EldrinStorm

Honestly, first thing I bought when I had the chance? Wind Trap. Then I upgraded it as soon as possible. Why? COMBO TRAPS. They have saved me a ton of grief in defending Little Sisters. They're oneshot, like the trap rivets and trap spears, but it's really REALLY nice to hear screams from out of sight as they hit the flame and electric traps simultaneously. Honestly though, I think I just kept getting lucky with my gathers, because half the time a lone Big Daddy walked by and took some flak from a Splicer I just dodged and decided he wanted to rip somebody a new one. It's fun when you don't have to fight your own battles - best part is, Big Daddy just walks away after he's done murderfying the Splicers as long as I keep my distance. Perfect.

...Some of you are bashing it on screenshots.
 
Of a work in progress.
 
Specifically, the placeholder textures, and low poly geometry, indicative of early development like so many other games.
 
Other games that most of the complainers probably liked.
 
And this game is clearly incomplete as of right now. As in it's still being developed, new artwork and game assets being designed and added in, meshes and textures being finetuned for fidelity and performance, animations being designed painstakingly to allow for a believable fluidity of motion, etc.
 
...I'm not defending this game. I'm trying to defend the idea that this is a WORK IN PROGRESS.
 
You know who you are, you drooled at all the low res in development polygons that later became a hidef bumpmapped piece of ass named Bayonetta. You absolutely gagged on the plasticine gray figures that would become Solid Snake in MGS4. You even maybe shed a tear when you saw the artwork for games like Crysis and Final Fantasy XIII.
 
Yet when you look at a game that includes ideas that you either don't like, or don't feel like researching, you decide to generalize the entire project and badmouth it. Shame on you. Artists, concept developers, and programmers work hard on this shit. Give them time to present a full rendered trailer, and a demo, and some explanations. Then make your calls. Until you've seen what it looks like after the 95% finished mark, shut up. You're not a game developer, you are a consumer who spends money to buy these games so that you can enjoy them. Give the developers the benefit of actually finishing the game up before passing your judgment. That's all you need to do.
 
/end rant

I would say it is worth it. Atlus has this habit of using the SMT series as a way to mash up different playstyles and game types. If you liked FF X, you wil LOVE DDS 1 and 2, since the combat and level system are similar. However, as true of most SMT games, the level system is far more freeform.

In fact if I recall:

• Devil Survivor: SMT + FF Tactics
• Persona 3 and 4: SMT + Dating Sims
• Devil Summoner (Raidou Vs. Series): SMT + Pokemon + Action RPGs

Anyway, take it. You will not be disappointed. At ALL.

MORE TIPS!

I'm back with a couple of other battle savvy tips to keep us all from boredom.

FIRST: After what is probably the midpoint of the game, you will start getting enemies who come better equipped to deal with the Dark Knight. Here is my suggested order of decimation:

1. Gunmen - This one is fairly obvious if you've ever screwed up the stealth sections badly. Bullet resistant is not the same as bulletproof and just like the rest of us Batman is weak to bullets like Jeff and Vinny riff on Yosuke's homophobia. Since the Detective vision hilights the guys with guns, this should lead to you logically planning your attack on disabling or taking out these guys first.
2. Tasers - Enemies equipped with tasers cannot, I repeat, CANNOT be attacked from the front, and is the game's polite way of reminding you that you can dodge over enemies. Just do that to render them vulnerable, as the stun baton can drop you FAST and give the rest of the mooks a chance to give you an early game over. In short, DoubleTap A when near the intended target and then press X with the stick still pointing at the target to put these guys down.
3. Switchblades/Knives - Annoying, and they can combo. However, there is a warning before they start attacking, so they go lower on the threatlist compared to taser guys. Press B to stun them or dodge over them to get them to drop their guard.
4. Guys With Bricks - Well, actually just very heavy objects. They are annoying but not too bad; their main trick is to throw something at you from off screen, so it's best to make sure that you maintain awareness to keep them from getting a shot at you. Otherwise, throwers are easy to finish off.
5. Blunt Objects/Unarmed - The bottom tier. Never a real threat, just remember to time your counters and stuns to break their attacks up.
   

SECOND: I forgot to mention the other quick-button item (doubletap RT to fire): the Batclaw, and later Ultra Batclaw. A nice way to stun enemies, and if you don't target them right after you pull them towards you, the enemies will drop to the ground stunned, ready for a takedown. Great way to break up a wave coming at you.

FINAL: Upgrades. Namely the Melee combo upgrades and health upgrades. Do your best to upgrade the Melee stuff first, as it opens up the Instant Throw and Instant Takedown (X+A and Y+B respectively). Both are unblockable and can switch a battle around, but you need to have purchased both before you can get the x5 upgrade, which allows you to use these skills at x5 combo count instead of x8. You WILL notice the difference. As for health, save them for very tight spots, as when you make the purchase your health meter will be fully restored.

Okay, since most of you have played the game already, it probably is a very stupid thing to post this. On the other hand, I figured why not.

Anyway, as we have all heard, this game employs the FREEFLOW (TM) combat system. It is at this point that I'd like to say that copyrighting the name of the system doesn't make a whole lot of sense from a consumer standpoint, but who am I to cheat Eidos and Rocksteady out of some extra royalty cash.

If you've forgotten (or never played), you'll know that most of the combat is focused on the Left Stick and the face buttons. For simplicity's sake I will only be using the 360 face buttons because there's one right in front of me, and is probably shorter to type than SQUARE, CIRCLE, CROSS, and TRIANGLE.

What's important to remember is that the idea behind these buttons is not a concrete action (i.e. punch a duder in the face), but rather an idea; or to be specific, a brutally efficient idea on how to wreck the human body. BUT ELDRIN, you say, THIS IS GOING INTO GAME DESIGN THEORY, NOT ACTUAL TIPS. Shut up, I'm getting there -- I'm just a wee bit long winded.

FIRST IMPORTANT TIP: Be aware that you have four face buttons, which correspond to four possible reactions to incoming fists (namely X to strike, Y to counter, B to stun, A to run or dodge). Try to be aware that these are all available, all the time. You do not have to press X all the damn time. Plus variations in how you fight will grant you bonuses in the Challenge Rooms, so that's another impetus to be creative. In addition to that, try your best to push your control stick in the direction of your intended target before you press the button; Batman is fast enough to make the space between not matter enough for the other guy's safety.

SECOND IMPORTANT TIP: DO NOT BUTTON MASH. This makes the game HARDER, because the game tends to queue up all your inputs. So if you mash X three times while an enemy comes up behind you with a pipe, and he decides to hit you before you started mashing, you will probably be unable to counter even if you pressed Y right after, since this game apparently does not let you cancel animations. The game instead is attempting to get you into Batman's mindset: efficient and calm throughout battle. Try instead to tap each button every fourth of a second -- the game WILL intentionally slow down when your combos get high to allow you some mental breathing room. Don't panic, just cause pain.

FINAL IMPORTANT TIP: The batarangs. Once you get the Combo Batarang upgrade, using the Quick Batarang midcombat will not count against your combo counter. This is useful for getting in free hits on far enemies, or stunning the guy in front of you (though this is less useful, as pressing B will net the same result, and probably hit a lot of other people too). Also, Multi Batarang at the beginning of a fight can keep the crazed front runners busy enough to hop over them and pop their buddies a few teeth before returning to them.

Aaaaand, that's it. Add more comments, please, by all means. I just felt like sharing something obvious, since I know people can.