Devil Survivor 2: First Complete Playthrough

I just wrapped up Daichi's ending of Devil Survivor 2. As the credits roll by, I want to reflect on the game, given how much I enjoyed the first one.

First, the differences. The first game has a much better overall story. I won't spoil either game, but suffice it to say DS2 is basically a traditional mainline Megaten story whereas DS1 is its own thing. Not that DS2s story was bad - it's just not as original as the first one. I also thought the enemy was far less interesting than the enemy in the first game.

The Fate system, though, is where I feel like the game sort of falls apart. I was excited for this mechanic when I first heard about the game because it takes one of my favorite aspects of Persona 3 and 4 - social links - and grafts them onto Devil Survivor's structure. I can see what the developers were going for but because the story doesn't make too much sense unless you already know what is happening, it falls apart.

You see, I used a guide for this game, and not for a single battle - not one! I used a guide when I got to the second day because the game does an extremely poor job of hinting which story events will advance your Fate level with a character, and which ones are largely pointless. The Nicaea website, which shows you a clip of someones death before it happens, can be difficult to decipher too, because you have to be in the right place at the right time or else the person you are trying to save will die (which is likely as intended - the characters don't know when/where these events happen either). In practice though, it's just frustrating and stressful. So, I used a FAQ to tell me which options to pick so I didn't lose anybody and so I could focus on my favorite part of the game, battles and demon fusion.

Both are improved over DS1. Gone is the weird magnetite system from DS1 that most players don't use much, and in its place is a system that will occasionally reward the player with items that will allow them to fuse demons differently. For example, when fusing, I can attach the "Fire Set" item to the new demon, which allows it to pick moves of the fire type that I've unlocked. This is great when I have a demon that is otherwise perfect, but weak to fire - slap the fire set on it, pick Null/Repel/Drain Fire, and fuse! There are other types, too, such as items that boost demon stats, remove moves the demon comes with you don't like, remove stat caps from the fusion ingredients, etc. etc. This is by far my favorite addition to the game.

They also added a few new demon powers as well as made some of them "evolve" and get stronger when you level up your demons enough. One of the evolutions allows the demons team to attack up to seven squares away for sacrificing some MP - this got heavy use from me at the end of the game. It made those types of demons actually useful for once, because I can stay out of range, still attack, but not have to worry about getting murdered since the enemy can't reach me!

They did some balancing, too. There are more useful physical moves in this game, as opposed to the Pierce/Deathbound in the first, although that is still extremely viable. Drain got nerfed a bit, but Holy Dance still hits hard. The game also gives you a fairly stable set of characters so you aren't stuck with a set that sucks.

It really is too bad the story is so boring, because given the gameplay enhancements in DS2, I could see it beating out DS1 as one of my absolute favorite games. DS2 is still really good, and I will probably do some New Game + stuff throughout the year, since I enjoyed that mode so much in the first game. I really could spend a decent amount of time picking out why the story feels so half assed, but there'd be plenty of spoilers and I'm sure it has been done elsewhere better than I could. I'd still recommend Devil Survivor: Overclocked over this one.

Here's looking forward to Devil Survivor 3, though. This series is a very close second to Persona 3 and 4 as my favorite sub-series of SMT for sure.

Link Between Worlds

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is fantastic from start to finish.

Really, I could end the whole post there if I wanted. The game is just pure fun. It gets you right into the action right away - no boring tutorials, no awful villagers you need to talk to for hours before you get your sword, no learning how to pilot a boat/train/bird, it's just "Hey, here's your sword, go fight and explore."

My favorite thing about the game is how open it is. At anytime, you can go do whatever you want. I thought the item renting thing would be kind of a letdown at first, since you just have all the items for the most part right away, but I actually wasn't bothered by it at all. It allows the designers to just make the dungeons and overworld as they see fit, and not have, say, the hookshot be the key to get to this part of the world, the hammer be the key to this part, etc. The world switching thing is fantastic and is an excellent mechanic (Link being able to flatten himself onto a wall and then walk along it makes for some fun puzzles). Even the sidequests are fun!

I put a solid sixteen hours plus into the game, which includes beating the game and finding everything (and I mean everything). There are bonus treasure chests in every dungeon, and they all contain a power up for Link, which adds to the exploration aspect. There are 100 little things to find scattered throughout the overworld, and every ten you find allows you to upgrade an item of your choice - again, the game acknowledging that every player may like to use certain items to fight. I used the Hookshot quite a bit throughout the game, but many players swear by the Wind Rod thing. It was pretty useful for the very fun battle gauntlet, but that was really the only place I used it much.

The fighting mechanics are spot on, too. Swordplay is just as fun as in LttP, if not better, and the secondary items are fun to use too. I went through the battle gauntlet three times - three times! - in a row, with pleasure, to unlock everything you can get from it. I talked to all the NPCs (not that many of them have anything revelatory to say, but they often hint at secrets). I thought the story was pretty fun, if kind of basic.

Probably the best part about the game, though, is how it uses Link to the Past's world not only for level design but for putting nice twists on old areas for veterans of the old game. There was one particular item that I did not get until after I beat story mode - despite being able to get it almost right off the bat! This is because Link Between Worlds inverts an old puzzle from Link to the Past, so that I didn't think I could complete it until I found the item I'm referring to. I should have seen it coming!

The music is amazing, as well. Link to the Past really has good music, and this game remixes it to great effect. The Dark World theme in particular really shines as probably my favorite tune in the game, despite the Hyrule Forest music being present and as always, fantastic. Despite some people's complaints about the graphics, I found them fine. At no point did I stop and think to myself "Wow, this game is ugly," so people who say the graphics are terrible are exaggerating. Are they as gorgeous as LttP's spritework? No, but they also aren't bland, boring New Super Mario Bros-esque, either.

I absolutely loved the game, and alongside Animal Crossing which I remain addicted to, will likely go back and play Link to the Past. Link Between Worlds made me realize I have a lot of nostalgia for that old game, despite not beating it until highschool, ten or so years after it came out. Who knows if it'll hold up as well compared to the new game - a curiousity that surprises me, considering how good the old game is. Link Between Worlds is just that good.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

So after putting over 200 hours into Animal Crossing: New Leaf, I have come to the conclusion that it is the finest entry in the series and, here in January of 2014, one of my favorite games of all time.

The Animal Crossing series was good to begin with, back in the original English release on the Gamecube. It was a sideways take on the Sims, which had been released about a year earlier (the first version having come out in Japan only on the Nintendo 64 in 2001). In it, you played the (seemingly) only human character to move into a village of talking animals, and worked to build a bigger house, obtain more clothing and furniture, and make friends with the animals. It is now somewhat simplistic compared to the versions that have come out since - to visit another person's town, you inserted your town's memory card into the second slot on the Gamecube, after which your friend could go visit, all by their lonesome. There was no simultaneous multiplayer until the DS version, Wild World, which contained improvements such as new items and things to do.

City Folk, on Wii, wasn't too much of an improvement over Wild World, and to be honest, I barely touched it and thus don't remember too much of it other than thinking the town proper felt strangely empty because most of the shops had been moved to the downtown area to the north of the rest of the town.

New Leaf, released June 9th, 2013, is the first game to truly feel complete. I wonder where they could take the franchise from here - everything just seems so thought out and well designed. Take, for example, the fact that the downtown area from City Folk remains - but is completely fine because now, as mayor, the player can customize his town and make it seem not empty, but vibrant and - most importantly - his own. Never before have I felt as much attachment to my town then in New Leaf, and this is largely due to the fact that when you walk around my town, it is unmistakably mine. The tiny main street area I erected with sidewalks, street lights, and statues, fountains, and gardens does not exist in anyone else's town. Yet, when I visit other towns, I feel truly away from "home" - their towns are laid out differently and have very different features (I've seen tire benches and other unidentifiable buildings, some of which I want, some of which I think are very strange). Now, visiting someone else's town isn't just to see the layout and contents of their home, but their town, as well.

Having played during two seasons of New Leaf - summer and winter - I feel confident enough to say that Nintendo added a bunch of content to spruce up activities when in earlier games the player would get bored. There are season-exclusive furniture sets as well as some activities that aren't in other seasons. Winter in particular is better than I remember it, because even in addition to the Christmas set, there are two sets of furniture to get from snowmen as well as (as far as I'm aware) several items to win from playing bingo with the snowmen you build (unfortunately, when you start bingo, the player receives a bingo card that cannot be removed from their inventory until a bingo is obtained, which is dumb. The player should be able to leave the bingo card in their house, and go get it when they need it, not be screwed out of inventory slot for untold days until bingo is obtained).

I'm impressed with the mini games Nintendo added on the island as well. They are pretty simple, but all are fairly fun and all fit in the Animal Crossing engine pretty well. One of them tasks the player with entering a bunch of random houses and finding items for a scavenger hunt - something that seems so obvious to include in the series in retrospect. I do wish there were more exclusive items to get on the island, and that most of them weren't locked away on the multiplayer version of it (not too huge a problem, mind you, because you can earn medals alone for it, but sometimes actually connecting to the island takes forever and really kills your enthusiasm for it, especially when you get there and its just the cabana bookcase AGAIN).

Villager interaction is better, too. They've added several tasks the villagers request of the player, almost all of which are pretty simple and fun. One of my favorites is hide and seek, where three villagers hide around town and the player has to find them within the time limit. Long gone are the times when animals would just take items right out of a players inventory, although that was limited to the Gamecube version, if I recall. Now, if a villager wants an item, they ask to buy it or trade for it. Also, the villagers suggest new public works projects for the mayor to undertake, which actually makes the villagers important to the town since without them, the mayor would get nothing done.

Nintendo has also added what would otherwise be called achievements in the form of badges the player gets from a new character that shows up in town whenever they accomplish some hidden task. Most of them are things like "fish a lot," or "play the game a lot," but some of them encourage tasks as a subtle way of nudging the player to do certain things. Had I not seen one of my friends had gotten a badge for earning a ton of medals on the island, I'm not sure how much of that I would have explored. Sadly, I now want to collect all the badges, which will likely be an exercise in frustration because I'm sure plenty of them involve some crazy amounts of play time to get.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with the game. I'm sure they'll think of something, but I am sincere when I say I don't know what they will add to the next one other than maybe refining some of the very few rough spots in this version. Unlike Wild World, where ultimately I decided I liked the original better, I can say with confidence that New Leaf is the best version of Animal Crossing to date by a landslide, NES games or no.