The second DDS title is more of the same and as a result lacks that special spark that could make it amazing.
For those who care, you once again take the role of Serf and his gang of demon shapeshifters as they take on those who placed them in the Junkyard. All the cast return with a few new additions and the story is as bleak and desolate as it was the first time around. Lot's of death gripping cut scenes and a fair chunk of mature content. The game would actually be a lot better if it had more cut scenes as most of the time you'll spend your time running through identical looking corridors that seem devoid of life or creative talent on the way to the next exciting moment. I can't place my finger on it exactly but the title just only seems to draw you in when your watching things happen, not when your actually playing the game.
Yes the combat is the usual SMT fare with a big focus on weaknesses and exploiting those of your enemies and defending your own. This works well especially if you're a veteran of the series but the game will still occasionally throw you into unwinnable battles or situations where you must rely on luck to survive. As you run through the levels like in previous games there is an indicator showing "Solar Noise" and if you happen to get into an encounter when this is high (an you will) your characters will start in half human/half demon forms and be super powered. Unfortunately though they are also less likely to hit and when you miss even one of the monsters in this form they wipe you out on their turn resulting in instant death. No tactics are involved here, you either hit or miss, die or progress. Its awful. Also when you get ambushed in the game your pretty much guaranteed a death unless your over levelled, I was grinding a good 3-4 hours at the start of each dungeon to ensure I could survive ambushes. The game seems to delight in frustrating you.
I'll keep this review brief as everything I said about the original still stands, the game looks reasonable enough, the voice acting is strong, the story is strong, it just lacks that certain extra feeling of "life" it needs to be something special. The almost clinical bland looks of the environments really take away from the atmosphere and the combat while well crafted will frustrate when the circumstances I mentioned arise. DDS 2 is a JRPG that some will love, others will hate, and some like me will just wish it was a little better.