A true thorough evolution of Megami Tensei for the Playstation 2 in only the first act

A story filled with intrigue, emptiness, re-connection, and drama

Gameplay with speed, style, customization, tense moments, and enough variation to feel fresh as you go along until the final climb

A JRPG that simultaneously suplexes every Final Fantasy game I've played into the pavement but stands on its own

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOEqv-miobM&

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 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.

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.

The first non-Persona SMT game I ever played. Off the top, this game had me hooked - the game's atmosphere, world, and story immediately captured my attention. I absolutely loved the post-apocalyptic feel and mystery that exuded from this game (which is something, I learned later on, that the SMT series nails really well in most of their titles).

DDS leverages the same Press-Turn battle system that was incorporated within SMT III: Nocturne that preceded it. But unlike that game, it felt like the gameplay was much fairer, well balanced, and easier. No complaints from me there.

Also, the music in this game freakin' rocks! There are so many fantastic tracks in this game that reviewing this game led me to YouTube to listen to the soundtrack. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Sahasrara
My favorite song in the game. Sets the mood of this bleak world perfectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMIzvf7QuWc

Hunting, Hunting - Comrades, & Big Battle
Badass battle tunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDb2MxUl31w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUw9TtJMe7I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruASHMbf9-g

Spider's String 2nd Movement
The definition of "build-up"... pure ascension.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElA8WnIl4d8

Hari-Hara
1:03 - 1:24... love it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdZ_2QwqwQQ

A game I hyped so much. Everything caught my eyes. The Kaneko designs, cel-shaded graphics, Meguro music, all that good shit. And while it had all of that, I had placed a little too much hope in actually liking what I played. The gameplay system has potential but just feels overall clunky to play today but I do like the devouring system. The music is one of the saving graces, Shoji Meguro is a mastermind. Every ten steps is a random encounter, kind of annoying and you need to grind in this game, even when you fight every encounter. A lot of this is fixed in the sequel but this game would definitely benefit from a remaster with quality of life changes such as a reduced encounter rate, toggle on/off, and fast forward. Knowing Atlus, one or none of those will be included, but we can hope.