This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.
One of the dullest strategy RPGs ever made is Namco x Capcom, a forgotten Japan-only release for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. Playing the crossover was about as exciting as banging your head against the wall -- the two activities are equally repetitive.
The reason it fails so completely is paradoxically the very reason that it looks so appealing in trailers: the active, combo-based combat. Namco x Capcom's combat isn't too bad at first, but it quickly becomes a series of using the same combos again and again, across maps that take ages to clear out. I've had math tests that were more fun. But now we have Devil Survivor 2, which manages to succeed in every way that Namco x Capcom's battle system failed.
The key here is that, as far as I can tell, Devil Survivor is the only SRPG spinoff that retains some semblance of what made the original so popular in the first place. Now hear me out before you start typing that angry comment. Final Fantasy Tactics is a fine strategy RPG, but it has much more in common with Tactics Ogre than most mainline Final Fantasy games (Final Fantasy XII notwithstanding). Replace the jobs with more generic classes, switch out the Chocobos for horses, and you'd hardly know the difference.
It's easy enough, I suppose, to shoehorn an existing universe into the basic framework provided by the likes of Tactics Ogre. But speaking the language of the genre without sacrificing the spirit of the original game is considerably harder. That's why I'm so impressed with Devil Survivor and its sequel, which manage to translate the battle system of a traditional RPG into an SRPG setting without missing a beat. Just how impressed was I by Devil Survivor 2, specifically? Just read my review to find out.
