Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga

Another Shin Megami Tensei 'spinoff', Digital Devil Saga is actually a more straightforward take on SMT: Nocturne, adopting its aesthetic and ideas while instilling a psychological quality to their trademark demons. Plenty of new and borrowed systems streamline the teambuilding tedium found in prior games, replacing past mechanics with a notable hybrid of skill trees and Esper-like mastery - but for what it gains in convenience, options and synergies, it also loses in combat balance. While its Press-turn combat (also derived from SMT3) has certainly expanded, freely adjustable skillsets - among other incentives like Hunt skills/Devour, point it towards linear element-matching gameplay instead. This system is at its best when type coverage is modulated, for instance, by more restrictive mechanics like demon fusion, and too much leeway spoils it a little. RNG-rooted setbacks are in no short supply here, but the boss fights mostly disappoint, lacking the intensity that made Nocturne's roadblocks so appealing.

The contrast between this and mainline titles - in both gameplay (fixed ally stat paths with relatively accessible dungeon crawling) and non-gameplay (greater attention paid to character building, cutscenes, dialogue, relations, etc.) betray Atlus' interest in a more conventional form of SMT, one still anchored to its parent's brutal spirit (as opposed to Persona) but without some of the bite. Ultimately, their most original achievement turns out to be the premise, crossing a multitude of genres to yield a twisted landscape awash with distinct themes; both post-apocalyptic and existential, religious and futuristic, yet off-kilter and brooding all the same.