While I would like to do a review of Digital Devil Saga 2, that would be kind of pointless. The gameplay is pretty much identical to the first with the minor changes that were made not really having any effect on it. This isn't a bad thing, as the gameplay from the first one is fine the way it is. It uses all the same mechanics, and you're still going to get horribly screwed over when an enemy ends up getting the first turn. Everything in that regard is the same as the first game.
I can't really talk about the story either. Even a simple plot synopsis would give away everything about the first game, and like the first game it's hard to talk about it without giving away spoilers since almost every scene in the game reveals something important. So rather than do an actual review of the game I'm just going to explain one thing in particular that really makes it feel different than most JRPGs I've played, and that is the atmosphere.
If you're familiar with JRPGs, you've likely noticed that in most there's always a point where you get the entire party together, and just sort of going adventuring with no real goal. Things feel comfortable, there's no immediate threat to deal with, you're just going through the game waiting for the next plot point or threat to show up. You can be fairly confident that once all of your party members have joined they're going to be there permanently, and even if one leaves he or she will be back shortly afterwards. In the course of any 50 hour JRPG, there will only be a few times when you really feel on edge about whatever is going on, and the rest of the time you'll just be sitting back and enjoying the ride.
This doesn't really happen in Digital Devil Saga 2. You get all your party members fairly early on, but they're anything but permanent. Starting at about a 1/3 of the way through the game you start losing party members, never getting the full five member team together again until the final dungeon. They're are also no real moments to relax, because the entire game is basically dungeon exploration. If you aren't exploring a dungeon then you're either watching a cutscene or gone back to the shop to get supplies. It's hard to feel comfortable when you're constantly going from one dungeon to the next and always fighting battles.
Another thing that tends to make most JRPGs have a more comfortable atmosphere is the various cities spread throughout the world. At any time you can go visit them, and generally feel safe since you aren't at risk of being jumped by monsters while you're there. There are no cities in Digital Devil Saga 2, or the first one for that matter. There's maybe one area that counts as a city, but all that's there is a save point, a healing point, and a shop. There aren't many NPCs to talk to, as it's a fairly desolate world. There's always a sense of doom and gloom hanging in the air, even when you're in a relatively safe place. Any other people you do run into usually end up being your enemies, or just strongly dislike you, so there's a real feeling of isolation.
Digital Devil Saga 2 doesn't screw around with death either. People die. A lot of people die. When characters decide to sacrifice themselves, they don't show up in the next scene having miraculously survived being inside an exploding building. They die. It gets rather difficult to choose a team when you really no idea whose still going to be alive in a few hours. Though this isn't really unique to the game, as characters dying in JRPGs isn't exactly new. I don't really think I've seen one that's killed them off quite as frequently as this one though.
A lot of what makes Digital Devil Saga 2's atmosphere feel different probably comes from it being a rather condensed game. It doesn't try to stretch playtime by having you running around a massive world map and constantly going through pointless extra dungeons. If you took any JRPG and cut out any parts that weren't vitally important to the plot, it would probably end up about the same length as Digital Devil Saga 2, and they'd probably have that same feeling of urgency throughout.
Digital Devil Saga 2 never really had a moment where I thought, “Okay, gang's all here. Let's go adventurin'.” By the time the gang is all there you're at the final dungeon, and you can't go adventuring then because you can't leave the dungeon, not that there's anywhere to go adventuring anyways. It did have a moment where I thought, “Okay, please stop killing characters. I need them to fight things,” though. So if you're looking for a game with a tense atmosphere, go play the first Digital Devil Saga so you can play this one.
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