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Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2

If you haven’t played Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga yet, what are you doing starting with part two? Get up off your butt, go buy the first installment, play it through entirely and then come back and we’ll talk about part two. I mean it! Go! I’ll be here when you get back. Honest. I have all day. I can watch the Super Bowl, I can make something to eat, I’ll be fine. Let me know when you’re ready.

Back so soon? Cheater! Oh well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

In the first part of this epic RPG, we were introduced to the members of the Embryon Tribe, warriors in a world known as the Junkyard, who had to conquer all the other tribes in order to ascend to the heaven-like realm known as Nirvana. The odd twist is that Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga’s “heroes” were caught in a world where, against their will, they transform into demons who literally eat their enemies after defeating them. While there are no grotesque depictions of roasting some poor sap’s limbs on a George Foreman grill, SMT:DDS was one of the first videogames in memory to feature heroes who, basically, are cannibals. About the only thing that makes them sympathetic is that they are unwilling participants in this curse, at least initially.

The first SMT:DDS chapter, admittedly, ended abruptly as a large battle was won; with the lack of a satisfying epilogue left some gamers feeling hung out to dry, even though they knew a second part was due to be released a few months later. Shin Megami Tensei: Digitial Devil Saga 2 is that conclusion everyone’s been waiting on. When last we left our fine young cannibals, they were on the verge of ascending to Nirvana; the game picks up right where that game left off, with the Embryon Tribe in Nirvana, but scattered, with only three key members (Serph, Argilla and Gale) still together. Reuniting the tribe and searching for Heat, Cielo and, most importantly, Sera, is the main initial quest as the story picks back up.

But hold on; Nirvana turns out to be a whole lot less than it was cracked up to be. The world the Embryon Tribe encounter isn’t all that different from the Junkyard and soon, it is revealed that… well… OK, so I won’t spoil it here, but let’s just say that in the first couple hours, everything you thought you knew about the Junkyard and the Embryon Tribe is turned on its ear. Let’s just say things are not as they seemed to be in the 40 or so hours of the previous game, and it’s a twist that, while entirely in keeping with the tone and atmosphere of the previous game, is close on pure shock level to the kind of “mess with your mind and perception of reality” as was the original The Matrix movie, though in a somewhat original sort of way. Of course, once you start playing those games, you begin to question the perception of the world you’re now being told is “real.” Whether the Junkyard and Embryon Tribe’s experiences there were genuine or not, and whether the world of Nirvana is genuine or not, is a theme that will percolate in the background of the rest of SMT:DDS 2, which makes for some good fun.

If you have completely cleared your way through SMT:DDS, you’ll be able to import some data off that save and get bonus material as you play your way through SMT:DDS 2. It’s worthwhile to do so, and Atlus doesn’t allow importing partial data from an incomplete SMT:DDS game save, so it’s an all-or-nothing deal. Either way, SMT:DDS 2 will give you some back story and, in the style of ABC’s LOST, give you some flashback material as well and reveals what made the Embryon Tribe who they are today.

As before, the script for SMT:DDS 2 is written with a great deal of subtlety and the voice actors deliver equally subtle, understated, controlled performances that compliment the stylistic art to create a superbly moody atmosphere. Unfortunately, when you arrive in Nirvana, you soon find yourself kicked back to level one and having to re-earn all your skills and experience points; that becomes a theme of the game, with party members wondering why they don’t feel as strong as they did back in the Junkyard. So at least the standard “start over” is used as a theme within the storyline.

The game’s enemies are freshened up with some new variety rather than being completely identical retreads of the first title, a true blessing that keeps the last 30-plus hours of the game more engaging that it might have been otherwise. The skill system has also been redesigned a bit, though it still is a faint echo of Final Fantasy X’s system, with some new twists. Also, once you’ve been through the game once, you can play through a second time, maintaining your higher skills, stats and levels, so that you can play through on Hard difficulty, a real challenge considering that the normal mode is already one of the more challenging RPGs on the market today.

I’d love to go on and on about the great payoff the game builds to, but that would be spoiling the game for those who haven’t had a chance to finish it yet, and believe me, it’s an ending you don’t want spoiled. The general spiritual themes of the first game are expanded on from the word, “Go,” here, and are even more pronounced in SMT:DDS 2. How will those spiritual themes, as well as the whole “what reality is real” concept ultimately play out? Sorry, you’ll have to play through yourself to find out. And once you do, you’ll thank me not for spoiling it.

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Tags: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2

Posted by Craig "American Idle" Hansen on Feb 10th, 2006 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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