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| John McCarroll |
A brief look at Overclocked and DS2.
06.09.11 - 10:41 AM
There's no doubt that Atlus' E3 this year was focused on some of their non-RPGs. Catherine was the first thing you saw when you entered the booth, and the recently announced King of Fighters XIII was a big deal for a lot of fans. Not even playable at the kiosks, however, were the two games we met with Atlus behind closed doors to see: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked for Nintendo 3DS and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 for the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, they didn't have Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin for PSP to show off yet, but we'll have an early look at that as it gets closer to its release.
First up, we had a chance to take a look at Devil Survivor: Overclocked, which fell fairly well into what we expected it to be: a cleaned up version of the DS version of Devil Survivor. With the original title only a couple of years old, Atlus USA hasn't touched much of the translation for this title, though the extra space afforded by 3DS cartridges has allowed them to fully voice the game. While they couldn't announce any specific voice actors, what we heard of the VA sounded good. Unfortunately for hardcore fans looking for Japanese VA, that won't be available. We didn't get a chance to look at the new 8th Day scenario, but Atlus informs us that it's not something that should make original DS owners feel slighted - it's more of an epilogue than an ending. The graphics are sharper than the original DS iteration due to the expanded resolution of the 3DS screens, but there's not much action on the top screen. As such, the 3D function of the 3DS is not important to Overclocked, but if my time with Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars has taught me anything, strategy games are better off without 3D anyway. Fans of the game should know what they're getting into, and newcomers should read Sam Hansen's review for more information.
Devil Survivor 2 plays the same role to Devil Survivor as Persona 4 did to Persona 3; the game runs on the same engine, has similar graphics and base gameplay, but adds a brand new story, artwork, new demons, new abilities, and everything else you'd expect in a sequel. All of the artwork is done by a new artist, and the graphics have been improved. Now there are scenes with things in the environments that move around, as the new 3D polygonal environments provide more than just character portraits to show what's going on. Storywise, the characters have found a website that shows the upcoming deaths of people, and eventually it lands on them. They must work together to summon demons and prevent their own demises, and eventually, save the world. It's not a dissimilar plot from the first title, but the game will span the entirety of Japan instead of just Tokyo, and the COMP is no longer around: demons and the website are linked with your cellular phone. Fans of the first game will know exactly what to expect with Devil Survivor 2.
We're excited to see these two titles (and Innocent Sin) out of Atlus. Overclocked will see release in the fall, Devil Survivor 2 in 2012, and Innocent Sin will be out in September. Keep your eyes peeled to RPGFan for previews as we get our hands on these great Atlus titles.
