Atlus just released some details and a trailer regarding the upcoming Devil Survivor 2 3DS title:

Fate – that ever-present force that guides our actions plays an important role in SMT: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker. As you get to know your compatriots who are trying to hold back the apocalypse, your bonds will strengthen. In addition to helping drive the story along (but you don’t want to spend too much time chatting with one person in side events while another is in mortal danger…trust me), increasing Fate level with others has practical bonuses too. At the most basic level, your allies will gain certain elemental resistances, and the bonuses increase from there. Joint skill cracking* becomes available when their fate level is high enough, which allows the protagonist to unlock skills from demons his allies have targeted. Then there’s the additional demons that get unlocked, such as Jeanne D’Arc, etc.

So the bottom line is that you’re going to want to make sure you spend enough time with your compatriots to earn their trust, encourage them in battle, and help them to reach the story’s end!

*Skill cracking is how you’ll unlock new skills for use in battle. Basically, you find a demon with the skill you want, and murder them dead. Being able to joint skill crack doubles your chances of getting the skill, giving players more flexibility from the strategy side of things…this is an SRPG after all!