The third entry in Shin Megami Tensei's 'Devil Summoner' subseries, Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army performed a sudden renovation in two key areas. First in the structure, whose batch of detective-themed TV episodes emphasized SMT's comedic element over the atmospheric or philosophical one. Ridiculous moments and witty writing abound, and there's enough room for the usual dose of supernatural horror and existential discourse, too. Between the jokes is a massive, complex city, with lots of exits and side paths to consider - although progression and backtracking gets a little confusing at times.
The other (and more dramatic) change is in the combat system, which offered a unique hybrid of Tales' action-RPG and Parasite Eve's 3D mini-arenas. Or in particular - combining the real-time battling, A.I party members and combo strings of the former with the perspective, guns and movement of the latter. These battles benefit from amusing one-liners and flashy attack feedback, if held back by some awkward handling and limited (but flexible) attack options to an extent. Modern SMT-isms surface yet again in its type-affinity favoritism, whose prevalence even affected dungeons and monster-capturing - not only strategy. But thankfully, the layer of skill-based difficulty is combat's primary focus, and not the dull matching-game linearity of late. Its demonic roster found a purpose beyond combat as well, boasting a large variety of non-battle abilities that interact with NPCs, objectives, dungeons, and even unlockable loot. Basically, it's their version (and expansion) of Golden Sun's Psynergy system, adding an interesting nuance to teambuilding while complementing its investigative gameplay. Overall - despite retaining much of MegaTen's DNA, the series' 'container' and its 'contents' had morphed into something hilarious and inventive (if a little unpolished) in the world of JRPGs.
The other (and more dramatic) change is in the combat system, which offered a unique hybrid of Tales' action-RPG and Parasite Eve's 3D mini-arenas. Or in particular - combining the real-time battling, A.I party members and combo strings of the former with the perspective, guns and movement of the latter. These battles benefit from amusing one-liners and flashy attack feedback, if held back by some awkward handling and limited (but flexible) attack options to an extent. Modern SMT-isms surface yet again in its type-affinity favoritism, whose prevalence even affected dungeons and monster-capturing - not only strategy. But thankfully, the layer of skill-based difficulty is combat's primary focus, and not the dull matching-game linearity of late. Its demonic roster found a purpose beyond combat as well, boasting a large variety of non-battle abilities that interact with NPCs, objectives, dungeons, and even unlockable loot. Basically, it's their version (and expansion) of Golden Sun's Psynergy system, adding an interesting nuance to teambuilding while complementing its investigative gameplay. Overall - despite retaining much of MegaTen's DNA, the series' 'container' and its 'contents' had morphed into something hilarious and inventive (if a little unpolished) in the world of JRPGs.