Game:

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (2005)

Duration: 4:05

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Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 for PlayStation 2 (Japanese version)

Review and more:
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/digitaldevilsagaavatartuner2/index.html

Digital Devil Saga 2 finally realizes the promise of the saga's compelling storytelling, and while it's not without flaws, this demonic adventure still has a lot going for it.

The Good: Dark, demon-filled world and characters are still great; easy-to-use, open customization system for molding your characters; battle system is engaging and complex.
The Bad: Encounter rate is high; necessary resources like money can get scarce easily.


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.


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.

The game has a lot of content to work through at a fairly rigorous level of difficulty, and it has a number of hidden bosses and such that you can seek out should you wish to test your mettle. Once you've beaten the game (and it easily fills out the standard 30 hours or so for a typical RPG), you'll have the ability to play a new game with your learned abilities or even take on hard difficulty if you feel you're up to the challenge. For those who played the first Digital Devil Saga, you can import your saved data into this game, netting yourself some stat bonuses depending on what mantras you trained in. Some of the choices you might have made in that game can affect how certain characters in the sequel interact with you, but it's nothing that has a dramatic impact on the story or the ending.
Digital Devil Saga 2 finally realizes the promise of the saga's compelling storytelling, and while it's not without flaws, this demonic adventure still has a lot going for it. The fascinating cast and world, combined with the absolutely great atmosphere and feel, make it an interesting and able competitor in a crowded RPG market. If swords and sorcery have left you a little fantasy-weary, there are always this game's demons and deities to supply a nice change of pace.

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