Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker is a sequel to Devil Survivor Overclocked. It was developed by ATLUS and is a port from the original Devil Survivor 2 DS to the 3DS. This is the version most people are familiar with as it has an anime adaptation, manga books and even more merch than the first Devil Survivor game. The atmosphere is way more upbeat, cheerful and lighthearted than any Shin Megami Tensei game I have played. Unlike the anime, there is more of a balance with the lighthearted and dark tones in the game. The game maintains the sense of dread where anyone can die in the at any moment.
The story focuses on Hibeki and friends as they survive a week in a demonic apocalypse and are now trying to find out the reasons for this bizarre event. Hibeki is a complete opposite from the anime character. He is also the typical Shin Megami Tensei main character who all seem to be clones with minor tweaks. He's the massive source of comedy and he’s by far the most demonstrative and he’s not afraid to express his thoughts bluntly.
The game has a social links system called the “fate system” which is like the confidant system in Persona 5 and the more you rank up in fate, the better your demons will be and the more benefits you can get to use in battle.
Character development is actually the best out of any Shin Megami Tensei game as the characters do grow that’s not outside of the main story, and it has impact on the you play. The gameplay follows the tactical setting of the first game but with a lot of improvements. Each day has a certain objective whether its protecting someone or clearing out all enemies. The free battle system, and the demon compendium return from the first game. Dialogue choices matter here, unlike previous Shin Megami Tensei games. The demon auction system is back and you have to bid much more carefully now as you have to analyze the feelings of the demon and choose whether or not to bid or not.
You can exploit enemy weaknesses, find new demons and get money to bid on demons. The text is much easier to read in this game than in the original and the artificial intelligence from Devil Survivor has been improved.
Like in DS Overclocked, it has an achievement system that you can unlock to get certain bonuses for new game plus. The musical score in the game is incredible. The fate system is an even better than the confidant system from Persona where you can get to know your teammates. It's also much easier to find out which endings to get instead of blindly going through random character decisions. You earn new abilities depending on your relationships with your friends. There is a new mode in the game that takes place after the ending where everyone survives and they now must face a new alien threat.
A lot of new areas to explore in the game and also a lot more locations as well to fight demons. A lot of side quests were also added in the game boosting the replay value. The voice acting was a hit or miss and the dialogue lines were so bad it was actually really funny. It gets 5 out of 5 stars.
This is by far one of the best Shin Megami Tensei game.
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