In anticipation for Shin Megami Tensei V, I am playing Digital Devil Saga II, with imported data from the first game. I'm 11-12 hours in. Game is super fun, even if like in the first game, I miss the demon capturing aspect. The game still holds up on its own merits, though. Playing on hard, since I got bonus stuff imported. As long as you're a veteran of the series, and have a good grasp of enemy weaknesses, you'll do fairly well. In a lot of fights, I have just tentarafoo'd my way to victory. Not because I don't know elements of enemies, but because it's super strong. Equip speedy ring for regular encounters, and a lot of enemies will quickly be destroyed. There's still some rng that make you rage inside, like getting ambushed, and then hit by insta kill spells. It's part of the series, I guess.
This game makes more sense from a story perspective. More is explained, and I don't have to just be "sure, I'll kill everything in my way, despite not knowing wtf is going on" anymore. Not that I didn't know what was happening in the previous games, but important terms are only being introduced in the second game, and I can't say more without spoilers.
The exploration part is solid, lots, and lots, and lots of dungeon crawling. Press-turn system is what you'd expect from the series. You'll coast past most encounters when you get elemental weaknesses right, but don't be too confident. One wrong enemy setup, and you could be screwed. The mood and atmosphere of this game differs slightly from the first one, but in the end, Atlus are(were?) very good at settings. Music is great. I'm humming along the tunes while playing.
I want to do the Devil Survivor games, too, but they're supposed to not be a priority for now.