#digital devil spawn

[eirikrjs]

Was looking at Steam and found Makai Agito (tumblr won't let me use links rn lol). Sorry to dump another devil spawn rec on your lap like a cat w/ a half eaten rat :P

No no no, you did the right thing. Look at this Devil-Summoner-ass screenshot:

Or the monsters here:

Actually, I think I know of this game now. This is going to be a very @purseowner4thequalityanimation assisted series of asks, who initially pointed out to me that "a bunch of the designs from Makai Agito are from a dead 2012 phone game" Here:

Monster List

Tank Monsters Healer Monsters Humanoid Monsters Dragon Monsters Demonic Monsters Dragon Overlord

Monsters via asset packs. We may still end up playing it (if Soren can get it for a deep, deep, discount). Thanks!

[sorenblr]

DIGITAL DEVIL SPAWN VOL. 1: MIND ZERO

TONIGHT, August 29th, 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST, we're going to open our MIND(s) in Mind Zero! This is the first entry in our new streaming sub-series, Digital Devil Spawn, where we'll be exploring games that have, in some way or another, been substantially influenced by SMT and its various spin-offs.

Mind Zero, released in 2013, is perhaps the earliest rip-off of the later Persona games. It is certainly the most shameless. Tonight!!!

TWITCH | YOUTUBE (ARCHIVE)

[eirikrjs]

Demonschool

Demonschool is a new-style tactics RPG where motion equals action. Defeat big weirdos in between the human and demon worlds as Faye and her

Demonschool finally released today (on all platforms)! The pitch is that it's obviously Persona (1 and 2)-inspired, with a dash of 3+ since it has what are tantamount to S-Links and a linear time/calendar system. I'm still wrapping my head around the battle system, which is grid-based and almost entirely revolves around the movement of your characters. The twist about it I like most is its Italian horror influence. It's not quite the American "Hamburger Festival" take on Persona...

...but it is set at a college instead of high school, so it gets that oft-wished feature of the Western Persona fandom checked off. Other than that, I'm still forming my thoughts about the game, but I should have an idea by Friday--when we stream it--since it's a brand-new game that qualifies for Digital Devil Spawn, which doesn't happen too often.

[eirikrjs]

Sorry to jump in the ask box w/ yet another recommendation for Spawn streams, but I guess I'm that guy now. Falcom had two attempts at targeting the 2010s Persona 4 malaise - Tokyo Xanadu and Sen no Kiseki. The latter was much more successful at establishing itself and made Kiseki achieve some popularity outside of Japan. Tokyo Xanadu was a failed(?) attempt to revive Xanadu and turn it into Persona (The game's fine but it didn't spawn a series like I think Falcom wanted it to). Falcom announced a sequel a few years ago and hasn't said a peep about it since. Tokyo Xanadu would fit the format quite well (Especially compared to a quadrilogy w/ multiple franchise spanning sequels).

Oh god, I haven't thought about Tokyo Xanadu since it originally came out.

This is pretty much the quintessential Vita aesthetic right here. "Bright, yet flat."

I have never understood or played the Legend of Heroes/Trails series. Granted, my biggest era of enthusiasm for Falcom was 20 years ago when a friend let me borrow his PC Engine with the CD version of Ys Books I&II. For a VGM junkie such as myself, Redbook audio is like crack.

These are excellent recs for DD Spawn, though, thanks!!

[eirikrjs]

It's not exactly correct to say that the games like Caligula or Monark are "by ex-Atlus staffers". They're there more as mentors rather than true driving force behind them. Check the interview with the Caligula director, "Den Faminico Gamer interview with The Caligula Effect producer Takuya Yamanaka", on Digi-Lab blog. Caligula is a very low budget, and was intentionally made to appeal to very specific type of people, not mainstream. Satomi helped him turn his ideas into an actual game story.

Ah, you know, the truth is that i mostly blocked these games out of my mind because I knew I'd never play them myself and instead compartmentalized them as by "ex-Atlus staff" just as a memory shorthand. Let's review a few, since they're generally going to be eligible for Digital Devil Spawn:

Mind Zero (2013)

Has nothing to do with any Atlus staff whatsoever.

Oh, this is the one that's a brazen Persona ripoff

That's probably why I got my wires crossed about it.

Streaming Knowledge will be taking a look at this fine gamesoft tomorrow!

Only On PlayStation

Monark (2021)

I often have trouble remembering this game's name

This one's filthy with old Atlus guys like Ryotaro Ito, Kazunari Suzuki, and Tsukasa Masuko

Caligula [Effect] {Overdose} (2016,2017) {2018,2019}

Hm, so the sequel to this is apparently okay, and the nomenclature is a little confusing, but the "Overdose" version is somehow a "remake" of the Vita original (the original release just seems like it was incomplete more than anything)

Written by Tadashi Satomi, music by Tsukasa Masuko

The interview mentioned

I feel like there's maybe one more (that's not like Guns Undarkness or Jewel Summoner), but it's not coming to mind.

[eirikrjs]

Not certain what games you and Soren have picked out for Spawn streams, so apologies if this is redundant, but there's another modern Persona inspired indie RPG out in the wild. Bloom Town, released September last year, isn't the most obvious of Persona inspired games out there, but when the inspiration shows, it's real goddamn obvious.

Not necessarily a recommendation, I found Bloom Town to be an insipid waste of time.

Thank you for bringing it to our attention! The graphics look charming and the premise interesting.

...But would Undertale and Chrono Trigger fans also enjoy it?

I'm very happy to spread the word about indie games like these.

I'm currently still playing Balatro, which needs no introduction, but would rather be playing Look Outside, were it not for my aversion to PC gaming. Look Outside might actually break that!

[eirikrjs]

since you haven't talked about it for a long time and it's been out for years now, do you have any thoughts on caligula effect 2? i know you have zero care for caligula effect 1 (i also really don't like that game) but 2 was the first game ever to give me the same sorts of feelings that persona 2 gave me the first time i played it. without spoiling anything, it's also a massive step up in terms of trans representation compared to the blatant transphobia in the first game

I'm glad I didn't answer this right away because Soren announced over the weekend that Streaming Knowledge is going to start playing games made by ex-Atlus staffers, like Caligula, and other games that took inspiration from Megaten (Undertale, for example) with a new series called Digital Devil Spawn:

( I otherwise have never been interested in games like Caligula, but it's good to know its sequel is better)