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Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked Review for Nintendo 3DS

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked Review for Nintendo 3DS

The 3DS Port No One Needed

I’m all for handheld game remakes. Though you get the occasional cash-in, games like Chrono Trigger and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time have found new life on handheld ports. However, when you remake a game from two years ago that was already on a handheld platform, add almost no new features, and port it to a 3D system while forgetting to add 3D, the effort feels cheap and lazy. Is Devil Survivor Overclocked still an awesome game at its core? Yes. But if you’ve already played it, this 3DS port is probably not worth the extra investment.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked Screenshot

If you haven’t played Devil Survivor on the DS, you don’t need to worry about missing anything here, as the experience includes all the content of the original. You lead a team of up to four characters as you navigate your way through what seems to be the end of the world. Rolling blackouts grip the metropolitan areas of Japan, demons patrol the streets, and an evil of biblical proportions is silently growing in the background, getting ready to destroy modern life as we know it.

Though the story is a little reminiscent of The World Ends With You at first, it quickly grows into its own and becomes quite the epic adventure. The gameplay takes the form of an old school grid-based RPG that allows you to catch and breed demons. The demon creation system in particular is fairly deep, and maximizing stats while preserving certain elemental strengths takes a fair amount of time and practice. Battles aren’t exactly fast, but the game is absolutely true to its form as a tactics-based RPG. Fans of this genre will be sure to love its depth and format.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked Screenshot

I was definitely hooked when I first picked up the game two years ago, and even though only a small amount of time has passed, I was ready to launch headlong into it once again. But looking forward to playing though the same story again wasn’t what excited me most about Devil Survivor Overclocked. I wanted to check out all the new features. Unfortunately, that’s exactly where this game lost me completely.

Let’s start with the basics. There is no 3D. At all. There is an opening cinematic that shows 3D panels of character faces, but after that, it’s all the standard 2D of the original. What you are left with is an experience you could just as easily get from popping the 2009 version into your 3DS. I can imagine those with little to no knowledge of the original DS game looking for a good RPG for the 3DS and being completely disappointed by the game’s complete lack of a 3D option. I have to wonder why this game was re-released on the 3DS platform at all. Why not re-release it on the DS? The game doesn’t have any 3D, and it doesn’t use StreetPass or SpotPass.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked Screenshot

Unfortunately, the port doesn’t get any better. I suppose a big selling point might be that the game now features fully-voiced dialog. And when you’ve got a game that can easily play 20 hours or more, that does sound like it would be impressive. But the sad fact is that the voice acting just isn’t that good. The performances sound wooden at best, and I couldn’t really listen to the voice acting for any long period of time without turning the sound back down. This is actually pretty sad, as the game does have a pretty cool soundtrack. But if you’re like me and can’t deal with the voice acting, you’ll have to miss out on all the great music.

So what does this leave? The only other new feature is a bonus “8th day” story chapter. And this is where fans like me get roped in. The story in Devil Survivor is so good that the prospect of squeezing an extra two or three hours out of the gameplay and spending some extra time developing your characters and training your demons actually makes this element of the game almost worth the $40 admission price. But the fact that there are no new demons to tame or create does make the bonus content feel a little bit less attractive.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked Screenshot

If you’ve never played Devil Survivor Overclocked, then you should know that this is the “ultimate” version of the game. The new story content makes this a superior release to the 2009 game, and if you always wanted to check out one of the best releases on the DS platform, you might as well pay the extra $10 and get the full story. The problem is that for die-hard fans, this release feels like an absolute cash-in.

If more had been done with the visuals, some new demons were introduced, or if there was something more than just a neat and tidy epilogue added to the game, I think this could have been the first great third-party RPG for the 3DS. As it stands, though, it feels like a cheap way to exploit a recognizable title from two years ago and put it as swiftly as possible on Nintendo’s new system. Though the game is still very enjoyable, big fans should just give this one a rent or wait for it to hit the 3DS bargain bin. Just calling this game a 3DS title feels disingenuous, as the game doesn’t even use the system’s flagship feature.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a good DS game. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked is not a good 3DS game.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.0 Graphics
Visuals are nearly identical to the DS version, with only a few minor tweaks here and there. 4.1 Control
Controls are easy to pick up and play. 3.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The new voiceovers may sound like a great selling point, but wooden performances will probably leave you wanting to keep the sound turned off. 4.0 Play Value
The game has some serious replay value with its branching storyline and various endings, and the bonus “8th Day” content will keep fans coming back to this one. 3.6 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Enhanced and Remastered – Overclocked’s story, initially hailed for its originality, is now fully voiced, bringing the narrative to life like never before. Beautifully remastered hand-drawn artwork and character portraits benefit from the 3DS’s improved screens, offering players a crisper, higher-fidelity experience.
  • And on the Eighth Day… – For Shin Megami Tensei fans, Devil Survivor Overclocked and its new Eighth Day offers them their only chance to experience a finale to the game’s chilling tale of Tokyo overrun and in chaos at the hands of invading demons from another dimension.
  • Acclaimed RPG/SRPG Hybrid – Praised for its originality and accessibility, Overclocked’s combat design borrows from traditions of both RPG and strategy RPG genres, making for an entirely unique play experience and garnering acclaim from press and fans alike upon its initial release.

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