I have been playing Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga 1. Once again Atlus PS2 era showing why it's my fave era of SMT. While Nocturne remains my fave and Raidou is close to that for me. DDS is still fantastic. As usual with older Atlus games, they truly explore some dark themes in a truly fucked world. I can't say too much about setting without spoiling anything. Vague answer, explores death, morality of devouring to survive. As usual it uses press turn system which I love. Also these games in this era known for being difficult. Still easier than Nocturne which is a real bitch, fantastic but wipe the floor with you if not careful.
Playing DDS you kinda have to be more in a 2D era SMT mindset. Since you do not recruit demons to help you fight like most SMT games. You are the demons and must carefully curate your skills. Thankfully this is PS2 era so unlike Digital Devil Story of the 80s you can't fuck yourself to the point of not finishing the game. One minor complaint is this game is really bad with random encounter rate. It reminds me of Skies of Arcadia in that way. Another great game but the encounter rate is insanely high. Something else I liked about Raidou is enemies can be seen. You choose when to engage. Now Digital Devil Saga is really part one of 2. DDS2 which I have not played yet, is part 2 of 2. Really it's one giant game split into 2 games. Similar to how Xenosaga was split into 3. DDS needs a remaster along with Raidou 2. These are some of the finest RPGs of the PS2 era. Like any SMT game back then. It will explore moral taboo debates. Religion and such. SMT tackles them from not preaching to you good or bad. Just here is how things are, each side has their reasons. Up to you to choose a side. The only true wrong choice is no choice. Nocturne was esp good at that. DDS only has one ending unlike mainline SMT.
Bite my shiny metal cockpit!
