The stage has been set for one of the oddest stories in an RPG that I've ever seen: the story of Digital Devil Saga (DDS). Taking a departure from the typical RPG mindset of "travel the world, slay the big bad guy and save the world", Digital Devil Saga pits you as the leader of the Embryons, a clan in this seemingly post-apocalyptic world known only as the Junkyard. The first thing that will jump out to you as you settle into your new role of clan leader is the design of all the characters in this game. Straying away from the typical design yet again, you control a band of humans that transform into demons. No, these aren't normal demonic creatures, either. You'll have this thing with a strangely shaped head, a red demon with spiky things sticking out of his back and, my personal favorite, the female lead. She has breasts. Breasts that have sharp and very pointy teeth. No, I kid you not. I actually laughed when I saw that.

The monster designs are very well done, too. You'll run into small dog-like creatures, traditional looking goblins and even huge birds and other boss creatures. I really found the character and enemy designs to be one of this game's strongest points and something that went a long way to making it fun to play. Just seeing what the next wild design to be thrown at me would be was enough motivation to play on.

The graphical style in this game isn't quite what would be called cell-shading -- It is a hybrid of skinned polygons and cell-shading. I have to say, though, it was pulled off very well and is very eye-catching. It enhanced the unique character and monster models.

Music and voices are also another positive quality of DDS. It's no secret that I'm a fan of video game music and anyone that has seen my CD collection knows I have multiple RPG soundtracks. While I likely won't search out this soundtrack, I did enjoy hearing some bits of music over and over again. The voice acting was surprisingly good for a member of the RPG genre. Typically an area that is ignored in production, voice acting can be a turn-off for many gamers. Not here, however -- you'll actually enjoy the voice acting (well, most of the time. I did get a bit annoyed at one or two points).

The story was also a solid motivator. I've always been a fan of sci-fi type stories and this game didn't disappoint. It mixed traditional sci-fi features with some traditional fantasy based stuff and did so successfully. The overall theme of the game, reaching Nirvana by defeating all the Junkyard clans, was also a welcome departure from the tried and true save the world theme.

Gameplay shifts a bit more towards the traditional turn based battle system but, just when you think it is boring, a huge twist gets thrown at you. In DDS, you're given an opportunity to give one character a larger share of the experience by devouring your enemies in battle. Each character will have special skills that they learn that allow you to devour an enemy. Doing so gives the character "Atma points", allowing them to advance their Mantra.

What is a Mantra, though? Basically, they are items that grant you new abilities or skills when you equip them on your character. You'll purchase new Mantras from a terminal and earn Atma to master them, allowing you to purchase Mantras that are farther along in that line. This gives you some freedom to customize characters, though you'll be started on a track with each one when you start the game.

Using these abilities intelligently in battle is also (finally!) rewarded. Instead of just dealing some extra damage, you're also given extra turns for exploiting an enemies weakness. Of course, using an attack on an enemy that is strong against it will take extra turns. I really found this to be a novel take on battle that rewarded you for fighting intelligently instead of just spam-using your character's best skill. It also actually rewards the use of spells that block your enemies' attacks -- they'll be penalized for bouncing an ice attack off of an ice shield, for example.

I really couldn't find anything I disliked with this game. Typically, I'll find something in an RPG that I dislike, be it the combat system, limited options for character development or a story that's incredibly overdone. Thankfully, I've not found that in DDS. The story is fresh, characters develop well (both story-wise and skill-wise) and the combat system is really fun. I can definitely recommend this game to anyone looking for a quality RPG on the PS2. While I can't say that it is my absolute favorite RPG to ever release on the PS2, it is definitely one of my favorites. If you enjoy RPGs at all, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

Just don't let the toothed breasts scare you.