When it comes to the end, "of that day and hour no one knows," says the Book of Matthew.
But what if you did know? What if you had a little handheld computer telling you exactly what
day you, the person next to you, everyone you met, was going to die -- and it was going to
happen soon? You'd want to do everything you could in the time you have left to prevent that
from happening, right?
That very situation is the premise for the way Shin Megami Tensei®: Devil Survivor™ plays out.
At the outset, you discover that your handheld COMP systems allow you to summon demons --
but some of them have a secondary function. When linked together in small groups, the holder
of the "leader's" COMP can use the system's death clock feature and see how many days everyone
nearby has left to live. When the death clock reaches 0, it's that unlucky person's last day
on Earth.
What follows from that is a time management system not entirely unlike that of Persona 3 or 4,
but with central Tokyo locked down and demons rapidly proliferating, there are more pressing
things on your group's mind than hanging out with the sports club. Each day is divided into 30-
minute increments, during which you have your choice of where to go and what to do. But you
can't do everything, and some of your choices will have severe consequences down
the line.
Different days will have different overall goals, which it's up to you to decide how to approach.
Sometimes your own death clock will read 0, in which case you'll be focused on how to survive to
see another day. Sometimes you'll have a few days left but someone close to you is slated to die,
and it's up to you to prevent that from happening. And eventually you'll come to realize that no one
you encounter has very long at all on their death clock, at which point the most important goal of
all becomes clear...
Like all the best SMT games, a lot is riding on your decisions. Even if you can survive the lockdown,
how much time can you spend helping those around you? If the extreme stress everyone is facing
means you have to choose a side between two of your friends, who will you stand with? And when it
falls to you to make the ultimate choice, what will you do? The only way to find out is to test your
mettle against demons, time, and death itself when Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is released
June 23rd.
"Time of Death" by editor Nich Maragos
Linear Mode
