Games for Lunch: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon
In a nutshell: Well this is interes... Damn ... it froze.
5/28/2009 7:11 PM | 2 Comments | Page 1 of 3
Kyle Orland
Status: "You can't get quality video game editorial from a value menu!" "No, really, you can't."
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release Date: May 12, 2009
System: PS2
ESRB Rating: M
Official Web site
0:00 With a name like
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon, it has to be good, right?
0:01 A guy in ornamental red armor looks out over clouds. A ninja with a skull helmet flies over a town with his insect-like wings. A guy in a gray delivery-boy outfit and cape watches as someone eats a stack of buttered toast across the room. A cat knocks over the toast, causing a woman in pink to laugh. The ninja jumps across some Japanese temple rooftops and attacks the delivery boy. The guy in a red jumpsuit laughs. The soldier opens a can of Minotaurs. YOU HEARD ME ... A CAN OF MINOTAURS. Three people stand back-to-back-to-back in a triangle. Back to the Minotaur battle, where dozens of ninjas have joined the fight. The delivery boy prepares more cans of Minotaurs. And ... title! What the hell?
0:03 The delivery boy appears in a blaze of white light. "In a sacred hall where three giant pine trees are enshrined ... you hear an ominous voice echo from somewhere." So we're going with second-person exposition here? Really? Anyway, I've been trained in the means of combating darkness. Like lighting a match? A-hyuck, hyuck, hyuck.
0:05 I'm one of four great summoners of the Kuzunoha Clan. "The right to be called Raidou is yours." An elderly voice welcomes me. More flashes of white. This is my final exam. The game asks me to "shout [my] final name, so [I] may leave it behind." What a waste. I name myself "2+2 =5" because I can.
0:06 "We have borne witness to your loyalty to the clan, 2+2 =5." Heh.
0:07 Our clan ensures the country's peace in this, the Taisho era. Our orders: Defeat demons. DUH! Now, on to the exam, with the "Ritual of Battle." Gouto-douji is my mentor for the exam. He's ... a small black cat? Oh, he's my predecessor trapped in a cat's body. Sure, why the hell not?
0:10 We walk into a long hallway. "Before you stretches a long corridor," says the in-game text. Uh yeah, I can see that on the screen. The eldely voice and Mr. Cat keep going on and on about how I have to walk down the hallway and defeat demons. This repetitive writing leaves a lot to be desired so far...
0:12 I walk two steps down the hallway before I'm stopped for more turorial. The O button slashes my sword, while the trinagle button does a stronger attack. "Don't think about it too much. Just give it a whirl in combat to get your feet wet." Can do!
0:14 A short loading sequence transfers the scene to a battle-arena version of the hallway. My opponent is a short, gray-mustachioed guy carrying a huge palm leaf. He pretty much just stands there as I run around slashing him and his three clones. I like the driving guitar music and the expressive animation on the attacks. Nice, responsive controls too. Not bad ... not bad.
0:16 A flying pixie is my next opponent. She tells me to shoot her with my gun if I have trouble catching her. That's ... very nice but seems to be against her self-interest...
