Before we begin our trek I’m going to do what I did here in my Devil Survivor 1 liveblog and briefly sum up our characters’ stats, even though we’re not allowed to check them out on the menu yet. From what I’ve read, Devil Survivor 2 has diluted the stats a bit, like for example the Vitality stat plays a small role in determining a character’s defense against magic attacks as well as physical ones so that Magic is purportedly slightly less of a One Stat to Rule Them All like it was before. Personally though, I don’t really see much of a difference.
Like the majority of the Heroes, Hibiki’s stat growth is determined by the player. I just do the same thing I did back in the first game: focus primarily on Magic and Vitality, get Strength up to about 10 just so I’m not locked out of equipping certain skills when we get them, and focusing on getting Agility up to at least 15 while using Tailwind to make up the difference once we get it.
Daichi meanwhile, follows a similar pattern to Atsuro. Like his predecessor, Daichi’s emphasis is on Strength with his remaining stats being somewhat balanced. However, his spread is a little weaker than Atsuro’s and since there’s a bit of a paradigm shift concerning how non-Hero stats are distributed in this game he’s not quite as useful as our old computer nerd friend.
Now, Io, going by her disposition and being the girl of the trio you’d naturally assume that she’d be a mage character like Yuzu was. However, you’d be wrong! Io’s actually a Magic Knight stat-wise, putting equal emphasis on both Magic and Strength. In fact, get her all the way up to Lv. 99 and she’ll have both stats maxed out, leading to the rather hilarious mental image of the team’s Shrinking Violet decimating high-level enemy teams with Physical skills like Hassohappa and Deathbound. This does however come at the expense of her Vitality and Agility stats, which are kept roughly equal but both max out at just under the halfway mark of 20.
Back to the game itself, in the midst of some somber music the trio begins their journey across the city. The immediate danger from the earthquake seems to have passed, and despite all the destruction there’s not much panic yet. It makes me think of something Mari said in the last game, how that if the crisis of the lockdown was something most people could see, like a natural disaster, they could at least manage to keep calm. I suppose it’s the whole “Japanese spirit of solidarity during times of crisis” thing you hear about that’s preventing loss of order, though a lot of people do seem to be pretty chagrined at the disruption. Though, upon arriving at Miyashita Park Io notes that it’s weird how they haven’t seen much in the way of rescue services. The SDF is out and about (some guys are complaining about how they’ve locked down a large section of Shiba Park), but the fire department and hospital ambulances don’t seem to be deployed yet. That can be blamed on the state of the roads, but Io also mentions that she hasn’t seen any helicopters in the sky either, news or rescue. Curiouser and curiouser.
And speaking of curious, back near Shibuya Station we can see the uniformed woman speaking to a man in a yellow uniform shirt (like the Shomonkai believers, his eyes are shadowed for maximum mookage...even though he’s not wearing a hood or hat or anything that should be able to cover them). The man reports that the nearby neighborhoods are too dangerous and impassible, so the SDF’s being recalled even though there could still be survivors waiting to be rescued. The woman says to go along with it without getting clouded by emotions, and the man asks what the “Chief” said about making contact with “D-Cases”, and her answer is to approach them, but to be careful. She dismisses him and heads off to a “Point K” in order to maintain some sort of seal. Next in Shinjuku we can encounter a man in a pinstriped suit and flat cap who at first claims to have mistaken Hibiki for his cousin before saying that all the shelters he’s been to so far have been full. From this and what the woman said before, the trio takes it to mean that things won’t be returning to normal anytime soon...
Our next mandatory event is at 4:00PM. By now the trio has made it to Roppongi, specifically the plaza at the entrance to the Mori Tower where we fought Belzaboul all those times in the previous game. Daichi calls for a break here because he’s totally pooped from all the walking they’ve already done, and gets mighty excited when Io offers him a bottle of water. Before he can tick that off his bucket list he gets distracted by the sight of four other refugees arriving in the plaza and the format switches to the top-down isometic field view (this game has a lot more cutscenes in this format than the first game did), and just when Daichi’s wondering if they should talk to them he sees something weird in the sky, and it ain’t no bird, plane, or superhero...in fact, when it crashes down they see that it’s something completely otherworldly, resembling neither a machine nor a demon so much as an ice cream cone, what with consisting of a multi-colored cone-shaped body and a pink, sponge-like mass atop it.
Whatever it is, it utters some sort of wingding-laden Starfish Language and the trio’s Demon Summoning Apps start up, identifying the object as “Dubhe”. Its pink sponge-thing starts expanding, and the four refugees cluelessly crowd around it, ignoring Hibiki’s “shouts” to run. It emits a powerful explosion, blasting a crater in the plaza’s tiling and reducing the four people to literal piles of ash. Dubhe starts expanding again, and the three make a desperate escape...
Hibiki and Io reunite outside Tokyo Station, so given the distance between there and Mori Tower I guess they just milled around aimlessly after fleeing Roppongi. They try to take stock of what’s going on with Dubhe and the earthquake which seems to have been strangely selective as to which parts of the city it damaged, then realize that they’ve gotten separated from Daichi. Right on cue their phones both receive an email, even though they don’t have service, and it’s another death clip from Nicaea. It shows Daichi at a temple somewhere, trying to run from some demons. He doesn’t get very far though because one of them freezes him, and then his frozen body topples over and shatters. What was that tagline from the original Final Destination movie? “You can get a second chance at life, but you can never cheat death”? Something like that? Fortunately Hibiki and Io (well, really just Io) don’t panic and work things out logically: if their own death clips of the train wreck could be averted, this one could be too. However, since death clips are only sent to friends, Daichi should have no clue what’s in store for him, so they need to find him, fast, since unlike the Laplace Mail Nicaea isn’t nice enough to reveal when an impending death will occur. Io recognizes where he is from the clip though, and it’s at Sensouji Temple in Asakusa, which isn’t actually very far from where they are now. Huh, that was the place where Honda said the Shomonkai defeated Jikoku in the previous game, wasn’t it? Neat that we finally get to go there.
When the pair arrive at the temple grounds they both get another email from Nicaea, but it’s not a death clip, it’s just some tutorial information that’s more for the characters’ benefits than the player’s. It just says that demon tamers can’t form contracts by beating demons after the initial activation of the summoning app. Old information, really. When we shift to the top-down view they find Daichi in one piece, milling about the temple grounds calling for them. They’re relieved (or annoyed with him for running away, if you choose that dialogue option) that he’s okay, and Io says that they have to get out of here. Daichi protests that he’s still tired and leans on a prayer stone for support, an action which causes it to start glowing, sink into the ground, and be replaced by a gold fountain-like device. This device emits a wave of purple energy that travels across the ground over to the giant lantern hanging above the temple’s entryway, destroying it. Immediately the demon from the death clip, Bai Suzhen, emerges along with two Kobolds and thanks us for freeing her. Our reward of course, is death.
As a few other demons wander onto the grounds the uniformed woman enters, quickly takes stock of the situation, and confronts them, holding out her cellphone like it’s a weapon. She barks at the kids that if they’re demon tamers too, than they better summon their demons and help her if they don’t want to die, and after some protesting from Daichi the three take out their own phones and our second mission begins.
Mission 2: Daichi’s Crisis
- All demons must be defeated
- Daichi cannot die
- Daichi and Io must be dispatched
Tico speaks up again at this point again to give us the tutorial on skills and assigning them on the party edit screen. Like the first game we’re started off with Agi, Zio, and Dia, the basic Fire, Elec, and healing spells. This game uses the same elemental system that Devil Survivor 1 did, the only difference being that Mystic has been renamed to Curse, which brings it in-line with most of the other Megami Tensei games but also causes some slight confusion as the Curse ailment is still around. Command, Passive, and the human-only Auto Skills work the same, but Racial Skills are a little different. There are a lot more of them, not only because there are more demon races in this game (the Poltergeist we have, for instance, is a Ghost), but also because now stronger demons, AKA those that reach Lv. 45 or thereabouts, have their Racial Skill evolve to a stronger form. For example, the basic Racial Skill for a Fairy is Glamour (renamed Charm), and like before its effect is to restore a small amount of HP to a team that’s within range and possibly providing other bonuses RNG permitting. Its evolved form, Fairy Dust, restores more HP and targets every team within range, not just one.
Some enhanced Racial Skills are automatic like Fairy Dust is, but others have the same effect as their normal versions and must be manually activated by the player to unleash their new effects. For this example, let’s look at a Genma’s Phantasma. Normally it allows you to ignore obstacles on the field while moving around, but its enhanced form, True Phantasm, enables you to also teleport directly to an allied team that’s within range should you choose to activate it. In all honesty I oftentimes forget that the enhanced Racial Skills have additional effects because I’m so used to how they were in the previous game, but they can definitely be valuable, and are in certain situations, one in particular that’s late in the game especially. It’s not something we have to worry about right now, but I wanted to get it out of the way.
As far as the mission at hand goes, this is essentially this game’s version of the fight against the Wendigo at Aoyama Cemetery. Tico provides more tutorial info on getting extra turns and stuff as things go on, and the demon teams are pretty basic, though they do outnumber us team-wise roughly 2:1. Aside from the boss, the ones that I find the more troublesome to deal with are the Obariyons, as they have highish HP, can steal your extra turns with Extra Cancel, and since they’re Jakis they can use the still-annoying Bind. They are weak to Ice and Elec though, so our Poltergeist and Pixie are helpful as they known Bufu and Zio respectively. Poltergeist can also stop enemy Pixies from healing teams with its Racial Skill, Ghost Wounds, which inflicts Curse on an enemy team, so it’s pretty useful for this mission. With the other Kabusos and Kobolds weakness-hitting will do them in fairly quickly, and the map’s mostly wide-open so no problems there.
Bai Suzhen (Lv. 15)
HP/MP
- 113/37
- Weak to Fire; Reflects Ice
- Bufu - Deals Ice damage to one target.
- None
- Evil Wave - Has an attack range of 2 panels at the cost of extra turns
- Kobold x2
The game really wants you to use “Tall Woman” to defeat Bai Suzhen. She’s Lv. 18 and knows Snipe, a Physical skill with 100% accuracy guaranteed, the basic AOE Force spell Mazan, the upgraded version of Dia, Diarama, and has two Bilwises as her demons. Really though, the best course of action is to use her to soften Bai Suzhen up and then finish her off with one of the kids for a nice little windfall of EXP.
Completing the mission earns us 60 EXP and 400 macca.
Once all the demons are gone the woman goes over to the fountain device and does something with it that restores the temple’s lantern and then it sinks back underground and the prayer stone reappears. She then briefly interrogates Hibiki and his friends on the Demon Summoning App and what we’ve been doing and says that it’s no use trying to get to Ariake by way of Shiba Park, as it’s been locked down because of Dubhe, which she refuses to answer any questions pertaining to what it is exactly. Daichi, apparently having never paid much attention to any kaiju movie ever, insists that they should sic the police and SDF on it, and is told that no conventional weapons have any effect on it. Naturally. Also the reason that there’re no aircraft in the sky is because Dubhe has shot each and every one down. The woman finally introduces herself as Makoto Sako, says that she can use demons through a method other than the app, and then, noticing that Io’s ankle is twisted, offers to take her to Nagata for treatment. The boys are left with no choice but to follow.
There’s only one place we’d be visiting Nagata for, and that is naturally the Diet Building, no longer covered in debris and inexplicable lava pools. In response to Daichi’s exclamation Makoto says that yes, she works for a government organization, and leads the three students inside, where they take an elevator all the way down past the building’s basement floors, to one marked as “JP’s”. The door opens to a marveling sight: an underground atrium with a distinct clockpunk aesthetic, complete with giant, inexplicable gears on the walls and a massive, ornate clock-like device serving as the room’s centerpiece. After telling the amazed Daichi how JP’s is supposed to be pronounced (“jips”) Makoto tells him to be quiet as the group is approached by a cold-looking man who’s wearing an ornate black uniform coat, the “Chief” Makoto and the JP’s mook from earlier spoke of. Makoto starts explaining that she brought the kids here to interrogate them on the summoning app but he swiftly stops her, saying to just debrief them and send them away. He offers some curt words of thanks to Hibiki and co., tells them to leave the facility, and then departs. Daichi mutters that the guy’s a dick, and is then shocked to learn that he was the leader of JP’s (named Yamato Hotsuin) especially since he was younger than they were! Yeah, though he doesn’t look, let alone act like it, Yamato’s actually supposed to be 17 years old, while Hibiki and friends are 18. Like the last game (and most RPGs for that matter) Devil Survivor 2 has a hatred for anyone past their mid-twenties, and JP’s is pretty much a breeding ground for Improbable Age.
Makoto’s expression softens afterward and she takes the three to a bedroom (JP’s HQ has its own residential wing), saying that the interrogation stuff was just a pretext so that she could get Io’s ankle looked at. Once that’s done the group tells her of the Nicaea origin of the summoning app and she thanks them, and offers to walk them to the facility’s entrance once she’s done with a few things. Once she leaves Daichi says that it’s great that she doesn’t seem to be as scary as she was when they first met...and then pulls a Yosuke and insists that he has to use the bathroom, so of course Hibiki has to babysit him while they try to find a bathroom in the place. While out and about they overhear Yamato telling Makoto that he’s changed his mind about letting them go and orders her to lock them up. Daichi immediately forgets about his bladder problem (or maybe he just wets himself on the spot) and they immediately go back, collect Io, then apparently just waltz right out of a heavily-secure secret underground government facility.
Back aboveground they decide to continue on to Ariake, and get another email from Nicaea, which is not another death clip but actually a notification that the Devil Auction is now available. It works similarly to how it did in the last game, what with multiple tiers and the Soul Hackers easter eggs, but there is one significant difference: unlike Devil Survivor 1, we cannot raise our bid multiple times while the timer’s going, it’s all or nothing. Fortunately though, we are given ballpark estimates of what the other auctioneers intend to bid so we do get some hints of how much macca we should place ourselves. Occasionally a “special auction” will be held during which the demons available will have upgraded stats and movesets, and bidding will work the same as it did in the previous game.
At this point in time the first free battle becomes available, so I believe that’s a good place to stop for the moment.
Compendium
- Kobold
◊
- A Germanic spirit that's been depicted in a number of forms, animalistic, inanimate objects, even humanlike. Some traditions claim that they live in underground mines, which is where the mineral cobalt gets its name.
- Kabuso◊
- A shape-shifting spirit said to be seen in Japan's Ishikawa prefecture, Kabuso often take the form of otters or felines and enjoy playing tricks on humans and talking their ears off.
- Bilwis◊
- Bilwis is a figure whose depiction has changed a lot over time. Originally portrayed as a follower of the Norse personification of the Moon, by the 13th century "Bil" had become known as the Germanic spirit Bilwis who may either bring wealth to farmers or cut down their grain fields with the scythes attached to its feet.
- Bai Suzhen◊
- Chinese for "white lady", Bai Suzhen was a snake spirit who fell in love with and married a young man named Xu Xian. A tortoise spirit becomes jealous of Xu Xian and attempts to kill him, then drive apart his marriage bey revealing his wife's true, inhuman nature. Eventually he succeeds in imprisoning her within a temple, but is later driven into hiding by their son, enabling the beloveds' reunion.
- Dubhe◊
- The top-right-hand star of the Big Dipper's "ladle". Dubhe is the second-brightest of the constellation's stars, and one of the two that serve as "pointers" towards Polaris, the North Star. Its name comes from the Arabic phrase zahr ad-dubb al-akbar, meaning "the back of the Great Bear", though it was also known as "Ak", meaning "The Eye".
Soundtrack
- In the Ruined City
- Opposite "Exploration" and "Enjoined Hearts" we have this somber overworld piece.
- Countdown
- Forgot the crisis music last time, so here it is now, better later than never.
- Dark Clouds
- Death's sliding another bead over on his abacas...
- Challenging Fate
- I believe this track is reserved for missions that involve either trying to avert a death clip, or are just facing in incredibly tough/desperate situation. Fitting either way.
- JP's - Japan Meteorological Agency Geomagnetism Research Department
- That soundfont really ruins what this track's trying to go for, in my opinion. Sounds like it's being played on a toy trumpet; a full orchestration would do it wonders.
- Devil Auction
- Hey, would you look (hear) at that, an instance where I prefer the Devil Survivor 1 version of the theme over this one!
- Special Auction
- This one's pretty cool though; it shoulda been the main version.
Comments
