Really refreshing to have what I'll just call a "youth culture" JRPG come out that actually feels like it has its finger on the pulse of things like this. It doesn't feel like it was made by an old vampire (not in a cool way) who's putting on a pretty little doll show where imperfections only exist when they're convenient or where they "make sense" and pretending it's empowering to the audience it was aimed at. The characters in this game hit the "realness" threshold frame 0. I hesitate to compliment it for "realness" because that sounds like normie cringe hyperbole, but I say that to refer to how multi-faceted the characters are, often in very unappealing ways. It's not afraid to let these characters be a little messed up in a really down to earth sort of way. The game is so dedicated to allowing these characters to exist with their problems as they would that it dedicates a few lines to directly shooting down the idea of magical MC fixing these people just because they chose the right lines. Their problems thoroughly inform these people thoroughly, unapologetically in self ways often times, which is rad. From the Voca-P conception, to its fashion/aesthetic sense, and subject matters, I feel like it really does get us shaky youth

This is a bit of a super vague spoiler, but on the note of addressing audience expectations in a meta way with good ass dialogue: They dedicated a line to addressing a certain missteps in regard to a subject on their part in the first game in a way I can't help but read as meta. Like they were looking straight at the camera and acknowledging that in the time since then, they've done their research and have learned a lot since then. I guess that sort of thing would be cheesy to some, but the sort of juice shown in that moment is just what sets this apart from a lot of its contemporaries in terms of consciousness. Like I said earlier, it's cool that it feels like it wasn't made by a walking corpse kept alive by ancient mobster money and figure sales

Anyways the combat is interesting and satisfying, and has a cool 3D Valkyrie Profile but more unga to it, and it heavily incentivizes bullying, so that's cool. The dungeons are only okay, but Persona (I'll namedrop it only once) dungeons have been shit for about 15 years so they've got time. There's a character who's a propagandist and I've listened to her song for a few months now so that music can't be understated. Games for the soul don't have to look like money

You have to go underground to find things made by people that actually souls. That's it

An aspect of the Shin Megami Tensei series that hasn't really been explored in any real sense is the breakdown of society that comes with an apocalyptic situation. Devil Survivor focused wholly on this, and it makes for one of the best stories and scenarios in the entire series. Seeing peoples morals slowly fade, the atmosphere get more tense, and the situation slowly degrade and get worse and worse, there's truly nothing else like it. The gameplay is also very unique for the series, an SRPG a la Fire Emblem instead of the usual 4-in-a-row turn-based style. It works really well, and has a surprising amount of strategy in every layer of its systems. It's all thats good about SMT as a series, every fan has to give it a spin.

Despite it's grim subject matter and brutal gameplay, Devil Survivor is a comfort game for me. Every time I start a new playthrough, it pulls me right back in immediately. Devil Survivor has an incredible atmosphere and a very cool branching storyline that is incredibly fun to experience blind. When you're not in combat, Devil Survivor becomes a game of managing your time and planning out your future actions to pursue what's important to you. The weight of your actions is very tangible in Devil Survivor, but ultimately it's YOUR game. If you don't like a certain character, the game isn't going to hold your hand and force you to save and recruit them anyways. You can choose what you want to deal with and what's most important to you in this conflict, and it's really magical. If you're down for a challenge, Devil Survivor is a glowing recommendation from me.