History VideoGame / DevilSurvivor

* PowersAsPrograms

''Devil Survivor'' entails the story of [[ThreeAmigos three]] {{Ordinary High School Student}}s: an eleventh grader ([[HelloInsertNameHere the protagonist]]) and his friends, NaiveEveryGirl Yuzu Tanikawa and [[PlayfulHacker computer geek]] Atsuro Kihara. One summer day, the protagonist's cousin Naoya calls them over to his place and gives them three popular hand-held computers (Communication Players, or [=COMPs=]) with his own custom firmware installed. Tinkering with the firmware, Atsuro unlocks a hidden Demon Summoning Program that releases demons right in front of the three startled friends.

* AdultsAreUseless: Well, most of them, given how the ones who aren't Demon Tamers are just running away and how some of them are plain dangerous for not thinking right about their situation. The ThreeAmigos will always end up saving adults. Makes one wonder why they bothered to have kid [=NPCs=] in the first place.

* ThreeAmigos: The hero, Yuzu, and Atsuro.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The government's solution for the demon outbreak is as follows: [[spoiler:under PSE Law, every electronic device in Japan, aside following the safety standards, has [[GovernmentConspiracy a secret remotely-controlled chip]] that sets its output to maximum, and the overlapping EM waves would create an Ultra Electromagnetic Field, effectively turning Tokyo into a giant microwave.]] Not only it's improbable to implement[[note]]Beside carrying it out for years with nobody but Naoya noticing such chip's existence, all electronics would need a secondary circuit for radio input and power override[[/note]], it's also not possible physically except for specially-designed military weapons[[note]]The collective of electronics in the city would need to be capable of producing enough power for EM radiation to escape the protective interior in lethal doses without breaking first themselves[[/note]].

* TechnicalPacifist: Oh sure, you'll never have an issue with beating people to within an inch of their lives with demons. But actually ''killing'' them? Forget it.
** Overclocked allows the player to avert this in Naoya's "Inhuman" path, where the PC decides to murder anyone that stands in his way.

* ForcedLevelGrinding: Want to beat the BonusBoss? Be prepared to grind thirty ''or more'' levels to just stand a chance. What makes it worse is that encounters (even hard ones) don't scale with you.

''Devil Survivor'' is an interesting fusion of the old with the new. The basic scenario and first-person battle system is very similar to that of ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' but with the modern style and character-driven gameplay of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''. ''Devil Survivor'' is also the most player-friendly ''Shin Megami Tensei'' game yet: players can not only see a list of the demons that they can fuse and how to fuse them, but they can choose exactly what skills they inherit and even teach them new abilities. ''Don't'' take this to mean that Atlus is making the game any ''easier'', because [[NintendoHard they're not]].

Artistic qualities seem familiar to you? The character design is done by none other than [[LightNovel/{{Durarara}} Suzuhito]] [[Manga/YozakuraQuartet Yasuda]]! See also ''Manga/FutureDiary'' for a similar concept of "Laplace Mail". Compare and contrast ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', which also features a seven-day storyline in Shibuya.

''Devil Survivor'' entails the story of [[ThreeAmigos three]] {{Ordinary High School Student}}s: an eleventh grader ([[HelloInsertNameHere the protagonist]]) and his friends, [[TheChick everygirl]] Yuzu Tanikawa and [[PlayfulHacker computer geek]] Atsuro Kihara. One summer day, the protagonist's cousin Naoya calls them over to his place and gives them three popular hand-held computers (Communication Players, or [=COMPs=]) with his own custom firmware installed. Tinkering with the firmware, Atsuro unlocks a hidden Demon Summoning Program that releases demons right in front of the three startled friends.

%%* TheChick: Yuzu.

* FiveManBand:
** Your core lineup for the first six days and Yuzu's route is one of these.
*** TheHero is naturally TheLeader, being the guy that everyone looks up to and follows.
*** Keisuke is TheLancer, being a more cynical foil to your generally idealistic party members.
*** Midori is TheBigGuy, being the one who is most likely to jump into trouble without thinking of the consequences.
*** Atsuro is TheSmartGuy, being your tech genius and the quickest to figure out the ins and outs of the plot when there are no handy-dandy MrExposition characters to help out.
*** Yuzu is TheChick, being the one who is most prone to emotional outbursts and the one who has the worst time adjusting to the lockdown.
*** On Yuzu's route, Kaido fits comfortably as the SixthRanger. He's a recurrent rival to the main group who joins at the tail end of the game for personal survival and remains something of an outsider to the group dynamic.
** If you go on Naoya's route and get both {{Optional Party Member}}s, your lineup changes, but still qualifies as a five-man band.
*** TheHero is still TheLeader, being the linchpin for the fight against Babel and God.
*** Naoya is TheLancer, being the one who creates your plans and directs your movements. On his 7th day, he acts as a DragonInChief to the hero, but fully assumes the Lancer role on day 8.
*** Kaido is TheBigGuy, being the quickest to advocate violence when pushed.
*** Atsuro is still TheSmartGuy, as the tech genius.
*** Mari is TheChick, being the most moral of the team; if [[spoiler:you decide to kill humans on day 8, Kaido boots her out of the party because he doesn't want her dirtying her hands with that kind of business.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Due to the way the branching paths work by the end of the game, some plot threads built up over the course of the game will inevitably get shunted to the side and left unresolved. Though with [[UpdatedRerelease Overclocked's]] 8th day epilogue scenarios, that may no longer be the case with some of them.
** Example: What was Honda doing with the Gigolo during the last hours of the 6th day? [[spoiler:Though the deal they made is left rather unresolved, Honda gets a new COMP from him, which he uses to bust out of the lockdown with other demon tamers in Yuzu's ending when you escape. It's the same COMP he uses up until [[YouHaveFailedMe Belberith offs him]] in the 8th Day of the same route.]]

* CuttingOffTheBranches: While there is no canon ending like in a lot of Megaten games, the manga adapts of the Song of Hope route. It doesn't follow it one-for-one, however, as it also uses aspects of Naoya's and Amane's routes.

** [[spoiler:Yuzu's 8th Day has a very explicit focus on how the decision to run away had several consequences that we had been warned about many times but chose to ignore by running away. Then it changes its focus to another Aesop that is what powers the EarnYourHappyEnding of the full route: taking responsiblity for one's actions.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Devil Survivor'' seems intended as a successor to the older ''Majin Tensei'' line of strategy [=RPG=]s from the 90s, while utilizing many of the design lessons learned from latter SMT games produced in the 2000s (the later Persona titles in particular, with the increased focus on character interaction and time management).