Featuring Dante from the "Devil May Cry" Series, and Guts from "Berserk," and Sonic from the "Sonic" Series, and Motoko from "Ghost in the-
"Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2" is the free-to-play mobile phone Gacha game released in 2018. While most "Megami Tensei" games are developed by Atlus, "Liberation Dx2" was developed and is continuously being updated by Sega.
However, this isn't the only Megami Tensei title Sega has helped develop. Sega's ex-subsidiary SIMs, developed the 1995 "Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special."
D-Does anyone remember "Last Bible?" Let me just... Post a song from the game and have it fill out my obscure reference quota for the review.
Now I played "Liberation Dx2" during 2018 and 2019, stopped playing because I got bored, and decided to come back this year to go down memory lane after finishing "Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux." In the end I just played more of it.
While there is room to call this a Retrospective Review, I haven't reset my progress and there are new things I haven't explored nor played yet such as the Alter-World, Tokyo Abyss, and Battle Tower game modes.
Note: Some images will have the in-graphics set to low due to these events being time-sensitive. I've also blurred out my username for privacy reasons.
A Life-Ending App
Now imagine, you're an average guy who's bored with life... How do you spice that up? The answer is obvious, demons.
The bored protagonist downloads an app to enter the world of the Liberators, Acolytes, Devil Downloaders, and Gacha hell. Demons are summoned from phones, are used to fight, and other demons cause general trouble.
Like other "Megami Tensei" games, the combat is turn-based with physical attacks and seven magic types. There are also status ailments, buffs, instant kill moves that make you get the cry bucket out, and more.
The gameplay uses Press Turn Icons (PTI) for turns. An action takes up one PTI, except for passing which goes to the next demon while only taking up one half of a PTI.
Hitting an enemy's weakness or getting a critical hit has the same effect as passing for PTIs. However, missing or hitting an enemy without dealing damage takes away two PTIs.
It's the same deal as "Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne" and the mainline games after. However, in "Liberation Dx2" the protagonist doesn't fight in most modes, there aren't even guns. I've never understood the removal of the gun element, guns are epic.
The gameplay is a lot of fun and has the same addictive nature as other "Shin Megami Tensei" games, just simplified. However, there are more differences, many of which are found in the Pandemonium.
Pandemonium & Church of False Gods
Demons have a level cap that ranges from 25 to 50 depending on how many stars they have. A six-star demon can level up to 50, while a one-star demon can only level up to 25.
A demon's stars can be increased by sacrificing other demons or with Yata Mirrors. However, evolving not only increases the level cap, but brings your demon back to level one, because "Shin Megami Tensei" is all about wacky surprises. [Note: This is no longer the case as of Jan. 2023.]
To compensate, sacrificing demons and using Swords of Kusanagi can level up demons outside of battle. There is also the Daily Quest and Leveling Quests to further help grind.
Demons can also Awaken, increasing their stats and unlocking their fourth skill slot. The fourth skill depends on their archetype, which also affects what their fifth skill will be upon being summoned.
Take Black Rider as an example: The purple archetype, with its damage focus, gives Black Rider an auto attack buff for his party at the beginning of each fight (skill seen in picture above) and a powerful ice attack. The teal archetype null fire attacks and lets Black Rider survive a fatal blow. This isn't even going into the yellow and red archetypes.
Demons can also—have up to six skills, seven if you have coin; equip brands to give benefits & stat boots; level up & transfer skills; increase stats more with Infusions; upgrade demon panels to further increase stats & unlock abilities; and Transcend which, you guessed it, even furthermore increases stats.
These all need materials. Since this is a Gacha, they will take a long time to grind for... Unless... You pay money for a shortcut. This is a Gacha, you basically sealed your fate when you downloaded it.
H-However don't worry, there's still Demon Fusions! However, unlike other "Megami Tensei" games, Fusion is only possible with at least one clear archetype demon. Two coloured archetype demons can't be fused.
This does make things a bit frustrating as you can only get clear archetype demons from quests or Hell Bun Summons. Even then, most of the solid demons for competitive play are in Gacha Hell, a.k.a. the Summoning Portal where you can spend Summoning Files to summon demons or use Gems.
Gems
Packs of items can be bought with Gems from Summon Files and more in packs. Everything can be bought with Gems, even your dreams! Gems are basically the power currency. Run out of Stamina? Buy more with Gems. Died to a boss? Spend 20 Gems to start from where you died. Committed homicide? Pay the police off with Gems.
While packs in the store have a cooldown, buying Gems does not. Let me put it this way, to summon one demon, you need 100 Gems. For $9.99, you can get 210 Gems for two Summons. For $6.99, 370 Gems or three Summons. The maximum is $109.99 Gems for 2,900 Gems for 29 Summons.
Make multiple 2,900 Gems purchases and whoopsie daisy, fairness goes down the drain, along with your bank account. That isn't even going into how outrageous the prices are. I mean, 10 revives for $10?!
Now to be fair, despite the above, Gems aren't hard to get without paying. They're easy to get, it's just that they're in smaller quantities.
Additionally, some of the developer's decisions, like changing the rewards for daily missions and lowering Superior Summon rates for five star demons down to 0.5 per cent, the old rates, are questionable. The summon rate was lower than "Fate/Grand Order," which some people criticize as already having low summon rates.
There was a brief time where the PNGs reigned supreme. Thankfully, this was changed back to one per cent, but still...
However, doing things without paying means you'll be slower than those that pay, and won't get as many demons. This also gives players who do pay an edge in modes like Dx2 Duel where players face each other.
As someone who has never spent a cent on the game, going up against those that have spent actual money on "Liberation Dx2" has made me feel many new pains.
I know it's odd to bring up microtransactions now, but it's important for people to know what they're getting into with "Liberation Dx2." Not everyone can resist the temptation to buy Gems, and like any Gacha, this game is addicting.
Being a Liberator
With microtransactions explained, what CAN you do in "Liberation Dx2?" A lot.
Main Story
The Main Story has the player fighting waves of enemies each level, with each chapter having a mystery to solve. These are the training grounds for "Liberation Dx2," and it shows as these levels are repetitive.
Most levels involve fighting the same Grade 60 or lower (three star demons) enemies repeatedly. Due to this, there's little variety nor much reason to apply and adapt to new strategies like other "Shin Megami Tensei" titles. It removes a large aspect that makes the games so much fun and challenging.
Even Season Two of the Main Story has the player fighting most of the same demons. Grade 60 or higher demons only show up as bosses, and not always.
It feels like the developers focused too much on adding Grade 60 or higher demons when they should've also added more Grade 60 or below demons. Only one or two Grade 60 demons have been added since the launch of the game unfortunately. Even having Grade 60 or higher demons as normal encounters would've worked.
Nope, I must fight demons like Divine Angel over a thousand times instead. Look, I don't have a problem with Divine Angel, he's a cool demon and I've subscribed to his Only Fans, but I need variety!
While a reason they only had below 60 Grade demons available is because of the demon negotiation, which is simplified but still fun. However, they could've solved this by having some demons just not be negotiated with like in the other games.
However, while levels at higher difficulties can be challenging, Assist Demons act as an easy workaround. An Assist Demon can be used once a day based on your friends list, but if you have many powerful friends on your list, even the hardest levels become cakewalks. I feel like the CEO of a company.
The only gameplay incentive for the Main Story is to get Gems, item drops, and new characters. Characters are upgraded after unlocking them and can be upgraded further after completing chapters their character quest chapter.
Each character has their own abilities for battles that activate randomly. For example, the Protagonist is great for being well-rounded and gaining extra experience.
The Main Story is not incentive to play since, while it has its moments, it doesn't work well with the pace of the gameplay. When there are interesting discussions of philosophy, they are often interrupted by demon battles, then continue afterwards.
It makes some chapters feel dragged out because most battles in each chapter feel like filler. Even the social commentary is basic, most of it is common sense like "movies where people die bad" or "the internet can cause change in the world."
The characters are a mixed bag too. There are characters like Ririn Ueda who I ended up adoring for her comedic antics of being thirsty and greedy as h*ck. I like water and I like money, so I find her relatable.
She also tries to keep everyone's chin up and has a casual backstory that's not dropped as a reveal like other character backstories. I always find myself appreciating the normal when compared to abnormal/shocking.
However, then you have characters like Rika Ryuzouji and Shiori Koden whose personalities are so basic and frustrating that they drive me up the wall. Rika's worse since you're stuck with her in chapter one the entire time.
What makes a character of the cast good or bad is their quirk(s). If you enjoy their quirk, they're entertaining. If not, they can feel annoyingly one-dimensional.
Sometimes quirks even ruin characters for me like Gakuto Inoue, the poor guy isn't even in the Opening. The concept of an ex-soldier is awesome, but his obsession with Shiori is annoying.
I still like Gakuto since his dialogue as an ex-soldier is great. However, the idol stuff throws me off and takes away from the character.
That's not to say they don't have redeeming qualities. Each Dx2 character quest gives something to like about each character, it's just not enough to like the cast overall. In the end I just find the cast okay. Only exceptional part about them is their designs.
If anything, I found the shop vendors more likeable. Their stories are endearing and their personalities are unique. They're just a fun bunch to be around.
I just can't care about the main story, and I seriously tried to. I went through all of Season One hoping it'd improve. It didn't. I couldn't even finish Season Two.
Demon Buster
Demon Buster is made up of six quest types. Brands of Sin & Strange Signal are for getting Brands & Aether respectively, Kiwami has the most challenging bosses in the game, Advent are boss battles against four or five-star demons for Infusion material, Wanted quests appear randomly while doing Strange Signal, and Eclipse.
Most of these are just okay. However, Eclipse quests stand out to me as it's where your party is restricted to one demon race.
These are my favourite since they challenge the player to use demons that often collect dust and adapt to new strategies. More importantly, Eclipse quests supply demon equality. While I only play the other Demon Buster quests to grind materials, I always come back to Eclipse quests.
Aura Gate
Aura Gate has the player dungeon-crawling in multiple dungeons. Aura Gate 1 has the player with Seiran Saikawa to solve the mysteries of the place. There's not much to comment on with the story is boring.
Seiran Saikawa herself is just dull, as even after years of not playing, I can't remember a single thing about her compared to the other characters. Even her name, possibly meaning my favourite colour, blue, couldn't save her.
Thankfully, the main appeal of Aura Gate is the gameplay. In Aura Gate, the player must traverse the dungeon in first-person to find the boss. There are items to find, traps, and more. To move, you need action points, however these are much easier to get. I even accidentally hoarded over 2,000 action points back in 2018... Somehow.
The Aura Gate is so much fun. The difficulty scales nicely, exploration is great, rewards are satisfying, and the challenge needs you to adapt & change strategies. Aura Gate has what I love so much about this series.
Additionally, you can bring in two parties of four demons. One party can be for common enemies, the other for bosses. The second party can also act as a backup for if the first party gets downed.
I do wish you could use items in Aura Gate outside of battle though. Being forced to use items in battle is cumbersome, and a potential run-ender if the enemy goes first. Aura Gate 1 also has a time limit and closes for periods of time, which can mess with the flow of gameplay too. However, Aura Gate 2 doesn't close at all.
Ironically though, I have the opposite feelings towards Aura Gate 2. I love the story more since it's filled with Hollows, individuals that look human, but aren't. They just mimic human behaviour. Some even over-fixate on specific human elements or only focus on the negative aspects of humanity.
The concept is awesome and feels right at home with "Shin Megami Tensei." From what I've seen, it's well-executed too. Unfortunately, it's behind a gimmick that's beyond tedious.
In Aura Gate 2, players must find a key to the boss room on every single floor. Let me repeat that... EVERY... SINGLE... FLOOR...!
It feels more like a scavenger hunt instead of traversing a maze. While finding a key to get to the boss is a fine mechanic, it's frustrating having to do it each floor since it drags things out. Finding keys only works when done sparingly.
Additionally, enemies start in the level 60s. While this is a fine challenge, the key gimmick, again, makes things aggravating.
I love Aura Gate 1 but couldn't bring myself to finish Aura Gate 2 due to the tedium. I couldn't care about Aura Gate 1's story, but I'm intrigued with Aura Gate 2's story. I'm overall mixed on Aura Gate because of this and now hate keys.
Events
Events occur throughout "Liberation Dx2" ranging from getting item drops from quests, defeating specific enemies in Aura Gate, and more. They'll have cutscenes and rewards.
Events can be for new demons or just to give players something to do. However, two event types are worth mentioning. The first is Aura Gate SP, a one floor Aura Gate dungeon with the goal of beating one boss and getting the highest score possible. The higher the score, the more rewards.
Secondly is when "Liberation Dx2" collaborates with another series like "Seven Deadly Sins," "Devil May Cry V," the family-friendly manga "Berserk," and more. Even Sonic the Hedgehog is a guest character.
Each event is time-limited, so if you miss the event, any exclusive demons will either be harder to find or no longer available unless rerun in the future. However, that's understandable.
Events add a fantastic incentive to keep playing and to come back while offering difficult rewards to get if you can't come back a little Mmm richer.
Hell's Park
Do you want to hee-ho? Just hee-ho the system? Well, Hell's Park for you. The player tackles different areas with a special effect in each area with a demon party of five. The effects can range from—decreasing magical damage, enemies always countering, and more.
Completing areas gives the players rewards, mainly Hell Buns, that can summon non-archetype demons for Fusion. Each first quest in an area also gives 50 Stamina.
Hell's Park can be a fun challenge, but it's more like a pit stop to me more than anything. It acts as a background thing I do to get some rewards, mainly Stamina, that I don't give much of a hee-ho about otherwise.
Factions & Devicon
Factions are guilds that can let you make friends, fight in Democalypse, trade illegal glass, and more. The main appeal being Democalypse.
The Faction chooses an area and faces the demons in the area with the goal to get a high score for rewards. The higher the score, the more plentiful the rewards. Democalypse is a limited event, with finite attempts.
The player first faces a wave of enemies, then the boss. The goal isn't to defeat them, but to deal as much damage as possible. Each area has both the wave and demon weak to the same weakness (an element or physical attacks). Unlike other modes, you don't control your demons, they attack automatically.
This is another mode like Hell's Park that I don't care much about. The rewards are okay, but given the auto aspect, it's hard to be engaged or excited for it. It's another case of "oh boy, more rewards;" less "oh boy, a new fun challenge!"
There's also Devicon where six of a player's demons can be ranked against other players based on battle points earned with them, quests completed, Mastery (demon strength), and bond points. To get bond points, demons must be bonded with.
N-No, that's not bonding, that's just looking at her butt. I mean giving them gifts. Ranking in the top 30 in a month gets a stylish icon for your demon. However, to even enter, you need to meet the minimum qualifications, like completing 50 duels with your demon.
Devicon is another whatever to me. I didn't find much need to register my demons since the reward is cosmetic... Not like I'd ever stand a chance, for some reason demons just don't like recieving 21 copies of "21 Jump Street."
Dx2 Duel
Dx2 Duel is the PvP mode of "Liberation Dx2." Players face other player's defense parties with your attacking party, the former being A.I. controlled. If an enemy defeats your defense team first, you can get revenge by attacking their defense party.
However, if your enemy defeats your defense team a second time, you can't get revenge. In other words, having Foul Slime on your defense party is a valid strategy to an extent.
Winning battles gives the player points that increase their tier level. Dx2 Duel sessions go on for a week, with rewards at the end of each session based on the player's tier.
Back in my day, Dx2 Duel was fun, unfair with some overpowered demons cough like General Masakado cough at times, but it was still fun. There's a lot of room for strategies, and it makes some elements like Physical Pierce shine. However, today...
Mother of... Why...? WHY ARE THESE SKILLS AS TEXT-BULKY AS YU-GI-OH CARDS?!
The meta has gone in a new direction, with attacks that hit harder, fractional damage passive skills, and more. It's uh... Kind of insane. I mean, Megami Maria alone can revive any downed demons at the end of her party's turn... And she's immune to instant-kill attacks! Who would've thought giving birth to Jesus would give such benefits?
But seriously, she's so overpowered. I understand "Liberation Dx2" needs to introduce stronger demons to keep people invested, but stuff like this destroys the balancing and makes Dx2 Duel undoubtedly pay-to-win to get to a moderately good spot.
Then again, that might be the point because people will want to get the new overpowered demons, which means spending money on Gems for them... PvP (player vs. player), more like PeevPee.
What I don't understand are the underpowered demons. Demons without pierce or fantastic healing/evasion capabilities are often underpowered. Drake Vasuki is a depressing example. He's awesome in the other "Shin Megami Tensei" games for his strength, but here...
No... Why...? Why must you give Vasuki an ice attack that can't pierce and targets enemies randomly?! And as his only default attack?!
Alter-World
While everything else I've covered I've done before thoroughly, this is uncharted territory for me. This better not have rubble, my ex-wife from 1659 died from-
"Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2" has gone too far this time...
Quests
Ahem... Alter-World focuses on the protagonist in an alternative path where he joins the Acolytes to save the world. Unfortunately, he didn't succeed in... Well, saving the world. He lives in regret of his failure, the only thing keeping him going being his new and only friend Pixie.
To his dismay, the story of Alter-World is far better than the Main Story. It's genuinely interesting to explore a Chaos World and see how humans try to survive, while exploring the consequences of the Protagonist's actions. His dynamic with Pixie is also endearing, as the two cure each other's loneliness and gives the Protagonist a neat personality.
Each chapter can have a range of happy or bleak endings and focus on the Protagonist & Pixie. That's not to say these chapters are perfect, as reveals/twists are often too in your face or too out of nowhere. However, each chapter works well.
The quests are also fun since the Protagonist fights alongside three demons. Demons have barriers, by dealing damage these demons are weak too or nulling/resisting their attacks, the barrier will break overtime. Each chapter is based on the six elements and physical attacks, barring almighty spells.
If the Protagonist dies, the player loses, increasing the tension. The player can also give the Protagonist swords & shields and upgrade them for better stats. Stats can also be increased with Demonites, which are basically Brands, but for humans!
While some battles do drag on, I love the mechanics at play as they test your demons well while forcing you to use new demons. The new party setup also requires the player to use new strategies and carefully so the Protagonist doesn't die.
Battle Tower
Battle Tower acts as another PvP mode, but with the Alter-World party layout and mechanics related to the protagonist. However, unlike Dx2 Duel, you have a small list of enemy players to fight each round, with the goal being to not win, but to get the most points possible. Although, winning helps, I think.
Points can be earned from completing side goals, taking a small number of turns to win, and activating handicaps for yourself. However, you can activate handicaps that give boosts to yourself for a score reduction, or boosts to the enemy for a score increase.
Battle Tower rounds are also limited and must be registered ahead of time. Whatever defense party and two to three attacking party setups you have cannot be switched during the current round. There is a small amount of room to plan ahead, but not much.
I find myself enjoying Battle Tower more than Dx2 Duel, thanks to the handicap system giving a chance for everyone to have fun. Even cheap teams can be fun to fight with the right boosts.
However, Battle Tower still has the same poor balancing as Dx2 Duel. It may be more unfair because you can't switch to another demon in one of your parties that can counter an annoying demon... Which there are a lot of. Fortunately, the boosts at least guarantee you'll at least have some fun.
Tokyo Abyss
Tokyo Abyss, like Aura Gate, has the Protagonist traverse a dungeon to defeat bosses. However, it's roguelike in nature as the Protagonist starts from level one, and cannot take his/her own demons into the dungeon, he/she must find what he can inside. Demons can be talked to, have skill transfers, fused, and more.
Players also choose between two directions, the movement being done automatically, with no option to go back apart from battle/boss doors to leave. There are pit stops to do things like Fusion to build the player's team. However, if players build their team poorly, they'll have to restart if they reach an impassable boss.
I found Conjunctions guaranteed solid teams as the demons fused with them, while random, are higher leveled while keeping skills in their last two slots. Additionally, players have a chance of getting rare demons too.
Also, you know... Building a team that covers healing, strength, varied skills, can buff/debuff, etc.... You know, minor stuff to have a long-standing team.
I honestly love Tokyo Abyss. It lets the player try out other demons they normally wouldn't be able to use, rewards skilled play & risks, and is satisfying to win. It feels amazing to build a solid team with less RNG getting in the way.
My only criticism with Tokyo Abyss is that it restarts dungeon progress monthly to reset rewards. While I get why, it's still a shame to lose your progress when you feel like you're on top of- I guess in this case, at the bottom of the world.
Crisp Demons and Music
"Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2" looks wonderful. The game has so much style, right from when you open it with the phenomenal Opening.
Despite setting the graphics to low, "Liberation Dx2" is still visually appealing. While it's nothing mind blowing, it's nice to look at.
It's also nice to see some demons, who only got 3D models at the time, thanks to "Liberation Dx2" like Foul Jack the Ripper, Foul Mad Gasser, and more. About time we get to see their butts.
There're also ratings, which not only features helpful advice, but also jokes thanks to the third dimension. I'm surprised more people reviewing don't have Ririn as their character, their thirst levels are the same as hers.
The 2D sprites look awesome too, with most characters exclusive to "Liberation Dx2" having motion. However, someone didn't tell the sprite guy to upscale the artwork for some demons because man can they look blurry.
The game also has voiced dialogue in Japanese. However, unlike "Strange Journey Redux" where I had the Japanese voices on, here I turned off the voices. It's mainly because of the story and spending more time during cutscenes is a big nope for me.
However, speaking of audio, the best part about "Liberation Dx2" is the soundtrack, mainly the battle themes. Despite the overall soundtrack being mostly being generic, the battle themes for Battle Tower, Aura Gate 2, normal battles, and more have such high energy that fits beautifully.
It makes me wish there were more boss themes, since only two exist in the game, excluding the final boss theme for Aura Gate 2. The normal boss battle theme is a fantastic track, but it does get old after a while.
"Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2" also runs smoothly. I do recall a few crashes, but since this was back in 2018-2019, I could be misremembering.
Overall (C+)
"Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2" has a lot to offer. The presentation is solid, there's a lot to do, the combat is fleshed out, and the story has its moments. It's just a shame the poor balancing, repetition, pay-to-win elements, overall story, and questionable decisions leaves a lot to be desired.
I do think this game excels in one department though: satisfying that "Shin Megami Tensei" itch. While simplified, it still has the same addictive nature as the games you find on game consoles. That's why I played "Liberation Dx2" for over a year despite my gripes.
However, nowadays I'm more open to emulating the "Shin Megami Tensei" games that were never released outside of Japan and I now have every "Shin Megami Tensei" game on the Nintendo 3DS. I'm glad "Liberation Dx2" exists, but I have no need to play it anymore."
Comments