Devil Survivor

Box art for Devil Survivor

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, known as Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor (女神異聞録デビルサバイバー, Megami Ibunroku Debirusabaiba; lit. Alternate Tale of the Goddess: Devil Survivor) in Japan, is a role-playing game for the Nintendo DS. Its character designs are handled by Suzuhito Yasuda of Yozakura Quartet fame. The theme song for the game is "Reset". An enhanced port has been announced for the 3DS, titled Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked.

Release Dates

• Japan: January 15, 2009
• North America: June 23, 2009

Story

Devil Survivor is set in modern-day Tokyo. One day, the protagonist, a 17 year-old student, finds that he and his two friends, Atsuro Kihara, a computer hacker, and Yuzu Tanikawa, a spirited fighter, have been given modified electronic device called COMPs by his older cousin Naoya. As they are exploring their purpose, an outbreak of demons occurs within Tokyo, and a large city area is quarantined by the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces, deny power, communications, and food to those trapped within it; the chaotic situation created vigilantes of those trapped who try to take it on themselves to fight the demons or even on weaker humans. The protagonist and his friends discover their COMPs allow them to summon helpful demons to fight the aggressive ones, allowing them to survive the attacks. The protagonist also finds he has the ability to see a person's "death clock", representing how many days a person will have left to live. While he uses it to help himself and his friends to change their own fate, the protagonist realizes that everyone within the quarantine will die within seven days.

As they try to learn the mystery of the lockdown, they encounter several playable character allies: Keisuke Takagi, Atsuro's school friend who has a strong sense of justice; Midori Komaki, a cosplay idol, personifying her role in protecting the innocent from demons; Eiji Kamiya, or "Gin", the manager of a local live music bar; Tadashi Nikaido, or "Kaido", the charismatic leader of the street gang, the "Shibuya Daemons"; Mari Mochizuki, an elementary school tutor seeking the demon that killed her brother; Misaki Izuna, a military officer overseeing the quarentine; Amane Kuzuryu, the daughter of the leader of the Shomonkai, a religious cult that seems to be behind the demon outbreak; and Black Frost, a demon that helps other weaker demons from ruthless human attacks after being saved by Midori. Other allies include: Yoshino Harusawa, or Haru, a singer who believes her song was responsible for the demon outbreak; Yasuyuki Honda, a company man trapped in the quarantine while his son, outside it, is undergoing a serious operation; and Shoji, a female journalist that had been investigating the events leading to the quarantine before it started.

Through their investigation, the protagonist and his allies find that the demon outbreak is a result of a planned battle between angels and demons, as a measure to judge the worthiness of mankind. If, after seven days, the demons are not stopped, the angels will destroy mankind. The Japanese government had been aware of this event for years, and had enacted the PSE Law as a safeguard, which embedded remote-controlled electromagnetic devices in every consumer electronics; if the demons outbreak cannot be not stopped, the government can use these devices at the last moment to destroy all living things within the quarentine, human and demon alike. As the plot goes on, the protagonist unintentionally involves himself in the battle for the Throne of Bel, making him a target for all other Demons that are in competition with him.

Depending on the path players take, the protagonist comes to learn that Naoya and himself are the reincarnations of the biblical Cain and Abel, respectively. Naoya worked with the Shomonkai to create the programs to summon demons as to bring about this event, initially through the keyboard used by Aya, one of Haru's band members. The Shomonkai sought to bring the king of demons Belberith to the world in order for the demons to win the battle, and Naoya required the protagonist and his friends to survive long enough for this event to happen.

Numerous choices made by the player will affect his friends and allies, and there are several endings to the game, which include whether the player's goal is to simply escape the quarantine or to prevent the demon uprising. The latter can be accomplished several ways, including controlling demons as the Messiah, controlling demons as the Lord of Bel, controlling demons for humanity's sake, or erasing demons from Earth altogether.

Characters

• Protagonist - Referred to as the Hero, he is the main character of the story. His personality is shaped through the player's decisions.
• Yuzu Tanikawa - The protagonist's childhood friend since elementary school, who struggles to deal with the strain of constant danger and wishes to run away from it all.
• Atsuro Kihara - The protagonist's childhood friend who is a computer savvy. Although a genius, he hardly has a studious personality and is very gregarious. He wishes to control the demons, erasing their threat and benefiting mankind.
• Midori Komaki - A famous and excitable cosplayer whose alias is Dolly. After receiving a COMP, she strives to save everyone from the demons, claiming that she is Magical Dolly, who administers magical punishment to demons.
• Keisuke Takagi - Atsuro's old friend from middle school. Although he appears timid, he has a strong sense of justice and rightiousness, almost to a fault when he summoned Yama, the judge of the underworld.
• Yoshino Harusawa - Also known as Haru, she is a famous singer who was previously in the band D-VA. She appears depressed and tends to rant because of her outlook on life.
• Mari Mochizuki - Atsuro's kind and caring tutor from middle school, who is now an elementary school nurse. She is looking for the killer who murdered her lover and teamed up with a vampire slayer named Kresnik.
• Amane Kuzuryu - The mysterious yet charismatic maiden of the Shomonkai. She is one of few people who can summon demons without a COMP. She shares her goals with an angel named Remiel who lives inside her.
• Tadashi Nikaido - Known as Kaido, he is the leader of a gang called the Shibuya Daemons. Although he appears intimidating, he is known to be quite helpful. He strives for world domination and has a lingering crush on Mari.
• Eiji Kamiya - Also known as Gin, he is the owner of a bar called "Eiji" and acts as a guardian to Haru. He used to be uncaring about life, but met Aya, the lead singer of D-VA , and cared more. Gin continues to search for Aya, who went missing.
• Naoya - The protagonist's cousin, who lived with the protagonist until a few years before the story. He wrote the Demon Summoning Program. He wishes for the protagonist to become the King of Bel and rebel against God.
• Yasuyuki Honda - An office worker who is trying to escape the lockdown so he can be by his son's side during his operation. He teams up with Kaido during battles.
• Misaki Izuna - A member of a special government unit that is attempting to rid of all the demons. She values her mission above all else and does not believe that the governement's solution is just.
• Shoji - A journalist who occasionally meets the protagonist and his friends. She is adept at gathering information. Her mentor was a friend of 10BIT, Atsuro's internet friend.

Reception

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor has received mostly positive reviews praising its unique gameplay, intriguing story with suspense and meaningful decisions and high variety of character customization.

Boxart

Box art for the Japanese version

External Links

• Official Japanese Megami Ibunroku Devil Survivor website
• Japanese Promotional site by Atlus, Famitsu and Enterbrain
• Official American Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor website

Devil Survivor
Overclocked - Manga
Playable Characters	Protagonist - Atsuro Kihara - Yuzu Tanikawa - Naoya - Amane Kuzuryu - Keisuke Takagi - Midori Komaki - Mari Mochizuki - Kaido - Black Frost - Gin - Misaki Izuna
Non-Playable Characters	Haru - Shomonkai Founder - Gigolo - Yasuyuki Honda - Shoji - Azuma - Commander Fushimi - Beldr - Jezebel - Belzaboul - Belberith - Metatron - Okuninushi
Locations	Shibuya - Aoyama - Roppongi - Ikebukuro - Akasaka Tunnel - Omotesando - Shinjuku - Akihabara - Nagata-Cho - Shiba Park - Ueno - Kudanshita - Asakusa - Kanda
Music	Devil Survivor OST Remix - Reset - Soul Survive
Terminology	Extra Turn Battle - COMPs - Shomonkai - Tokyo Lockdown - Demon Summoning Program - Laplace Mail - Death Clock - King of Bel - Devil Auction - Dance Skills - Skill Crack - Racial Skill - Auto Skill - Demon World - Four Devas
Archives	Demons (DeSu - DSO) - Skills (DeSu - DSO) - Status Ailments - Titles - Endings