October 23rd has been set as the Japanese release date for Devil Summoner Kuzunoha Raidou vs. King Abaddon, the new installment in the Devil Summoner series. A limited release version subtitled “Plus,” will also be available and features an extra disc: “Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Maniacs Chronicle Edition,” a new edition of Maniacs rumored to have Dante’s character replaced by Raidou. The regular edition contains a bonus soundtrack CD.

King Abaddon throws you back into the role of Raidou some years after the events in the previous game. This time around there’s over twice the amount of recruitable demons and up to two can be summoned at once. Demon negotiation has been brought back from previous titles and your demon companions are able to help you out in the process. You are even able to forge your demon partners into new types of weapons.

As of yet Atlus USA has made no announcement on a possible North American release of the ‘Plus’ edition of King Abaddon or of ‘Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Maniacs Chronicle Edition.’

Retro-posted October 6th, 2008

Amazon usually winds up recommending things to me that I already bought, but on the plus side I can pass the information out to those less fortunate. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner for the PS2 has been marked down from $49.99 to a nice $27.99. It’s unknown how long this price will remain (Amazon is known to put things like this back up to full price quickly), so go for it if you haven’t already.

Coincidentally, you can also pick up the official Double Jump guide for $13.59. Or, just buy both at the same time for $41.58.

Good deal.