Part 3: The Awakening
BGM: Sanzu River
MAN: ...Dead soul...Welcome to the Sanzu River.: I am Charon, ferryman of this river. You are the soul called Naoto Shibata, destined to cross this river like all the others...Though, it seems that you are not destined to die at this time. In that case, you should not cross this river.The Sanzu River is basically Japan's River Styx. The dead must cross this river before they are allowed into the afterlife. According to mythology, souls crossing the river will meet Shozuka no Baba, whom they must pay or else she will take their garments. This is why family members place coins into the casket at Japanese funerals. I guess Charon is just more recognizable?
: What is the matter? You should return to your original body. Ah, it seems impossible for you to return to your corpse.: Very well, I shall place you in a substitute body. Farewell, Naoto Shibata's soul...
BGM: SituationDOCTOR: Aaaah, i-it moved!! Z-Zombie!! Save me!!
NURSE: D-Doctor! Do something!!
DOCTOR: I-It's an emergency! The corpse is moving!!
NURSE: D-Doctor! Calm down!! Please calm down!!
The hospital pair rush out of the room, and a familiar face comes in.
: Kyouji! You're alive...thank god. I didn't want to have to deal with finding a successor. You really caused an uproar in the hospital.: We should get out of here fast. Are you okay? Can you walk on your own?Alright, I'll take you back to the office.
We reappear back at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. I don't see anything good coming out of being in this body...
BGM: Kuzunoha Detective Agency MUSIC: Kuzunoha Detective Agency (arranged)The arranged track is used for the Quest menu in Raidou 2, and another arranged version appears in
Persona 2.
: Whoo, we made it back. Everybody was worried, so you should go let them know you're fine. You should go ahead and heal up at Clover Gym, just to be safe. It's right across from the old hag's fortune-telling shop. You don't have to go see her, but I guess it's the honorable thing to do.: If you're going out, grab some of the equipment from the back. Be careful and don't get killed. : Just take it easy. I've got some errands, so I'll be out for awhile. It's not the best stuff, but there's some items here. I'm entrusting them with you.
Rei leaves us, and we go into our sweet back room to grab some equipment. We get basic armor and weapons, along with money.
BGM: Yarai Ginza Arcade Distict MUSIC: A Narrow Escape MUSIC: Yarai Ginza DE PonThe arranged track appears in the "Jack-san 5" battle in Raidou 2.
The Kuzunoha Detective Agency is located in an area of the Yarai district known as Yarai Ginza (most likely named after the shopping district in Tokyo). Yarai Ginza will be our home base for the length of the game, having all of the essential shops and services. I'll show off the entirety of the district in another update, but for now we're going to "the old hag's fortune-telling shop."
BGM: Fortune Telling House
MARIE: So, are you feeling better? I heard from Rei that you were almost half-dead. You seem fine now, so I'm not too worried.: By the way, it seems this area has been struck with some kind of poltergeist phenomenon. I'm not sure if there's anything to be done about it. Actually, the poltergeist's supposedly in that house I was telling you about.VOICE: ...Give my body back...Give my body back...
: What? This voice...
The voice shakes the room before a spirit rises up, sporting a familiar face. Whoops, busted!
: ...So you can hear me too...That guy in my body might seem to be me, but he's not...It's another soul, just some impostor...: Hey, just know that I'm going to take my body back...Until then, don't you dare get even a scratch on it...Or else I'll drop you straight to the lowest circle of hell...: Listen to me...Go get the Handy Computer I was using...Victor at the Goumaden should have a spare...I can deal with the rest...Just do what I said...Someone's eventually gonna notice the change in appearance...Later...And he's gone. Like I said, nothing good's gonna come of this body switch. But he does give us a chance for a fun cultural lesson, so he's not all bad. The "lowest circle of hell" he mentions is mugen jigoku, or "neverending hell," and is also known in Buddhism as Avici. It is the eighth and lowest circle of hell and is reserved for the worst of the worst; generally people sent to Avici have commited one of Buddhism's Five Great Offenses, or anantarika-kamma. Kyouji really means business.
: My, that was a surprise. So you're just an impostor, eh? If I think back, I did have a feeling that something was different, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I bet you want to return to your original body. As for how to go about that, I know you'll find a way.: It's not a good situation, but you can be a Devil Summoner for me in the meantime. It doesn't matter if you're the real deal or not as long as you can exterminate demons.: One last thing: until you go back to your original body, you're going to have to deal with the job hazards. You'll really have to go for it when demon-slaying. I'll be counting on you.Time to go to the Goumaden!
The Goumaden is a reoccurring location throughout the Devil Summoner series, each incarnation masquerading as something else. In this game the Goumaden is seen by normal folks as a hotel.
BGM: Hotel Goumaden MUISC: Overture
VICTOR: Whomever you may be, all who fuse demons are welcome at the Goumaden.What never changes is the name of the Goumaden's host - Victor. Well, he doesn't exactly look like somebody running a hotel...but I guess this hotel is a pretty swanky place.
: I heard from the real Kuzunoha. His soul, it seems, is lost within the barrier between this world and the next.: I give you the Handy Computer. It is the same as the one he was using. With this you will be able to carry many companions. When you meet with a demon, simply negotiate with "TALK." After that it is up to you as to how you will deal with them.
>Obtained Handy Computer
It's never said in conversation, but the "Handy Computer" is simply this game's version of the traditional COMP, a portable computer that allows people to communicate with and summon demons. Kyouji's model is actually a GUMP, or Gun-COMP.
: ...Well, I should inform you that Kuzunoha was entrusted with many tasks, including one from myself. I had heard from the real Kuzunoha that he had acquired information concerning something called an "artificial demon." Though my work is fusing demons, I do have a great interest in this. I had intended to ask for his service in investigating the matter.: Unfortunately, the real Kuzunoha is no longer here. In addition, you are possessing his body. Already you have been forced to walk the path of the Kuzunoha. Of course, if you do happen across something, I would like to ask you to let me know.The PSP version has additional dialogue where Victor explains the Demon Compendium. The Demon Compendium, which is unfortunately not available in this version, records all of the demons you have either fused or recruited so that you may re-summon them at any time for a fee.
Stepping outside, we can now see what the COMP does. First off, we now have a demon radar that shows how close to a battle we are. There's no demons in Yarai Ginza, so the radar stays completely green.
Hitting the menu button once brings up our current status...
...and hitting it twice brings up the full menu. Not much to do right now.
Well, Marie said she was "counting on us," so we may as well see what she has for us.
: It's on rather short notice, but I have work for you. You will do it, yes?
>Accept her request?
Denying the request will get you nowhere, as you have to do it to continue, so I say yes. She does get mad at you and tells you to stop fooling around if you decline, though.
: Of course, you're a Devil Summoner. For the world and all of its people, you'll take revenge against the demons hiding within the darkness...Eh? Was that a bit much?: Have you taken care of the demons in the library yet? If you can't handle it, I won't be able to trust you with any future requests.: It's light work, even for a body-snatcher like yourself. A demon has appeared in the library in Seaside Park. My sources say it's not anything tough, so go and take care of it quickly. Up until now, this sort of demon has never appeared, so I am a bit concerned. But it's your first time, so you obviously have to start small.: Normally I'd pay you upfront, but you aren't exactly your usual self. Come back after you finished the job, and then you'll get your payment.So it seems our first trip will be back to a familiar place. There's not much to buy at the moment, though you should always have a spare Back-Upper, which is a one-use item that lets you save anywhere. The PSP version makes the Back-Upper reusable, but we don't have that luxury.
I quickly head over to the Seaside Park library.
DUNGEON 1 - SEASIDE LIBRARY
New demons:
Pixie Poltergeist Scarecrow Knocker
Ubu Kabuso Hippou Ba
Nacht Kobold Bogle
For each dungeon, I'll be posting pictures and stats of all of the demons who are making their first appearance. All pictures and descriptions come from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner ~Akuma Zensho~, which was a special disc released for the Sega Saturn containing pictures and commentary for all the demons and bosses in SMTDS.
BGM: Otherworld Dungeon 1
Seems normal so far, apart from the presence of demons...
But not for long. The library's layout has changed completely, now with 5 floors.
We can pull up a map, but it simply shows us where we've already been.
I continue up the stairs to Floor 2.
READER: W-While I wasn't looking, the door locked us in here. Even worse, there's monsters in here. I don't know what to do, this is too scary.
And I encounter my first real battle of the game, against two Knockers. We come across the system that SMT fans either love or hate.
Demon negotiation. I'm personally a fan of it just due to the often amazing dialogue it brings, but it is irritating when an answer that usually works suddenly doesn't and then you're dead.
For anyone new to SMT's negotiation system, it basically works like this: every demon has a particular tone that corresponds to what sort of responses it likes. The Knocker we ran into, for example, has a little boy tone - other tones we can encounter in this dungeon include little girl, cynical, and young man. By giving it answers that it likes, it will respond favorably and you may be able to ask it to join you.
Apart from getting demons to join you, negotiation is a potentially safe way to escape battle unscathed and you can often get demons to give you items or Magnetite (explained in a bit).
I couldn't get the Knocker to join me, so I had to move onto a Pixie. When a demon is satisfied with the conversation, they'll usually ask you to give them either money, Magnetite, or an item. Sometimes a demon will join you for other reasons, depending on the conversation, but you usually have to bribe them first. I didn't need the Magnetite at the moment, so I managed to get the Pixie to join me by dropping some Magnetite on her.
Ta-da. Now we've got a healer in our party. Using them out of battle is easy enough, but in battle...
This is the part where many people may call Devil Summoner an annoying game, and I completely agree. Exclusive to the Devil Summoner series is a game mechanic called "Loyalty" (also called the VICE System on the back of the game case and in the manual). It works a bit differently in the Raidou games, but, in the first two Devil Summoners, Loyalty determines what you can make your demon do in battle.
Notice the "CTRL" in the upper right. That refers to the demon's "control level," and each control level opens up more options in battle.
As shown in the above screenshot, the only thing I can tell Pixie to do to the enemy Kabuso is "GO," which means what she does is completely out of my hands. As the control level goes up, more options are unlocked:
- Level 1 - only option is "GO"
- Level 2 - you can choose either "OFFENSE" or "DEFENSE"
- Level 3 - you can choose from "ATTACK," "MAGIC," "EXTRA," AND "GUARD"
- Level 4 - you can choose specific moves and specify a target
- Mate Type - Gains loyalty by being used in battle
- Greed Type - Gains loyalty by having items used on them or being given gifts.
- Level Difference Type - Loyalty goes up as the level difference between the protagonist and demon goes up
PIXIE: Old man, it's getting violent...y'know.
Sometimes demons decide that what you're telling them to do just doesn't sit well with them, and they'll boycott you. Amusingly, they can even boycott you if you're saying "GO."
Next I'll explain Magnetite. Magnetite, shortened to MAG, is what keeps demons under your control. Each demon uses a certain amount of MAG to summon, and each demon consumes a certain amount of MAG for every step. If you run out of MAG and still have demons summoned, you and your demons will take damage for each step you take. MAG is dropped by demons after battle, and you can also find MAG in treasure chests. There's a facility in Yarai Ginza that deals with MAG, but we'll see that later.
There's not much to this dungeon. I grab some items along the way to the top floor.
I get to level 11 and pick up two other demons (Knocker and Kabuso) before heading up to the fourth floor and into the elevator. I can go to any floor, but none of the floors have anything new. Down to the basement!
I make it to the boss, who's in the the library's archive.
BGM: Conversation
VOICE: Hohohoho, welcome to my home in the spirit world.
I'm greeted by a book flying into my face before it drops to the ground and a demon pops out.
FUGURUMA: Foolish humans, collecting books that you cannot even understand. It's so meaningless. That goes for you as well, hoping that you can dispose of me. It's futile to even think of it. Hohohohoho.
BOSS #2 - FUGURUMA BGM: Boss Battle
VS Femme Fuguruma
Alright, our first real boss is this lovely green lady. Pretty easy, and no need for any high-level strats. Her only really dangerous attack (which she never actually used on me) is Dormina, which has the chance to put me or my demons to sleep. If you don't wake up in time, it's very possible for her to simply keep attacking until you die. Her only other move is a weak fire-type attack, Agi.
The only thing you really want for this battle is a healer, which is why I summoned Kabuso. I chose Kabuso over Pixie because Kabuso absorbs fire, so Fuguruma's Agi heals rather than hurts him.
She's weak to psionic (an element exclusive to SMTDS), so I summoned Knocker to (sometimes) use Psy on her. Other than that, I just wailed on her until she went down.
FUGURUMA: Ohhh, what is this...Even after I turned this place into a spirit world...
And one dungeon down. I scurry back to Marie's place to get my payment.
: Thank you, excellent work. Here, your payment of ¥50,000. I'll be calling on you in the future.Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's all the thanks I get? I mean, that's a lot of money and all, but I like to feel really praised when I do a good job. Back in we go.
: I shall read your future. Behind you, your future is...What? Oh, it's just you. I don't have any work for you right now.All that and she doesn't even have the decency to tell my fortune.
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Next update: Girl power!