Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army

 PlayStation 2
User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 215 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 215
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 215
  3. Negative: 124 out of 215
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  1. guiletheguiles
    Nov 5, 2021
    6
    SMT: Devil Summoner came as fine change of pace from what I've experienced in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, but despite its nice ideas and simplistic enjoyable mechanics, it didn't quite stick the landing for me.

    The beginning of the game hyped me up. It starts very well and during the first very entertaining three chapters, Devil Summoner showcases its strenghts back to back. The    SMT: Devil Summoner came as fine change of pace from what I've experienced in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, but despite its nice ideas and simplistic enjoyable mechanics, it didn't quite stick the landing for me.

    The beginning of the game hyped me up. It starts very well and during the first very entertaining three chapters, Devil Summoner showcases its strenghts back to back. The combat system is fun and accessible for anyone, characters and demon designs are great, the story sparks an interesting mystery, the demon investigative mechanics are creative and the cutscenes are nicely done.
    Raidou Kuzunoka himself, albeit a silent protagonist, makes quite an impression and is definitely the most memorable character in the entire game. Add that to Shoji Meguro's fine soundtrack, the right amount of challenge and incredible boss fights, and you have yourself a strong start.

    From chapter 4 onwards, though, the game's cracks become visible.

    The pacing is dull and the story is simply tedious. The writing just does not hold up. I found myself wanting to go back to grinding and boss fighting everytime the story became the focus.
    Fusion, something essential for SMT's fun factor is almost useless here. Demons take too long to level up, there's plenty of tiresome backtracking, map designs are unvaried and uninteresting and the soundtrack, no matter how good it is, repeats its 15 songs over and over again.
    It's by no means a broken or an unpleasant game but it is, throughout its lenghty 30 hours campaign, quite a bore. I mean, come on, the final dungeon even packs a BOSS GAUNTLET! And I say this while praising the boss fights, which are probably the game's spotlights.

    To me, SMT: Devil Summoner felt like a breath of fresh air for the series. Honestly. The first 3 chapters and the final 4 were great, containing everything right that this game carries. The problem is that the game has another 5 VERY tedious chapters that just threw the story and my interest through the window for a big chunk of the playthrough.

    It's not bad. It's a fine action JRPG. But for a series with so many highlights, this is lusterless one.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Best PS2 Game of 2006
29
#29 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. GameBrink
    93
    An extremely fun game. The gameplay is unique and plays fairly well, the cast is fantastic, and the visuals do the job. It’s filled with the addicting gameplay of the SMT series, yet provides a different enough type of game that it doesn’t feel like more of the same. [JPN Import]
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  2. Play Magazine
    85
    One place I never thought this series would go, however, is action. And yet, here it is, and it's tremendously successful. [May 2006, p.74]
  3. netjak
    91
    A very good RPG. It has a solid battle system, excellent story, and never once becomes a cakewalk nor obscenely hard. Atlus struck gold with this title.
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