Review by: Meghan Watt

Devil Summoner 2 returns with another installment of demon-wielding antics set to smooth jazz and the soothing sounds of dual-devil action. While the story and gameplay match what we've come to expect from the Shin Megami Tensei games, it's the “Gotta Catch 'Em All” fusing and stashing that makes Devil Summoner an addictive and continually rewarding series.

The 1920s marked a strange period for Japan when Western ideals slowly began to flush out age-old tradition. Add a capital infested with luck-sapping locusts and hundreds of demons, and you've set the stage for another episode of Devil Summoner. As the fourteenth person to inherit the name “Raidou Kuzunoha,” the greatest devil summoner of all time, you've been sent to the capital on a two-sided mission. First, defend it against all supernatural foes. Second, aid the latest damsel in distress on behalf of the Narumi Detective Agency.

Cheesy faux-1920s dialogue aside, the story and detective-noir atmosphere make for an interesting sequel. The genre-perfect set of characters – a helpless “dame,” a dapper detective, and a mysterious man on the run – mixes well with the Tensei style – a talking cat and a dark-haired student with a pocket full of demons. The pacing may seem a tad uneven – hours of scouring the town for a few minutes of dungeon crawling – and the protagonist is rather bland in character, but both the story and dungeons really gather momentum in the fourth chapter.

But, as the title suggests, it's not the dame's sob story that keeps Raidou in shape. It's the far more riveting dungeon sequences that name the game. At times, the twisted corridors and strange puzzles can seem rather daunting, especially when matched with terribly frequent random battles. But the battles themselves are what finally get your fingers off the darn X button.