Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army (1)

Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army is what I would call a “nice little game.” It’s not too easy and not too hard. Not too long, not too short. The cast is nothing special but not unlikeable either and the story is not that interesting, but hardly boring. It’s just… nice.

And I’m now about 1/3rd of the way through this nice game, using it as a helpful little filler before I commit fully to the mammoth that is Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I’m on chapter 5 out of 12, 13 hours into what is said to be a 30-hour game. And my opinion of it? It’s… nice.

What else can I say? It’s just… Yah. It’s been a while since I played a game I had so little to say about…. Umm… The battle system? I did die against the first boss Tsuchigumo, much to my shock and dismay. I don’t even know what hit me, suddenly I was dead. But as with most Shin Megami Tensei games, it’s all a matter of knowing the boss’s weakness and exploiting it.ย And also putting some extra points in MAG and VIT so you don’t go down so easily. Oh, and saving before you take on a boss. I don’t know what I was thinking just marching in like that. I haven’t had any trouble fighting since I got the hang of things. Now that I’m starting to get demons with -dyne level spells, I’m doing pretty well for myself.

When it comes to the general flow of the game, I both like and dislike the amount of legwork involved. On one hand having to go from place to place questioning people and looking for clues makes it feel like a real detective game, very different from other SMTs I’ve played.

But sometimes it can be really tedious with a lot of running back and forth between two points. Go to point A, go back to the Agency, go to point B, go back to the Agency. Man: “I won’t help you until you find my dog.” Dog: “I won’t help you until you find my bone.” Bone: “I won’t help you until you find my marrow.” And on and and on. It gets a bit much sometimes but it looks like we’re finally getting to the meat of the story now. Something about a Super Soldier Project involving the Japanese military and a cursed bloodline. This could be really good or really, really bad. Knowing SMT it will most likely be something in the middle. Or maybe just… nice.

That’s enough for a preliminary report. Unless something interesting crops up, my next post on this game will be when it’s complete. Hopefully I’ll have more to say about it by then.

3 thoughts on “Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army (1)

  1. K says:

    I think the leg work would be easier to swallow, if there weren’t any random encounters in the city streets, only in the parallel dimension/dungeons. And yeah, while the game overall isn’t very challenging, some bosses are suddenly a bit unbalanced. I remember having a particularly hard time with a floating eye and a penis one.

    Mostly I appreaciate the jazzy vibes and the easy digestibility of the game ๐Ÿ˜€

    • Kina says:

      Ah, I remember the eye. He isn’t hard as long as you curb your urge to attack attack attack. I find I don’t mind the random encounters when I’m in a new area with new demons, but it’s a real chore fighting weak Alps and Zombies every five steps in your hometown. They should have made it so that clearing the mysteries in one area removes all the demons except in the Dark Realm. I’m spending all my money on Repulse Water these days.

      • Kina says:

        And I just encountered Mishaguji yesterday. With the wrong demon he was a pain. With the right demon (Raja Naga) and Bufudyne spam, he was dead in 30 seconds.

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