History VideoGame / DigitalDevilSaga

* NonIndicativeName: Null Sleep doesn't actually negate Sleep status, despite all of the other "Null ''x''" skills doing ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Instead, it causes all attacks that target the user to miss if the user is asleep. [[spoiler:As such, it's the only "Null" skill in the game that won't make the [[BonusBoss Demi-Fiend]] instant-wipe your party.]]

** In the second game, the four angel [[BonusBoss bonus bosses]] talk about building a thousand year kingdom, and think that ''their God'' was the one who turned humans into stone statues: just like in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII''. In the final dungeon, one can also fight Seth and Satan, the former of which mentions "one who is to judge", referring to [[spoiler:his other half Zayin]] while the latter mentions that [[spoiler:Seraph]] "has chosen to retaliate, like that man did", which refers to Aleph. Taken to an extreme with Satan's FamousLastWords, which are exactly the same as his last words in ''II'' on the Neutral and Chaos routes.

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler:Fred is the only major child character in the games and the only named character to survive]].

->''[[GameOver From illusion to truth...from darkness to light...from doom to eternity...]]''[[labelnote:*]]Variant of the Pavamana Mantra.[[/labelnote]]]]

->''[[GameOver From illusion to truth...from darkness to light...from doom to eternity...]]''

* RewatchBonus: Lots of things only make sense after beating both games, including the tale of the two princes at Coordinate 136, where the heck that cat came from, why Heat is so fixated on Sera, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking why everyone has]] weird hair colors.

* SinisterSentientSun: [[spoiler:The Black Sun emits ray that turns human into stone, unless they have the Atma virus that allow them to turn into demons. The reason for this phenomena was because God, also known as [[Myth/HinduMythology Brahman]], received data from Sera and was disgusted by the action of one man who wanted the power of God that it emits a deadly curse unto the Earth. [[FromBadToWorse Things escalates]] as the events of the second game caused Sera to emit corrupted data unto Brahman again and it decided to download the Earth until it was confronted and restored the Sun to normal.]]

* PanUpToTheSkyEnding: The second game, showing the sun fully restored.

* BossWarningSiren: Before most inescapable fights or boss fights there is a door. Trying to this door will not open it instantly, but player will be warned about the presence of a powerful demon or dangerous force behind it.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Argilla does not have any hunting skills at the beginning of the game. If she has any on a NewGamePlus, she will still refuse to use them until the end of the first dungeon.

* LipLock: Even though the [[Creator/YuriLowenthal voice]] [[Creator/WendeeLee actors]] [[Creator/CrispinFreeman are]] [[Creator/DaveWittenberg very]] [[Creator/SteveBlum experienced]] [[Creator/AmandaWinnLee in voicing]] [[MaryElizabethMcGlynn foreign]] [[Creator/BobPapenbrook animation]], the dialogue has as much awkward pauses and speed variations as other examples in this page; the care put into the lip matching with the Japanese dialogue certainly doesn't help. It's less noticeable when the characters are in their demon forms, but the rest of the time.... yeah.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[ArcWords Om mani padme hm]]'']]

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Most of the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series is about collecting demons (or in the case of the ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' series, collecting Personas). ''Digital Devil Saga'' bucks the trend by having your protagonists be demons themselves, and instead of collecting enemies to get new abilities, you simply destroy them to level up. It's oddly much more like a conventional console RPG in this manner (though the subject matter is ''anything'' but conventional).

* ElementalPowers: from the playable cast, we have:
** AnIcePerson: Serph [[spoiler:and Sera]].
** PlayingWithFire: [[PunnyName Heat]]. [[spoiler: Gale too, if data is imported from the first game]].
** DishingOutDirt: Argilla.
** BlowYouAway: Gale.
** ShockAndAwe: Cielo and Roland.
** CastingAShadow: Gale joins the party with Mudo already in his skill tree.
** LightEmUp: [[spoiler:If the right choices are made in the first game and save data are imported in the second, Argilla will inherit Jinana's ''Seraph Lore'']].

* FiveManBand: You get exactly five playable characters in each game, but their roles wildly vary in each installment.
** TheLeader: [[TheHero Serph]]. He is the Leader of his tribe, and everyone refers to him for the final judgement. In the second game, Gale temporarily gets this role [[spoiler:after Serph's DisneyDeath]]. When Sera wakes up ''she'' takes the role and finally hands it back to Serph when he comes back. [[spoiler:In the very end, he and Sera combine into Seraph for TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, and they take the role.]]
** TheLancer: Heat. He has a RedOniBlueOni dynamic with Serph (with him being the red) and [[FireWaterJuxtaposition opposite elements]]. He is also the Embryon's second in command. In the second game, Gale takes this spot due to Heat's abscence, and then it shifts to Roland when the former becomes TheLeader.
** TheSmartGuy: Gale. He makes most of the strategies that Serph gets the final say on. Roland shares this role with him in the sequel, especially when Gale is promoted to TheLeader.
** TheBigGuy: Heat also has this role, as his status growth favours physical damage above all. In the sequel, Cielo and Roland take over, as the former's WeaksauceWeakness has been fixed, and they become the primary damage dealers.
** TheChick: Argilla. She is the team's primary healer. She also doubles as TheHeart, as she is the most moral and compassionate member in the group.
** TheHeart: Sera. Quite literally because she is the one who awakens emotions to the residents of the Junkyard. Argilla also has traits of this.
** SixthRanger: Roland. He is the last one to join the Embryon and still serves as TheLeader of his own group, [[LaResistance the Lokapola]]. After [[spoiler:most members die, Sera takes over thus making her this trope and TheLeader at once.]]
** EleventhHourRanger: Depending on player choices, [[spoiler:either Roland or Heat join the party for TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Seraph also qualifies, as they join at that exact moment]].

* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: See BonusBoss, above.

** Expel/Light-elemental skills, traditionally OneHitKill skills, are just {{Percent Damage Attack}}s in these games.

* DiminishingReturnsForBalance: In the second game only, each stack of a buff is worth half of the previous one.

* GainaxEnding: Both games, although the beginning of the second game explains what happened in the ending of first one.

** Pity the woman who has her tattoo on her butt cheek.

* TakenForGranite: ''Sunlight'' turns every normal human to stone in the sequel. Very few humans escaped petrification and those so affected are irreversibly dead, due to them being turned into extremely crumbly statues. Yes, it's just as creepy as it sounds.