemies and using combined attacks can prove useful. Defeating enemies gains Macca which is the currency used to buy items, new ammunition or Mantra. Mantra is the system used to teach a character their skills. By downloading a Mantra you eventually learn the skills included. There are a wide variety of different skills so choosing your Mantra route can be crucial to battle success. Skills are classified into physical and magical. Physical drains HP while magical uses MP. In battles you are given attack turns. You start a round with 3 and generally use up 1 for each character that attacks or uses a skill. You gain gain extra turns by exploiting an enemies weakness and lose a turn if the enemy shields or evades an attack.

One of my favourite parts of the battle system was the weakness benefits. It forced you to pick the right element and understand the monsters weakness in order to defeat the monster with less damage sustained. I found it more effective than other games where you must scan for their weakness since you really pay the price if you use an element that happens to heal the enemy. There is also an auto battle button you can press. This stops you needing to hold down X on easier monsters to finish the battle quickly which proved to be a huge help. You are limited to 8 skills per character which I find really difficult to decide on which to slot in since there are so many different skills. It increases the strategy feeling of the game as you must really plan your way through battles to be successful.

I really liked the character design in SMT: DDS. There are a variety of different personalities which manage to bring both humour and a serious nature to the game. The cel shaded graphics are also a nice treat. The monsters are also nicely designed. Although you may come across some very bizarre monsters that make you think; what the hell? From elephants to oversized dragon turtles, there are a variety of different monsters to keep you occupied. My first negative of the game so far in this review is the dungeon design. The dungeons can be quite large but each screen and sometimes each room can look all the same. Perhaps this is just because there is so much packed into the DVD already. You quickly find that each dungeon becomes fairly repetitive.

SMT: DDS has a great soundtrack. There is a good mix of tranquil tracks for specific scenes along with motivational battle music.

The back of the box claims over 30 hours of gameplay. To be more reasonable, I'd say at least 40 hours on your first play through, then even more on your second! This is because you will find you have missed a lot of secret dungeons or you feel that you want to know what that ultimate skill does and looks like. You can also begin a new game+ or 'Next cycle' as it is called which you begin with all of your learned combos and skills from the beginning. This also unlocks a bonus boss to fight and new skills to learn.

Summary: For the price it must be now, I truly recommend this game. It will have you entertained.