Now that people have gotten a taste of Atlus' Digital Devil Saga world from Avatar Tuner, I'll write up my review of the real meat of the series, Avatar Tuner 2! For the people who've not finished DDS:AT yet, skip the spoiler block please.
The story of the game,
Those who've never played the first game should be able to manage pretty well with the plot as the game flashes back to scenes from the 1st game when they matter. Also as a pre-order bonus the Japanese game came with a 15min recap movie of DDS:AT. I wouldn't be surprised if they did the same thing for the US version. One thing for newcomers is that you won't be able to get certain skills or get one of the two ending situations as they are dependant on the dialogue choices you made in the first game.
Visually the game is pretty similar to the first one. Nice looking environments and excellent character/enemy designs give the game a lot personality. More enemies have been ripped from SMT3 and a few more original enemies have been created for the game.
Audio again is like the first. The music is great and better than DDS:AT, though I still prefer the SMT3 ost over either DDS game. Voice acting in the Japanese version gets the job done but doesn't really stick out in anyway.
Gameplay systems have been updated or changed for the better:
Mantra System: The mantra system is now even more like FFX's sphere grid as it's become a honeycomb hexagon beehive looking thing. All the characters start in the middle and after you master a mantra all the mantras touching it (6) open up for mastery. The hexagon is made up of sections for example all the ice/fire spells are in their own areas. So you basically get each character working on a certain section of the grid. Throughout the grid there are locked special mantras. These are unlocked by mastering the 6 mantras surrounding them. Luckily it doesn't have to be done entirely by one character, so if one person masters 3 on one side and another character masters the remaining three it will open up. Sometimes these hidden ones are even stat bonuses like +2 attack for all your party. Since you have to start from scratch (no skills/mantras carry-over from the first game), you'll be learning many of the same skills again, but luckily this time mantra learning has been made even faster as you gain a ton of AP quickly. The hard part is coming up with the money to buy them all! Also the 100% exp for members not in your current party is one of the first skills you get, so you can actually have a pretty evenly leveled team for the entire game which is nice since you will want to take advantage of the mid-battle party switching more often. Also I will give a slight warning and say that your main party is forced into various configurations for the majority of the dungeons, so building up everyone is a good good thing.
The half-transformed state: While this might've seemed like a huge gameplay addition when looking at all those screens of characters who are partly transformed (Serph = human form + demon blade arm), in reality it's more of a quick mini game like the hunts. Basically when the sun phase is 7/8ths or 8/8ths if you get into a battle there is a high chance you will start in this form. Facts about this form are as follows:
--You do insane damage, basically kills any enemy in 1 or 2 hits.
--You have a horrible hit percentage, maybe 50% maybe more like 25%.
--You have terrible defense, 1 or 2 hits will kill you
--You don't have access to any spells, just straight out attack
--You get double or triple the exp/AP you normally would from the battle
--Run is 100% assured at any time.
--You always get first attack
So basically it's a chance to try to get some extra Exp/AP. Because of the assured run and first attack, you can just try to attack with 1-2 characters and depending on the results...run if needed. Despite the horrible defense, I never died during one of these so they are very fair. Also the attacks have badass looking animations, so while not a major gameplay change it's a cool looking mini-fight that requires different strategies and gives some variety to your random battles.
Skill Rings: These are a pretty huge addition. A Skill Ring is an equippable accesory that ups your stats. These come with all types of preset stats and special skills. An example would be the first Magic Ring you will get. It gives Magic +3 and Def +3. Another example would be a Anti-death ring which gives something like +1 to all stats but the equipped person is immune to death spells. Each ring can be unequippped and moved to other characters at any time. Each ring also has a certain number of upgrade chances (usually between 2-4). You can find items from chests/enemies that will add stats to your ring. For instance you can use a defense stone to add DEF+4 to your magic ring and then it'll be Magic+3, DEF+7. As you can see, with 3-4 upgrades of +3/4 to a base of +3/6 the rings can be bring an instant hefty upgrade in stats to any character. If you've beaten the bonus bosses for DDS:AT you will get some special really good rings.
General changes: The difficulty seemed easier to me on the default normal difficulty (if you've finished DDS:AT you are allowed to start on 'hard' if you want). The main difference was that there is an abundance of save points. Seriously, I don't think you can go 10 mins without finding a new save point. Also until the final dungeon I was convinced there were no instant death spells and that you first had to be in curse state to be instant KO'd. But then in the final dungeon I was getting killed by instant death here and there, so I guess the percentage of instant death (mudo spells) succeeding are really really low (I'd guess <10%) on normal difficulty. I died about 4 times in the game total and 3 of those were against bosses, so I think it was a very decent difficulty level that's challenging but not particularly punishing. If you want a tough challenge play on hard
I think someone said that when selling items in the first game time sun phase mattered. Well it doesn't in here so yea...
The game flow is pretty good though it's still in essence a large dungeon game. For me the main story game ran a bit longer than the original (25 hours for DDS:AT, 29 hours for DDS:AT2) but I'm pretty sure there are less dungeons in this one. The game has about 4-6 dungeons that are HUGE, but different from the original they are filled with a good amount of story-moving cutscenes as DDS:AT2 contains the real meaty plot that was missing in the original. Really when it comes to plot I just don't want to say much other than avoid all the spoilers you can, and imagine the best plot you could come up with post DDS:AT and it'll surpass that by leaps and bounds. I think DDS:AT2 may be my favorite story in an rpg this generation because it's very original, makes you think, and is executed nicely. This is a story that will have everyone talking about it for years assuming that people actually play the damn game. While there aren't as many cutscenes as your non-Atlus rpg, there are enough that it keeps you hooked and many along the way feel very rewarding. I guess I'll add that the game atmosphere/story is much darker, more violent, and more brutal than DDS:AT.
There are plenty of hidden bosses including what is supposed to be the most difficult hidden boss ever in an rpg (I'm sure not gonna find out personally ^^. So if you want you can get plenty more playtime out of the game after the tale has ended. Also depending on your dialogue choices from the first game and the dialogue branches in this game you get one of two ending outcomes so if you want the other that's some added replay.
In the end DDS:AT2 takes everything in DDS:AT, upgrades the heck out of it; Adds in the full-fleshed out plot that makes the first game's tale more interesting when looking back on it; and goes to show that you can make really fun word games with both the Japanese and English alphabet in mind if you have smart writers like the group at R&D1 (you'll understand this eventually ). DDS:AT2 really has no faults IMO. It has the challenging huge artisticly designed dungeons, the strong cast with development, the very interesting and non-cliche tale, the deep battle system, the great visuals and music (final boss encounter is awe-inspiring), and is a solid length for an rpg.
Between SMT3 and DDS:AT+AT2, Atlus' R&D1 team has crowned themselves the rpg king this generation. While I'm already anticipating their next project, I'm also accepting the realistic concept that R&D1 may be done for this gen and we'll have to wait another few years for an SMT4 or what Megaten spin-offs next-gen brings. But even then, with a small team and low production budget making 3 (or really 2 since AT is one game) excellent rpg experiences puts them in my books as awesome people ^_^
Rating: A
The story of the game,
takes place in Nirvana aka. Earth-like planet (don't worry these aren't spoilers, they tell you this in the OP movie) where the sun has turned black five years ago and it's rays turn people to stone. So to survive people have moved underground, except a dome city that was built and is run by the Kyoukai (not sure how this will be handled in the US version, but in DDS:AT the (Kyou)kai's Kyou was a kanji making the word Church, whereas in DDS:AT2 the Kyoukai's Kyou is a kanji making the word Society). The game starts you in the underground where Serph, Gale, and Argilla have met up with each other in this new world.
Those who've never played the first game should be able to manage pretty well with the plot as the game flashes back to scenes from the 1st game when they matter. Also as a pre-order bonus the Japanese game came with a 15min recap movie of DDS:AT. I wouldn't be surprised if they did the same thing for the US version. One thing for newcomers is that you won't be able to get certain skills or get one of the two ending situations as they are dependant on the dialogue choices you made in the first game.
Visually the game is pretty similar to the first one. Nice looking environments and excellent character/enemy designs give the game a lot personality. More enemies have been ripped from SMT3 and a few more original enemies have been created for the game.
Audio again is like the first. The music is great and better than DDS:AT, though I still prefer the SMT3 ost over either DDS game. Voice acting in the Japanese version gets the job done but doesn't really stick out in anyway.
Gameplay systems have been updated or changed for the better:
Mantra System: The mantra system is now even more like FFX's sphere grid as it's become a honeycomb hexagon beehive looking thing. All the characters start in the middle and after you master a mantra all the mantras touching it (6) open up for mastery. The hexagon is made up of sections for example all the ice/fire spells are in their own areas. So you basically get each character working on a certain section of the grid. Throughout the grid there are locked special mantras. These are unlocked by mastering the 6 mantras surrounding them. Luckily it doesn't have to be done entirely by one character, so if one person masters 3 on one side and another character masters the remaining three it will open up. Sometimes these hidden ones are even stat bonuses like +2 attack for all your party. Since you have to start from scratch (no skills/mantras carry-over from the first game), you'll be learning many of the same skills again, but luckily this time mantra learning has been made even faster as you gain a ton of AP quickly. The hard part is coming up with the money to buy them all! Also the 100% exp for members not in your current party is one of the first skills you get, so you can actually have a pretty evenly leveled team for the entire game which is nice since you will want to take advantage of the mid-battle party switching more often. Also I will give a slight warning and say that your main party is forced into various configurations for the majority of the dungeons, so building up everyone is a good good thing.
The half-transformed state: While this might've seemed like a huge gameplay addition when looking at all those screens of characters who are partly transformed (Serph = human form + demon blade arm), in reality it's more of a quick mini game like the hunts. Basically when the sun phase is 7/8ths or 8/8ths if you get into a battle there is a high chance you will start in this form. Facts about this form are as follows:
--You do insane damage, basically kills any enemy in 1 or 2 hits.
--You have a horrible hit percentage, maybe 50% maybe more like 25%.
--You have terrible defense, 1 or 2 hits will kill you
--You don't have access to any spells, just straight out attack
--You get double or triple the exp/AP you normally would from the battle
--Run is 100% assured at any time.
--You always get first attack
So basically it's a chance to try to get some extra Exp/AP. Because of the assured run and first attack, you can just try to attack with 1-2 characters and depending on the results...run if needed. Despite the horrible defense, I never died during one of these so they are very fair. Also the attacks have badass looking animations, so while not a major gameplay change it's a cool looking mini-fight that requires different strategies and gives some variety to your random battles.
Skill Rings: These are a pretty huge addition. A Skill Ring is an equippable accesory that ups your stats. These come with all types of preset stats and special skills. An example would be the first Magic Ring you will get. It gives Magic +3 and Def +3. Another example would be a Anti-death ring which gives something like +1 to all stats but the equipped person is immune to death spells. Each ring can be unequippped and moved to other characters at any time. Each ring also has a certain number of upgrade chances (usually between 2-4). You can find items from chests/enemies that will add stats to your ring. For instance you can use a defense stone to add DEF+4 to your magic ring and then it'll be Magic+3, DEF+7. As you can see, with 3-4 upgrades of +3/4 to a base of +3/6 the rings can be bring an instant hefty upgrade in stats to any character. If you've beaten the bonus bosses for DDS:AT you will get some special really good rings.
General changes: The difficulty seemed easier to me on the default normal difficulty (if you've finished DDS:AT you are allowed to start on 'hard' if you want). The main difference was that there is an abundance of save points. Seriously, I don't think you can go 10 mins without finding a new save point. Also until the final dungeon I was convinced there were no instant death spells and that you first had to be in curse state to be instant KO'd. But then in the final dungeon I was getting killed by instant death here and there, so I guess the percentage of instant death (mudo spells) succeeding are really really low (I'd guess <10%) on normal difficulty. I died about 4 times in the game total and 3 of those were against bosses, so I think it was a very decent difficulty level that's challenging but not particularly punishing. If you want a tough challenge play on hard
I think someone said that when selling items in the first game time sun phase mattered. Well it doesn't in here so yea... The game flow is pretty good though it's still in essence a large dungeon game. For me the main story game ran a bit longer than the original (25 hours for DDS:AT, 29 hours for DDS:AT2) but I'm pretty sure there are less dungeons in this one. The game has about 4-6 dungeons that are HUGE, but different from the original they are filled with a good amount of story-moving cutscenes as DDS:AT2 contains the real meaty plot that was missing in the original. Really when it comes to plot I just don't want to say much other than avoid all the spoilers you can, and imagine the best plot you could come up with post DDS:AT and it'll surpass that by leaps and bounds. I think DDS:AT2 may be my favorite story in an rpg this generation because it's very original, makes you think, and is executed nicely. This is a story that will have everyone talking about it for years assuming that people actually play the damn game. While there aren't as many cutscenes as your non-Atlus rpg, there are enough that it keeps you hooked and many along the way feel very rewarding. I guess I'll add that the game atmosphere/story is much darker, more violent, and more brutal than DDS:AT.
There are plenty of hidden bosses including what is supposed to be the most difficult hidden boss ever in an rpg (I'm sure not gonna find out personally ^^
. So if you want you can get plenty more playtime out of the game after the tale has ended. Also depending on your dialogue choices from the first game and the dialogue branches in this game you get one of two ending outcomes so if you want the other that's some added replay.In the end DDS:AT2 takes everything in DDS:AT, upgrades the heck out of it; Adds in the full-fleshed out plot that makes the first game's tale more interesting when looking back on it; and goes to show that you can make really fun word games with both the Japanese and English alphabet in mind if you have smart writers like the group at R&D1 (you'll understand this eventually
). DDS:AT2 really has no faults IMO. It has the challenging huge artisticly designed dungeons, the strong cast with development, the very interesting and non-cliche tale, the deep battle system, the great visuals and music (final boss encounter is awe-inspiring), and is a solid length for an rpg.Between SMT3 and DDS:AT+AT2, Atlus' R&D1 team has crowned themselves the rpg king this generation. While I'm already anticipating their next project, I'm also accepting the realistic concept that R&D1 may be done for this gen and we'll have to wait another few years for an SMT4 or what Megaten spin-offs next-gen brings. But even then, with a small team and low production budget making 3 (or really 2 since AT is one game) excellent rpg experiences puts them in my books as awesome people ^_^
Rating: A