DDS deserves more love and attention. I replayed the first game after 10 years (compared to *Nocturne*, which I play almost every year), and despite a few issues, I’m impressed by how amazing it is. It’s also fascinating how different it is from other games in the franchise, yet extremely similar to what we’ve seen. I’m excited to play the second one for the first time, but I’m going to wait a while so I don’t burnout.
You are 100% correct. Hopefully they are saving a DDS 1&2 remaster for a rainy day. Come to think of it, so far no new Megaten game is releasing this year, right? Odd. It's been a few years since that happened.
But yes, definitely take a break. DDS2 is good but it really is just "Disc 2" in that it's more of the same overall game/story (obviously). I bought both games back in 2006 and spent all of that June playing DDS1--and doing everything, including grinding incenses for the Demi-fiend fight so I could get the special ring you get in DDS2 for beating him (totally unnecessary). I jumped into DDS2 immediately after doing all that, which was a mistake. Though burnt out, I finished it--but that's it. At most I think I grinded for the drops you need for the Shiva/Vishnu fights, then didn't see 2 again until we streamed it a couple years ago.
You know they're going to be selling that trademark Atlus grinding DLC for these games when they get their remasters. Both games definitely need to rebalance the exhorbitant cost of their skill grids---especially DDS2. But I doubt that'll happen when they can just sell the rebalancing to you instead!
But now for something else, one of my oldest drafts on this blog is from Feb 23, 2014 with the following picture (that I think a friend named Russet Potato once sent me):
And the following text:
Here's one for true Avatar Tuner Maniacs. For others, get in on it
The idea was that I was going to link to a Youtube video for the DDS2 track "One-Way Stairs" and fulfill the reference/inside joke between Russet and me for all to see. Except, that track wasn't available on Youtube in 2014, if you can believe it. So that's both how things have changed in a decade and a taste of what used to pass for Megaten blog content!
At last, a post a dozen years in the making! (Asker, don't play this video, it really is one of my favorite tracks from both games, which is saying something since I vastly prefer DDS1's OST. Wait to hear it in-game, it's a memorable sequence and will be worth however much time you need to get there, trust me!)
