Poll: Devil Survivor 2 or Bravely Default; which do I play next?

[ScrabbitRabbit]

So I just beat Shin Megami Tensei IV (neutral route, ************) and got these two games for my birthday. Now I can't decide what to play. OH NOES. So I've decided that I'm going to let you dictate my life and choose for me.

Having just finished an SMT game I'm already leaning towards Bravely Default. I also want something a bit lighter since Shin Megami Tensei IV was pretty dark and apparently Devil Survivor 2 can be, too.

On the other hand, Devil Survivor 2 is a bigger leap gameplay wise, given the grid based combat (even with the first person battle bits) and it's one of the few SMT games that I'm yet to play for myself.

One thing to consider is that I start a new job on Tuesday, so whichever is easier to play in small chunks is the natural winner here.

 

[Vern5]

Shin Megami Tensei will always be dark. There's no getting around that. Sometimes the degree of dark content is less noticeable than usual but it's there and it's integral to the SMT experience. That being said, the Devil Survivor games are certainly more optimistic than SMT4 depending on how you play. The grid-based tactical movement takes some time to get used to but you'll feel right at home once you engage in combat. The Extra-Turn system is fully enforced and you'll still be fusing demons like a madman just to stay competitive.

Considering you already beat SMT4, you'll feel right at home playing DeSurvivor 1 or 2.

Bravely Default is something else altogether. I hope you liked playing Final Fantasy before FF7 because BD is the same formula with a few additions, namely the Brave/Default system. You can store extra actions-per-turn by going into Default (Defend) and then release multiple actions-per-turn by spending them using the Brave. It's all very JRPG classic and does wonders for those nostalgia centers of the brain.

Unfortunately, Bravely Default suffers from a very stupid story. The voice acting is terrible and the dialogue may as well not exist since most of the characters have extremely two-dimensional characterization. One might expect the story to get better as the game goes on but it just becomes repetitive instead. The story also features a lot of fanservice bullshit, which is bizarre considering all of the character models are chibi in style. Overall, all of the writing sucks and you should just skip it.

TL;DR: stick with Devil Survivor if you really liked SMT4 / Get Bravely Default for its classic jrpg combat but (for the love of God) skip through all of the dialogue.

 

[Lilani]

I've never played Devil Survivor, but I must disagree with the about Bravely Default. I found the way the story unfolded to be very interesting, and I thought the characters were fine. If you like anime you won't mind the characters or voice acting, it's sort of got that dramatic, over-the-top thing anime does sometimes. And the battle system is great, while it is turn-based it is extremely versatile once you unlock more classes, and the boss battles keep it interesting by throwing different mechanics at you so you can't always count on the same strategy to get you through everything.

 

[Rozalia1]

Devil Survivor 2 is the better game in my opinion, but I'm sure you're going to play both so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Mister K]

I'd play BD first, but only to rest a bit from dark atmosphere.