If you enjoyed Persona and are looking for a way to get deeper into MegaTen, I can't recommend DDS1 enough.

It's got a pretty strong atmosphere, perhaps not quite as much as Nocturne, but makes up for it with vastly stronger character writing. I haven't been so interested to hear what minor NPCs have to say in a JRPG since I first played Chrono Trigger, and the main cast has a definite chemistry.

In terms of gameplay, it runs on the same excellent Press Turn system used in Nocturne, which is hard to explain but so intuitive that I'm sad that the simplified One More system originally necessitated by Persona 3's AI-controlled party members continued to be used into Persona 5 instead of it.
But I digress, the primary difference is with your party composition. Not only are you reduced down to 3 party members, but you are also not recruiting demons anymore. Instead, you buy Mantra that, when maxed out, grant you new Skills. This means that you can build every party member's moves to your preference. This tips the balance considerably into the player's favour, which may upset more experienced MegaTen fans, but allows a newer player the agency to get to grips with combat better, which is good, because the game expects you to make good use of your tools to survive.
In the same way, the lack of demon negotiations arguably removes a layer of depth to combat encounters, but it, along with a general streamlining of its story, also contributes to the game being far better paced than the vast majority of JRPGs. The high encounter rate, especially in a few areas later in the game, can serve to slow this down, and the frequent 'ambush' encounters where you'll quickly find the least tedious option is to simply flee the battle can get grating. However, by granting the player more freedom in modifying your teams, these become problems that you have the agency to solve, which is the empowering feeling that I think separates MegaTen from most other JRPG franchises in terms of appeal.

There are some notable problems with this system, however. For example, I can appreciate that allowing the player to save and easily swap between pre-prepared Skill builds could serve to make the gameplay less interesting by incentivising the player to instead attempt to cover all of their bases in a single build. However, the result on my first playthrough as I got later into the game was spending far too much time tediously swapping between builds that allowed for buffing and builds that allowed for coverage every time I suspected a boss was coming near. This was annoying, but the alternative was making every random encounter substantially more tedious by reducing my coverage, or risking going into a boss fight only to find out that without buffing and debuffing I had no chance of winning.
In the same way there's also just a lot of little annoyances, like having to reassemble your party in the menu every time a status effect made one of them flee the battle. The fact that so much late-game content looks identical is a bit disappointing, even if the atmosphere provided by those areas is arguably the best in the game.

However, I kept on playing, because when I got down to it, the combat was snappy, delighful and empowering, and the themes were genuinely meaningful and thought-provoking. Not to mention that the music is Shoji Meguro in his prime. I still get a kick out of the opening beats of the standard battle theme, even after 30+ hours of play. The vast majority of its flaws are just the inevitable limitations of its game design pushed to their most logical conclusions, and that's something very few games can say about themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing this, and I think just about anyone with a passing interest in JRPGs will too.

I played this game to completion over a decade ago, and was curious to see if it held up. I think it's still pretty good!

The aesthetics, battle system, and music are all fantastic. I really vibe with where the SMT games were at in this era.

This is also the only game in the Megaten franchise that I'm aware of that dispenses with demon negotiation and fusion, and instead has you building and customizing skills and builds for a core cast of characters.

It's interesting to compare this to mainline SMT games, since the opening hours remind me a lot of of a "normal" SMT game. The storytelling is sparse at first, and leaves a lot about the world and setting unsaid initially. The characters are intentionally cold and robotic for the first few hours of the game. The plot and characterization ramps up by the midpoint of the game, but it's not really until the next installment (Digital Devil Saga 2, which is really just part two of the same story) that things really take off.

My two major complaints: I feel like the game drags in the last two dungeons, and also I have no idea what was going through the localization director's head with what they decided to do with one your main party members, Cielo. He is voiced by a white guy doing the most inappropriate and offensive fake Jamaican accent you can imagine. It's like they took some of the most questionable design decisions of the character and doubled down on them as a joke. Playing with an undub mod is recommended just for this reason alone.

If you're a long-time SMT head and haven't played this game yet, I think it's worth your time. It's not quite on the same level as Nocturne for me, but it's close.

Digital Devil Saga doesn't reach the mechanical or narrative heights of other Shin Megami Tensei games, but it's a super consistently enjoyable game. I adore the game's early 2000s techno aesthetic, which is bolstered by the game's excellent soundtrack which is some of Shoji Meguro's best work.

I'm not sure what it is, though, but I'm not really sold on playing a second game's worth of Digital Devil Saga. I feel like I've already gotten what I want out of the duology despite only playing the first entry. I liked the narrative and characters well enough, but they didn't really capture my interest beyond a simple "oh, this is cool". I'll get around to playing it one day, though.

Also, the English opening is dope as fuck.

This game unironically makes me crazy. I personally like the novelization more, but this is because the encounter rate bothers me a little and I like Godai's take on the story more. I still adore this game though! the visuals and storytelling are so amazing, and I love myself a good scifi apocalypse story. It has a very strong cast of characters and honestly one of my favorite in Megami Tensei haha. I'd recommend this one if you're looking for a classic jrpg with just enough junk to keep things interesting.

SMT never fails to disappoint.

JRPGs always had this issue with balancing. The SMT series, for quite some while, has struck the right balance between challenging fights and, uh, bullshit. Sometimes.

But the bullshit is far and few between, it serves as a warning to not be too cocky when playing these games.

Digital Devil Saga is wonderful because it limits much more on the bullshit than other SMT games (sans persona, of course). Building your characters become more about figuring out what the next fight will be, rather than having a long run build. It incentivizes strategy in and out of fights, making dungeon crawls much more interesting and, interactive? Not sure, but the point is that the system works flawlessly and I love it.

Boss fights have been a wonderful challenge. Even when I'm overleveled it can be tough. That's because the name of the game isn't about numbers (although it helps to have better numbers, of course), but the status effects, the resistances, the weaknesses to exploit. It's a game about setting your offense and defense for each fight, rather than building it over the course of the story.

The story itself is a bit lackluster, but that's only because there's a second game that's a direct sequel, which is why not much is explained here. That's fine, I can't wait to see what's up with DDS2.

I think the only reason I'm giving this 4.5/5 is because some puzzles leave me either wanting more or, worse, wanting less of. You know what I'm talking about.

O mundo ambíguo e suprimido de respostas de Digital Devil Saga intriga, e todo o simbolismo hinduísta e budista presente na história e lugares do jogo complementam esse processo (sendo importante ter um conhecimento sobre eles pra uma compreensão melhor do enredo, inclusive). Obviamente é cedo demais pra analisar os personagens por inteiro só com este jogo, porém gosto de como pouco a pouco eles vão mostrando suas falhas e se questionando sobre seus propósitos.

Um ponto importante que é bom ter conhecimento prévio é que este jogo é só a metade de uma história, além de ser curto (cerca de 30 horas) e, francamente, que bom que ele é assim. DDS 1 foi mecanicamente muito mais simples do que eu esperava, o que não é um problema já que é um jogo sólido, compacto ao seu tamanho, se isso aqui tivesse mais horas facilmente ficaria tedioso. E ainda tem um side content decente pra se fazer, em questão de gameplay isso definitivamente serve como um jogo solo.

Kaneko já tinha pensado anteriormente em uma mecânica de devorar adversários pra SMT 1 e resolveram encaixar isso aqui, é simples, mas estimula o jogador a ficar constantemente caçando encontros. Conseguir devorar uma grande quantidade de inimigos e ver aquela barra de Mantra subindo até o além gera doses de dopamina satisfatórias. Falando nos Mantras, eles cumprem bem seu papel, te dão a liberdade necessária pra sentir uma experiência próxima a um SMT convencional, monte a party com as skills que quiser e com as combinações que quiser, você só não terá controle dos stats (tirando o Serph). O grande problema deste sistema é o alto grind e preço dos Mantras high-level.

Field Hunts são criativos e uma boa forma de variar o gameplay, mas a execução deles é bizonha, mal são presentes durante a playthrough e ficam em áreas totalmente random. Torná-los mais presentes e acessíveis seria melhor do que serem meros spots de grindind que ficam isolados nos cantos do mapa e que eu só vou realmente usar pra grindar Mantras pros side-bosses. Algo engraçado é que o cooldown de 5 ciclo solares é meio grande então quando eu cheguei no 2° Field Hunt da última dungeon ele ainda não tava funcionando.

e receba fi o boss mais pau no cu de todos os tempos, aka demi-fiend.

My first play through was casual but the second was much more in depth, i fought almost every optional boss in the game minus Huang-Long. This and the second game are probably the peak of megaten on the PS2. Even though nocturne and DDS1 were only a year or two apart, nocturne feels 15 years older in comparison. It's a really interesting creative work that doesn't get the attention it deserves for some reason when I would say that it's more palatable for modern RPG or JRPG players these days than nocturne, which got a "full" HD remaster not so long ago. You can absolutely power though every dungeon in this game and solve every puzzle yourself without a guide, when in noctutne it just confuses me how anybody was supposed to figure half of them out in the first place. This game is probably tied with the second one for my favourite game of all time and I'd love to be able to play it in actual HD some day.

This was truly a unique experience, I've never played anything like it. From the very start hearing this almost light breakcore beat with entrancing vocals while scenes are carnage, birth, and longing are shown immediately brought me in. I love games that start immediately in the action and start your journey from there giving you the opportunity to fill in the blanks yourself. One thing this game does exceptionally well is the tasteful lack of explanation for the world. You simply exist in it and follow it's rules, you have no reason to ask why. You aren't told the backstories and motivations for each character because that's something you need to gather yourself by watching them throughout the story, the game doesn't treat you like you're stupid. Of course this is all for narrative reasons but still it's nice. The story itself is very interesting and quite metaphorical as is expected with SMT or SMT adjacent games. The whole atmosphere is great, the visuals are expertly stylized with Kaneko's art and the environments are desolate when desired and intricate when needed. The music as well, my god. I heard that this was the first game where they told Shoji Meguro that he could compose whatever he'd like and honestly I believe it because the music is so raw and ethereal and driven it really feels like it came from the soul. The characters were great, I especially liked Argilla and her Atma Avatar is very interesting. Another thing that really amplifies the atmosphere and the identity of this is the significant and deep Hindu influences, there's so much to learn and explore if you dive into the religion and mythology and connect it with the game. I did find a few scenes to fall a little flat with some wonky character writing and voice acting but that doesn't detract much from the overall experience and how I viewed the characters. That ending was certainly unexpected but welcome because I can't wait to play the sequel.

Being my first experience with the Shin Megami Tensei series, I could not think of a better introduction. Glancing at the series from afar makes it seem incredibly intimidating. I've played a good handful of JRPG's, beaten most of them, and have always been curious about this series. It's the demon collecting aspect that intimidates me the most for some reason, and so to have a game in the series with the same combat, same aesthetic and same in-universe concepts without the collecting aspect is a genius way to entice new fans who aren't quite prepared to delve into a lengthy, hardcore RPG. You get all the SMT staples, harsh post-apocalyptic story, religious imagery, challenging combat, in a short adventure that really sold me on this series. I feel more comfortable heading into the other games with this one under my belt, and even still, I have a whole sequel to play first which I am pumped to play considering the ending of this game.

On its own, this is still a great JRPG. Most of my RPG experience has been with games that take a more action focus to combat, so this is technically my first turn-based game, which was another factor that intimidated me. And for good reason, as this has some really tough, but very fair and rewarding, encounters. This game keeps you on your toes with how quickly regular enemies can mess you up, so it demands that you learn the ins and outs of its system. That means that by the end you'll be prepared for whatever the game throws at you, especially during he tiring final dungeon. 80% of this game just is dungeon crawling since that is where all combat encounters take place. That threw me off initially, but the dungeons are lengthy and complicated enough that they always feel interesting and prepare you for a boss at the end, or towards the end, throughout the dungeon. These are some of the most well crafted dungeons I've journeyed through in an RPG, and I really dig a lot of the theming they use for them. Some gimmicks are a bit annoying, but they're easy to get the hang of. The same can be said with the bosses. I can't think of a single one that really felt like a massive roadblock in my playthrough. They were hard but not to the point where I got angry whenever I died. The final boss in particular is really great and a fantastic test of the game's combat.

Digital Devil Saga is a great entry point to the SMT series, though as a newcomer, I'd probably say that to any game I chose to play first. Still, DDS is a fantastic JRPG that really deserves a remastered port or collection, like c'mon, they did Nocturne HD, it can't be that hard.

É um bom jogo, com certeza o grande chamariz é o sistema de skills, é ótimo tu criar tua própria build com os personagens e tal, mas existem 2 grandes problemas, primeiro, o mais óbvio, é ser um jogo pela metade, inclusive acaba com um cliff hanger tipo Code Geass da vida, o outro é o fato da experiência completa ser só com o NG+, todas as áreas tem um lugar fechado que só libera com o NG+, sem contar que só com ele tu consegue chegar no nível máximo, conseguir todas as skills e enfrentar o Demi-Fiend.

Even tho this game just establishes the questions for the sequel to answer, I’ve enjoyed it VERY much.

The Press and Turn combat system is one of my favs of all time and the hunting is fun.

I’ve only wished for Serph to be a bit more talkative, as the rest are so charismatic, but is a trope in this kind of game, so its not a big deal.

Cant wait to see what DDS2 has in store for me!

I don't think I've ever seen a game TRY to make you hate it. Its full of BS, Psycho Rage, Panic, Stone, Random Elemental Skills no one has heard of, Invisible Bosses, Calm Sleep, bosses spamming Mudo skill 6 times in a row, etc. there are so many mechanics that are near impossible to maneuver and avoid it can make the game extremely frustrating in its difficulty. But behind that makes it a fun game both in difficulty sense and other aspects. While it can be frustrating, finding different strategies and changing movesets on the fly was something that I appreciated and something new to me (I think unless im forgetting another game I've played does that) and added a new degree to it. The story set up pretty nicely, would've liked a little more interaction between the group of 5/6 main cast but what was there was fine and sequel seems it could be something more. Serph was an alright silent protagonist, I think there's a lot more that could've been done with him cuz he does feel a bit bland or underwhelming

Another Shin Megami Tensei 'spinoff', Digital Devil Saga is actually a more straightforward take on SMT: Nocturne, adopting its aesthetic and ideas while instilling a psychological quality to their trademark demons. Plenty of new and borrowed systems streamline the teambuilding tedium found in prior games, replacing past mechanics with a notable hybrid of skill trees and Esper-like mastery - but for what it gains in convenience, options and synergies, it also loses in combat balance. While its Press-turn combat (also derived from SMT3) has certainly expanded, freely adjustable skillsets - among other incentives like Hunt skills/Devour, point it towards linear element-matching gameplay instead. This system is at its best when type coverage is modulated, for instance, by more restrictive mechanics like demon fusion, and too much leeway spoils it a little. RNG-rooted setbacks are in no short supply here, but the boss fights mostly disappoint, lacking the intensity that made Nocturne's roadblocks so appealing.

The contrast between this and mainline titles - in both gameplay (fixed ally stat paths with relatively accessible dungeon crawling) and non-gameplay (greater attention paid to character building, cutscenes, dialogue, relations, etc.) betray Atlus' interest in a more conventional form of SMT, one still anchored to its parent's brutal spirit (as opposed to Persona) but without some of the bite. Ultimately, their most original achievement turns out to be the premise, crossing a multitude of genres to yield a twisted landscape awash with distinct themes; both post-apocalyptic and existential, religious and futuristic, yet off-kilter and brooding all the same.