The Let's Play Archive

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

by Dragonatrix

Part 73: Io Nitta ~ Tuatha Dé Danann

Io Nitta ~ Tuatha Dé Denann

Since this time we're going to be doing something pretty long, we'll want some new demons to alleviate the workload slightly.



And what's better to do so than a new Tyrant? Hecate (Pazuzu + Hariti) is pretty great in both concept and execution. No weaknesses? Gives us Anti-Most (resist to everything but Phys and Almighty)? A ridiculous amount of Magic? She's pretty much our ideal starting point for patching weaknesses en masse now.



While seeming underwhelming now, Girimehkala (Botis + Take-Mikazuchi) isn't all that bad either really. Not because he's intrinsically great or anything, but because he reflects Physicals. Reflect is the only defensive affinity that cannot be circumvented by Pierce which is what makes it a bad thing to fight against. Only downside here is that he can't transfer it on fusions.



So, about that Dragon Stream...


[Music: Exploration]



Ah, Hibiki. My end of the preparations are complete. Shall we begin?
What about the others?
They're all ready to go. Shall we be off?



Oh, okay...
Oh, wait... This place...
It's in the death clip.

[Music: The Enigma Deepens]



What...? Th-Then I'm going to die here...?
...What? Are you afraid? But it's too late, now.



No... I'm okay.

[Music: The Operation Starts]

...I'm going.
Uh, so... like this?



Hibiki, and the rest of you, stay here and protect Nitta. All right?
What about you?



Huh? Did he say war gods...?
Something's odd.
...Yes, I agree.
What...!? Do you know something, Makoto?
Well... I haven't been told anything, but I have been with JP's longer than you guys.



[Music: Silence]

Aaah!



Your cell phone rings...

[Music: JPs -Geomagnetism Research Department-]



You probably already know this, but the overflowing power will attract demons.
You'll have to protect Nitta until the ritual is completed, no matter what happens.
That's it.

[Music: Countdown]



Roughly translated: using Lugh to create the Dragon will spawn demons.

Are you surprised? I bet you're surprised.


Ugh...! So that's what he meant!
Don't tell me you weren't expecting this. We've got to suck it up and deal with it.
Hmph... I was just getting bored, anyway. I'll take them all on!
Mhm... It's just like every other time. I'm going to defeat those demons...!

[Music: Challenge to the Fate]



The two victory conditions are misleading, because they're basically one in the same. While I'm sure it may well be possible to wipe out every demon earlier, it would require an awful lot of work and effort to achieve.



An amount that I just don't feel like putting in. Letting the fight drag on works to our benefit anyway. We don't get any cracks beyond these two self-explanatory ones, but hey. Can't complain much about physical immunity.



We'll even kick things off by grabbing it. Wiping out the Legion without Orobas there immediately jumping Jungo is awkward and annoying, so I just popped Evil Flow to not worry about it.



A colossal waste of the MP, but I'm not complaining too much about it. It gets the results we want at least.




Aaaaaahhh!
I-Io!? Wh-What should I do...? Io's in pain...

Your cell phone rings...



You must be aware of her condition and heal her when you can.

On some of her turns, Io will take fixed damage that we don't need to heal but it helps to do so. Just in case.



It doesn't come up too often, so we'll thin out the few demons that can pretend to be threats. By which I mean they have movement skills that let them get vaguely close.



Hinako just keeps on being Hinako, really. The Silky gets wiped by damage rather than petrification for a nice change.



So, about that Orobas?



It has 2 Nisrocs with it. Ugh. This is only annoying because of Shield All. It has a hidden benefit.



All three are weak to Ice. Bifrons' Bufudynes are a wee bit of an overkill but it's in all the right ways.



Mothman #2 tries to take out Hinako. Doesn't really have any alternatives to consider.



To the surprise of approx no one, it ends the same way as the first.



We even get a... Strength Add-On? Guess we've gone through the lot once already then. At this point it does give them randomly; getting a real good one (like Remove Command/Passive or certain sets) is a bit less likely though.



It's not even Io's turn again yet, but we're already a fifth of the way done. Naturally this means...



More demons spawn in. They do this at every progress report we get from Yamato. So, three more of these then.



The initial Nues have finally gotten close-ish to Io. One of them has 2 Pisacas with it, so of course they Curse Io. Why wouldn't they make things more mildly inconvenient?



One of them suicides on Jungo.



And I do mean suicides.



Speaking of Pisacas, this newly spawned Legion has two of them as well. They don't use Possess on Otome though for whatever reason.



Not looking a gift horse in the mouth though. Instead, I'm just gonna speed up this kind of chaff and shove a Ziodyne down Legion's many many mouths.



The other Nue also suicides on Jungo. Maybe they'll learn eventually not to do this.

Heavy emphasis on that maybe.



This coincides with a new synchronicity increase for Io.



Naturally this means more lower demons spawn in. We'll get to those later, but this gal's been around since the start so we'll finish her off next.



This ends exactly how you would expect it to. Badb can resist all the punches she likes, but it doesn't matter when she gets turned into a statue immediately.



Otome then puts the hurt on a Nue. Chernobog is the only thing to get an Extra Turn, so of course it uses Free Leap to turn tail and run.



Jungo ain't taking that shit though. Can't get close enough to punch normally, so Evil Flow to wipe it out.



...This is a normal punch. Not a Power Hit. Not a Crit Up'd Mighty Hit. A regular ol' Attack.



This coincides with the next +20% for Io and Lugh's support ranks.



It's at this stage actual new demons spawn in. In this case, we get to fight against an Abaddon. The next Vile demon up; it's actually a little out of our reach right now since it requires Hibiki to be level 48.



We'll worry about that soon enough though. For now, this Badb has gotten too close to Io to ignore. We're gonna have to put her down.



And put her down we do. She didn't really stand a chance in the first place, but points for trying I guess.



Pretty much immediately after, we get to the penultimate synch level.




S-Something came out! It doesn't feel like those weak demons... Careful!

This spawns in 3 demons we haven't fought against yet: Scathach, Yama... and Kudlak the level 50 vampire Ghost (so he's above Pisaca). Much like Kresnik, he was part of a sidequest in Devil Survivor 1 - and he was even the boss fight for that quest - but here's he's just a dude.

Scathach turns up in Free Battles before now, but there's been no need to bother with them. Yama, like Kudlak, was a boss fight in Survivor 1 but not so much here. Again, downgraded to be just a dude. We've used these two before, though, so there's no tricks there.



These are the last reinforcements. So long as we can outlast them, we win regardless of whether we take 'em out or not.



Taking them out is quicker, and very definitely my preference at least.



This one was just poor positioning on my part. Slightly miscounted where it could hit.



Slipped Badb into Hibiki's team for a moment to get over to near Kudlak. Better to draw his aggro than give him chance to get close to Io.



Hassohappa kinda stings a little. Girimehkalas are weak to Force at least, so we can take advantage of that with Badb if need be.



Likewise, Kudlak is weak to Fire. Dancing takes him out mighty fast at least.



Didn't quite expect Yama to run over to Hinako afterwards, but I'm not gonna fuss too much over it. Saves us time at least.



He also comes with two Nisrocs, but this time its not even a problem. They DO get to Shield All before Hinako can punch (surprisingly), but Multi-Strike gives no fucks. That is the only thing that saved Yama until Kresnik gave him a light slap though.



Scathach got over here that fast because she has a Mothman in her team. We'll take care of her soon, but first Otome's getting her own back on the Abaddon.



...Well, he is a Vile so of course Chernobog hitting him with a Mighty Hit is going to come close to four digit damage.



And Jungo's going to take out Lugh's son's teacher without fear of reprisal.



Hariti's damage isn't quite as nuts-good as Bifrons' or Chernobog's were, but still. 800 isn't to be sneezed at.



And, yeah, Hassohappa's not stellar or anything. Still gets the job done even if Mow Down probably would've too.



And the Mothman doesn't have Endure, surprisingly enough. One of the few that is oneshottable.


[Music: Silence]



Your cell phone rings...



What...!? But... why? Io is...





With this... I can do this!



[Music: Silence]

[Video: Lugh and the Dragon Stream]
infinitely easier and better to watch this if you can.



















[Video: End]

[Music: Countdown]



Your cell phone rings...



Loud and clear.
Good to hear. The Dragon Stream has turned into a dragon to capture Mizar.
Mizar is clinging to a building. You must climb it and rip off its tentacles.



Hibiki... Find the right moment to head to that building and finish Mizar.
Hmph... Now's the time! I've had enough of being underestimated...



[Music: Requiem]

Don't tell me.
Oh... Hibiki... Io isn't... w-waking up... She's...
Haha... No way! This is just a joke, right? Io? Right?
Nitta...! Wake up, Nitta! Wake up!
Io!



[Music: Silence]

Io...!
Io...!

[Music: Over the Brink of Death]



She's... She's alive... Yes... Hibiki, Io's alive!
Of course she is.
Hibiki... Um... Thank you.



Welcome back.
Oh... I'm back... Thanks.

After celebrating Io's return for a while, you all leave the area...



Now that we've got Mizar pinned down, on top of a random building we can go and kick his ballsy teeth in. And we will go and do just that!

Afterwards, we can hang out with dudes again as per usual.

The question is who gets the privilege?