VGRC

The promised land was nothing but a new hell

Picking up right where the first Digital Devil Saga left off, DDS2 finishes the story and provides a thrilling conclusion. After conquering 5 rival tribes, Serph and the Embryon fought their way to Nirvana, leaving the Junkyard behind them. However, this "Nirvana," was nothing but a new hell. It turns out that the Junkyard, and all its inhabitants were simply VR creations designed to create advanced AI to create a new breed of super-soldiers. In the real world, the human population lives in a state of constant fear from the Karma Society, whose soldiers have the power to transform into demons, just like Serph and his comrades. With the soldiers of the Karma Society feeding on the dwindling human population, the humans must live underground to protect themselves from a sun emanating rays that transforms people into stone.

Yeah. It's a safe bet to say that Digital Devil Saga 2 really builds upon the story. A lot. It moves forward a lot quicker than it did in the first game, and dramatic moments are also more frequent. To sum it up: This is not something you'd ever see in a Final Fantasy game, due to it's dark and mature nature with demons, technology and religious references. The Mature rating is not only fitting because of the violence, but because the story is so complex that anybody who doesn't have a big enough attention span will quickly lose track of what the hell is going on.

The game is made more immersive, just like in the first, due to the impressive graphics. The dark, gloomish cel-shaded graphics fit the world of DDS2 even better than in the first game. This is possibly the best cel-shaded game I have ever laid eyes on... and I normally dislike cel-shading! Sound, again, adds to the atmosphere, with top-notch voice acting and a wide array of effects and what-not that help the game (especially the battles) feel that much more lively. Also, whereas DDS1's music was more based around light guitar work, DDS2 throws some pop and electronic beats into the mix. It's not bad, though. Not bad at all.

DDS2 follows the "don't fix it if it ain't broken" path, as evidenced by the return of the kickass battle system from the first game. It's based off a 3-person party system, with 5 characters to swap in and out of it. The turn-based system (called the Press Turn battle system) is designed to reward smart battle tactics. Your party has a set amount of turn icons, which represent how many actions you can perform, and can be expanded or shortened based on your actions. For example, if you hit an enemy weak spot (such as attacking a fire-based demon with an ice attack) you only use up half a turn icon. However, if an enemy can absorb or dodge one of your attacks, then you waste two turn icons. If you decide to pass so a more capable party member can attack, then only a half a turn icon is used, adding valuable time for a better battle plan. To emerge victorious, you must master this system.

There are changes afoot, however. Namely, the mantra grid has been toyed with, replaced by a honeycomb chart which expands outwards as you collect and master new mantras. And I must say, it is something I really wish was in the first game. Whereas in DDS1, to get the level 5 fire mantra, you had to buy and master the level 1-4 fire mantras first. With the honeycomb-style grid, you can buy and equip any mantra as long as you've mastered one of the mantras surrounding it on the grid. This essentially allows you to work your way out to the outer rings and work on mastering all the high-level mantras, rather than having to power-level your way through countless lower-level mantras first. There are also some special mantras that you can only learn if you master ALL of their surrounding mantras on the grid. It's a tad more complicated, but it works. There's also rings you can find, equip and power up that increase your character's stats. More of a novelty idea rather than a compelling new feature, but it's a lovely addition nonetheless.

However, the game is not without it's frustrations. Namely, the tediousness. As fun as the battle system is, the encounter rate is insanely high, and the dungeons seem to play off that way too much... moreso than in the first game. Puzzles are not very hard, but everything is distanced so far from everything else. You know where to go and what switches to press, it's just that you'll end up hitting a few dozen battles on the way to something not very far away. To add to the frustration, your characters don't remember any of their old skills from DDS1, and you can't transfer them into DDS2 from the first game. Though you can get some bonuses with saved data from the first game (some special rings can be earned, stat bonuses and a special skill for one of the characters) it feels, well, not that special. Basically, you will feel bored because everything feels the same and you're just doing the same thing over again, only with a different story. If you lack patience, then maybe DDS2 isn't for you. Though the changes to the mantra grid can ease some of the pain (Thanks to its design, you just need to make a path to the outside of the grid, and just work on mastering the high-level mantras rather than having to power-level your way through tons of low-level mantras.) But frankly, I think Atlus should've combined the two games into one, expanded the mantra grid drastically, and it would've worked a lot better. On another side note, if you haven't played (or beaten) the first DDS, then understanding the story in DDS2 will be a bit difficult.

Still, Digital Devil Saga 2 is an excellent RPG, despite its faults. Combined with the first game, you're looking at a good 70+ hour gaming experience that nobody should miss. RPG of the year material? Definitely.