Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 Review

The Shin Megami Tensei series' demonic tradition continues with Digital Devil Saga 2, a game that brings about a conclusion to the events chronicled in the original Digital Devil Saga. It's a delightfully dark and bizarre ride through the realms of spirituality, technology, and the human spirit that takes some neat twists along the way in both plot and gameplay. The high enemy-encounter rate and some income issues mar the experience somewhat, but this is a journey that is still well worth taking for fans of Japanese role-playing games itching to embrace their inner demons.

From one nightmare world into another--the members of the Embryon just can't catch a break.

Digital Devil Saga 2 picks up directly where the first game left off, and if you haven't played the original, you'll be left with a bit of narrative catch-up work to do. The young members of the Embryon tribe, whom you controlled in the first game, have left their shattered, war-torn world of the Junkyard behind them. They've ascended to what they believe is Nirvana, only the truth of Nirvana turns out to be something they didn't expect. It's a world not too different from their own, in that the demonic Karma Association forces reign supreme over a cowed human population that's been forced underground. They were forced there by the sun, which turned black and menacing and started sending what people call "bad data" to the lands of Nirvana, turning everyone its rays touched to stone. If that weren't enough of a weird turn of events, the old world of the Junkyard is revealed to be nothing more than a complex war simulation, a field upon which those in Nirvana tested various combat artificial intelligence data. All your characters--the solemn Serph, the emotional Argilla, the icy-cool Gale, and the rest of the crew--are simply AI constructs from that program that have somehow been brought out into the real world through a girl named Sera.

This is just scratching the surface of the real truth of the identities of the members of the Embryon and their relationships with both Sera and each other. Digital Devil Saga 2 is definitely meatier storywise than the first game, bringing all the established factions together, revealing their convoluted pasts, and steering them toward the path of enlightenment. There are a number of emotionally heavy moments in the game, made all the more meaningful by how genuinely interesting and involving the characters are. You'll feel real empathy for everyone as they move toward coming to grips with the truths of their lives even as they continue to fight for survival.

This kind of immersion is only helped by the attractive, distinct style of the game, which once again features Kazuma Koneko's unique and compelling artwork. From the somber and striking main characters, to all the crazy, great demons you'll encounter in the game, there's always something fascinating to feast your eyes on. The demon designs remain both incredibly fluid and terrible (in a good way) to look upon, and though you'll recognize a number of them if you've played the original game, they all still look great. The game's sound complements the world well and is once again an aural gumbo of all different styles of music, from the battle themes' addictive rock, to a variety of mystical, more ominous tunes, and even some pop thrown in for good measure. It all somehow works, tying the strange and ruined world that you wander through together with a distinctive look and sound.

The demons are both beautiful and grotesque and so well constructed you'd almost believe that there really is a two-legged clawed elephant out there somewhere.

You'll spend a lot of time wandering this world, and a lot of time fighting, because Digital Devil Saga 2 keeps the encounter rate high throughout the game. Three characters can fight at a time, though if you've got more waiting in the wings, you have an option in battle to swap them out for different members. A simple melee attack is always at your disposal, but your party members' real strengths come from their mantras, which are schools of demon abilities that they can learn. There are elemental abilities covering the gamut of fire, ice, electricity, and earth, as well as physical attack abilities, powers to devour your enemies, healing magic, and so forth. You learn these skills through a mantra system that's changed from the first game, presenting you with a large honeycomb grid composed of skill units. While this grid starts off fairly small, as your characters move through and learn different skills, the available number will expand. There are even some locked abilities that can be learned only if you first master all the mantras surrounding them, and any character can learn any mantra. While it's all a bit complex, there are strong reasons you want to invest the time customizing your characters.