Thoughts on Devil Survivor: Overclocked

Hi everyone.  I hope those of you who picked up Agarest: Generations of War Zero on PSN this past week have been enjoying it.  Remember you can check out the PSN Store for some handy DLC for this title.  Even better many of the DLC are available for free!

One of the best things about working for Ghostlight is the chance to play some of the best games from Japan before they come out over here.  Such as Devil Survivor: Overclocked. So, in order to share some of the fun I‘ve been having with it I thought I’d spend a little time talking about the game itself.

As most of you are aware, Devil Survivor: Overclocked is an enhanced port of the original Devil Survivor DS game to 3DS with several awesome new features, including full voice acting, improved visuals, more demons, the ability to change difficulty settings, and an all new 8th day.

As you’d expect from a Shin Megami Tensei game the story telling itself is excellent, with great characterisation and a dark, compelling storyline.  The references to modern technology are cool and its depiction of Tokyo is very good.  I also enjoyed the way that aspects of gameplay which in many titles would just be gameplay conventions and ignored during the storyline are actually part of the game world and that the characters react to them.

In terms of gameplay, Devil Survivor: Overclocked features an original battle system which mixes an SRPG-based grid movement system with a turn based RPG combat system.  Each of the characters on the grid actually represents a team of up to 3 members.  On your side this would be one of your characters and the demons they control.  As you move a character around the map you have the option of casting their buff, debuff & healing spells, as well as those of the demons they control.  However rather then attacking on this map when you enter attack range and attack an enemy you are taken to a separate combat screen.

Here your team of three lines up against the enemy and each character gets one turn to attack or cast a spell.  After which you are returned to the map screen (unless of course you earn an extra turn.)  Extra turns can be awarded at the beginning of a battle or for achieving certain things in your attack turn such as hitting a critical.  You can also use certain skills to steal your enemies’ extra turns, which can be crucial if you’re trying to avoid taking too much damage (and who isn’t?)  A group of enemies is defeated when the team leader is reduced to 0HP; however you get more rewards for taking the side characters out first.

As in the later Persona games, your time outside of battle is limited as - while some events have no time related costs - many events will advance the game’s clock.  As a result you have to manage your time effectively.  This also plays into the numerous endings available depending on the decisions you make.  Something else that will be familiar to long term SMT fans is the demon fusion system in which you can combine your demons to create more powerful ones with skills they would not be able to get if you picked them up through the Demon Auction, a competitive bidding minigame in which you bid for the services of demons.

That’s all for now.  I could probably keep writing about Devil Survivor: Overclocked for all eternity but I need to head off to deal with an impending demonic invasion of Braintree. :)  (Remember: Never accept unusual handheld devices from strangers!)  However, when I get back I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about this game in the comments here or on my Twitter account.  You can follow Ghostlight on our Twitter and Facebook pages, our Youtube Channel and our  Google + account, where we’ll be posting all the latest news from Ghostlight.