This review contains spoilers
Pretty good. A step down from the first game in terms of narrative and atmosphere, but still incredibly fun and a pretty interesting twist at the usual alignments that I wish more games in the franchise could do.
There's actually two parts to this game; the Septentrione Arc (aka DeSu2 vanilla) and the Triangulum Arc (which was added in this game). The vanilla arc itself is fine, but not that interesting narratively. The stakes are a lot higher than in DeSu1, but the atmosphere is severely lacking, especially with the presence of the JP's giving the protagonist and the group nearly everything they need. I did like the ideological alignment split though, and I wish more SMT games would go with a similar alignment split. That said, the game really didn't need to be as light-hearted as it did. It really weakened the game's atmosphere, with it also having one of the weirdest moments I've seen in these games (the Airi/Kama scene).
The Triangulum Arc is a lot better. The stakes feel a lot higher this time, with it having some actually interesting story beats and revelations (Miyako, the protagonist "glitching", the world regressions, the many Administrators, etc.) I feel the game really shined here, with the overall writing getting considerably better (both plot-wise and character-wise), with one of the cooler endings in the series (Human Admin).
The gameplay of DeSu2 itself is a lot better than its predecessor, with demon race upgrading skills, more skills in general, and Phys getting buffed.
I also liked more characters in this game (Joe, Makoto, Fumi, Daichi, Miyako) than in DeSu1 (Yuzu and Atsuro), but the weakest characters are really weak (Jungo, Keita).
Overall it's no Devil Survivor 1, but it's very good in its own right. Easily one of the most underrated (and overhated) games in the franchise.
There's actually two parts to this game; the Septentrione Arc (aka DeSu2 vanilla) and the Triangulum Arc (which was added in this game). The vanilla arc itself is fine, but not that interesting narratively. The stakes are a lot higher than in DeSu1, but the atmosphere is severely lacking, especially with the presence of the JP's giving the protagonist and the group nearly everything they need. I did like the ideological alignment split though, and I wish more SMT games would go with a similar alignment split. That said, the game really didn't need to be as light-hearted as it did. It really weakened the game's atmosphere, with it also having one of the weirdest moments I've seen in these games (the Airi/Kama scene).
The Triangulum Arc is a lot better. The stakes feel a lot higher this time, with it having some actually interesting story beats and revelations (Miyako, the protagonist "glitching", the world regressions, the many Administrators, etc.) I feel the game really shined here, with the overall writing getting considerably better (both plot-wise and character-wise), with one of the cooler endings in the series (Human Admin).
The gameplay of DeSu2 itself is a lot better than its predecessor, with demon race upgrading skills, more skills in general, and Phys getting buffed.
I also liked more characters in this game (Joe, Makoto, Fumi, Daichi, Miyako) than in DeSu1 (Yuzu and Atsuro), but the weakest characters are really weak (Jungo, Keita).
Overall it's no Devil Survivor 1, but it's very good in its own right. Easily one of the most underrated (and overhated) games in the franchise.