This review is for the original Famicom release and doesn't take into account the improvements made in its remake, Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei. Length Warning.

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 2 is a phenomenal game. I don't even know where to start, tbh.

I finished Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 1 right before in preparation for DDSMT2 once the English translation for the NES version of the game was finally released. While DDSMT1 is generally viewed by fans pretty negatively, it fills a niche that is perfect for a masochistic boomer like me to enjoy. However, it's easy to see why so many megaten fans, even diehards, dropped or ignored the game altogether. Because of its brutality, its mechanical simplicity, its often cryptic means of progression, its grindiness, its poor combat balancing especially in the endgame…You get the idea. I wouldn't fault anyone for disliking DDSMT1 outright. It clicked for me quickly for several reasons: its ambition, its absurd but still intensely satisfying challenge rivaling (and topping, imo) that of the infamous Dragon Warrior II, its banging soundtrack, and especially its weird ass design choices. Whether it be the nonlinear entry-and-exit approach to dungeons, the boss-integrated puzzles, or its interconnected map structure which includes a literal FLYING CITY of a dungeon which after conquering you can then fly to different locations... Yeah, DDSMT1 did some shit that I still have not seen replicated to this day. 36 years later. And so, despite its shortcomings, the first game Is exactly the type of game I can get a ton of mileage and enjoyment out of. Even if those glaring issues make for a very rough package overall. I'd give it like an 8/10 probably. It's fucking great.

DDSMT2 however, is an entirely different beast. DDSMT1 was a (rough) adaptation of an 80's sci-fi novel trilogy of the same name. Therefore, DDSMT2 was the first game where the team was given free reign over the project creatively. Combine that fact with their prime position to refine and iterate on the ambitious and groundbreaking foundation set by its predecessor DDSMT1, and you get one hell of a followup; a followup that capitalizes on the potential of DDSMT1 and so much more.

DDSMT2 is, for my money, second to none as one of the most impressive and memorable entries in all of the Megami Tensei franchise. It’s well worth checking out even for those who found DDSMT1 too rough or unpalatable to truly enjoy. This is the game where MegaTen truly comes into its own, and in many ways, sets a REAL foundation for the even greater follow ups- Shin Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei II.

I'd likely consider DDSMT2 the single most ambitious game in the entire NES library. It's a massive, 60+ hour journey that brings the duology to well over 100 hours long in total. It boasts a sprawling narrative with not just one, but TWO giant open worlds to explore in a pseudo-nonlinear fashion. There are multiple story paths, red herrings and misdirections starting from the very first hours of the game, callbacks, references, twists and turns, and distinct endings formed around the player’s level of engagement with the world and dialogue choices made throughout the game.

The game has a surprisingly dynamic sense of atmosphere across its two worlds- with the tone ranging from (in typical megaten fashion) bleak and gritty to fantastical and adventurous, from outright horrific to doofy and charming, and from industrial and dystopian to ethereal and demonic. While not something later entries don't also accomplish, it's worth noting that DDSMT2 was the first game to nail that huge tonal range that I'd consider one of the biggest draws of the MegaTen franchise. It’s one of the main characteristics which sets it apart from most other JRPG franchises.

Demon fusion was already a groundbreaking innovation in the original game, and the mechanic is only iterated upon further in this sequel. It has much-improved binary AND new trinary demon fusion mechanics, elemental slime infusion, and a massive cast of demons that I could easily see spanning over 200 total. During the post-credits sequence where you can see the stats and designs of every single demon, I personally counted well over 40 demons I not only didn't recruit, but didn't even SEE one time over the course of the game. It's pretty nuts to see the sheer quantity of uniquely and intricately designed demons, complete with unique (albeit limited) animation and unique skillsets which coincide with their appearances/designs, and in some instances, even mythological backgrounds.

It really should be reiterated that the amount of substanative quantity packed into DDSMT2, not even taking its already impressive design quality into account, is baffling. Despite my best efforts to explore every nook and cranny of the games’ worlds, I still missed out on encountering so many unique demons, battles, and events along the way. I understand that it may be a frustrating prospect for some players. But for me personally, it only serves to impress me more that such a fundamentally ambitious game is still bursting at the seams with content. Even beyond the main path, there is so much to see that, without a ludicrously detailed guide dictating all of your movements and decisions, you won't ever see everything it has to offer. Keep in mind this is an NES game we're talking about. Y'know, that system with limitations so stringent that developers often struggled to find ways to stretch their games into an experience with enough longevity to warrant their high price tags.

DDSMT2 also features greatly improved demon negotiation with both unique demon dialogue and unique negotiation circumstances- including six different actions for approaching each individual negotiation. After the initial demon encounter, you can mix-and-match as few or as many of these six actions as you like in order to raise affection points before initiating the recruitment of said demon. It's a system that, while not as complex or intuitive as it COULD be if iterated on in future games, was still a massive step up from DDSMT1’s system.

Also, I just gotta say, this is quite possibly my favorite approach to demon negotiation of any game in all of MegaTen. I really dig how the demons leave it up to YOU to decide how much you want to interact with them before the bargaining begins- as you have to choose WHEN to initiate that bargaining yourself. It creates an interesting risk/reward system where, if you successfully charm the demon with one extra action, you're more likely to get them to ask for fewer gifts in order to join. However, if the demon responds coldly, you cause the demon to lose affection points- making recruitment more difficult and costly, inciting them to get hostile, and even run away occasionally.

This results in an interesting tactical dynamic in the endgame especially since random encounters later on become more frequent and hit much harder. Early on in the game, demons running away during negotiation seemed like just a frustrating nuisance when you’re trying to get a very specific demon to join you. Yet in the latter half of the game, demons running away could often be a saving grace when traversing the endgame labyrinths to end encounters quickly as a means to progress WITHOUT depleting your resources. Put simply, the negotiation in DDSMT2 plays a large part in the massive leap forward in strategic depth from its predecessor. Whereas previously negotiation felt rather distinct and removed from the combat portion of the game itself, the two mechanics feel much more harmoniously integrated this time around.

The game isn't perfect by any means, though I have surprisingly little in the way of complaints. A lot of the complaints I have are more frustrations than anything else, given that I was stubborn about not using save-states within dungeons so as not to break the intended difficulty or anything like that. Multitarget instakill spells fly all over the place in the second half, which lead to some brutal moments of wiping out near the end of long ass dungeons. The dungeon layouts themselves can often lead to hair-pulling frustration since there is no fully detailed minimap (though this was addressed in the Kyuuyaku remake, thankfully). Also, the only map you DO get through the “Mappa” spell (which yes, still costs MP… smh) is still a brutally small 3x5 grid. It's also completely unmarked, meaning it's up to you to remember where stairs, warp pads, pitfalls, shops, and well, literally anything else, are located.

One other nagging issue I did find myself pretty bummed about throughout the game was the lack of item description and equipment statistics. The game provides much more variety for character equipping- you now have separate slots for a gun, a sword, a helmet, a suit of armor, leggings, boots, and two different types of accessories (again divided by male/female armor like in DDSMT1). However, at no point in the game do you get the ability to see HOW these weapons and armor actually impact your overall stats. There is the exception of certain armor providing passive stat boosts (ie to Vitality, Wisdom, Attack, etc) which show up on the stat screen as red pegs instead of blue, but that's it. The only way I found to kinda-sorta gauge the effectiveness of weapons and armor is to see how much they sell for in the shops. If they offer you more, then chances are it's more useful.

Lastly, the game CAN have moments of being fairly cryptic, but nothing as utterly insane and unfair as the Izanami mask scene from DDSMT1. If you fully take in the world and talk to all the NPCs while exploring every area thoroughly (as you should, since it's one of the game's strong suits), you're given straightforward hints and directions for pretty much every required piece of progression in the game. If you play without relying on a walkthrough, there are definitely moments where trial and error takes over for an hour or two, and you'll experience more than your fair share of wandering around the world looking for a nugget of info to get you into the next section of the game. But for the most part, the game plays pretty logically and just requires you to pay attention and think critically at certain pivotal points.

To get into some smaller miscellaneous points, DDSMT2 has a GOD TIER soundtrack. Tons more variety than its predecessor and some of my favorite tracks in the series. The synth from the main battle theme “Death Match” never once got old, and the unsettling progression over the Demon World’s overworld theme “Hallucination” gives me chills just thinking about it. I’m not sure if it beats out SMT1’s “Ruins” for my favorite MegaTen overworld theme but it’s damn close. It’s hard to believe some of these tracks were doable on the Famicom soundboard- particularly the final boss track “OMEGA” which is as long and epic as the YHVH encounter deserves- and has some absolutely crazy synthesizer melodies to boot.

The game also boasts fantastic sprite work both for the demons and the various boss backgrounds- my favorite of which was definitely the Leonard boss in Ueno. The juxtaposition between the horrific demonic entity and naked human cult members worshiping it in the background brought back memories of Berserk’s Conviction arc. There are some legendary first-time boss encounters for series staple enemies- Lucifer, Satan, and YHVH being the most obvious. But the game has dozens of aesthetically great boss fights throughout.

There are surprisingly memorable story moments in DDSMT2 for an NES game. One of which immediately comes to mind is the red-herring misdirection of the game containing an overhead-style remake of DDSMT1- which is revealed to simply be a computer game WITHIN the post-apocalypse of DDSMT2’s world. But there are plenty of moments that have this level of impact: Hideto getting his arm cut off and having to desperately escape a huge dungeon while actively bleeding out. Getting a cybernetic attachment to replace it. The demon children sidequests. The misdirection of Senda and Rosanna’s story roles. Turning Bael into a frog and it ACTUALLY having huge story ramifications later on. Discovering the Demon World by circling the Hachiko statue. Finding Izanami’s decaying body in the basement of Bael’s castle and bringing her back to life before tackling the endgame. The satisfaction of using weak, random ass demons to progress through certain endgame areas (Undine and Gnome) including finding a powerful knight frozen in a block of ice and bringing him along with you. And of course, a gorey decaying head chilling on a table telling you nonchalantly that the leader of the opposing military faction is actually Satan himself. Y’know, just normal MegaTen things.

The game has great attention to detail and NPC dialogue across the world that changes as the game progresses. A great example of this would be Senda’s girlfriend. She first appears in the shelter where the game starts proper, and at first it seems like a bit of an afterthought and/or a small detail for the sake of it. But if you return to that room where she is if Senda has a status ailment or is dead, her dialogue changes accordingly and she will freak out- something that really caught me off guard when I went and checked just for the hell of it. She even has a bit of story relevance and helps you out later on in the game. I think what got to me most of all was checking back on her at the very end of the game, as despite the fact that Senda’s twisted and tragic path already led to his death, she clings to hope that he’ll still come back to her. While this is one of the stronger examples, dialogue changes regularly in the game’s major locations as you move through the various plot points. Again, for an NES game, this level of detail in the narrative is extremely impressive.

Lastly, the game has a super hype endgame that really sells the sense of progression as you feel yourself get exponentially more powerful as the final goal quickly approaches. Getting Baal and especially a level 100 Lucifer to join your party were INCREDIBLE rewards for trekking through the brutal and deflating endgame dungeons up to Beelzebub’s lair and Lucifer’s Castle. Lucifer’s Sword was also a blast to use because of how stupidly powerful it was, getting up to 8x attacks in a row PLUS criticals felt so good to unleash hell on some of the most powerful and iconic enemies in the series.

In short, this game rips. Hard. It feels incredibly ahead of its time and the mechanical prowess it shows in combat, fusion, and negotiation set it apart from every other 8-bit JRPG I've played. The way it pushes the series forward and jumpstarts the evolution of the Megami Tensei franchise is nothing short of brilliant. Shin Megami Tensei II in particular feels VERY similar to DDSMT2 in terms of its narrative scope and world, albeit that game is much more refined and with stronger character writing and worldbuilding. But I think I've made a decent enough argument as to why this game is such a marvel for the time it was released and still fantastic to play over 30 years later. I’m not sure I’d give it the straight up 10/10 despite how much I adored this game, since I do think SMTII feels like this game but done even better for the most part. Though DDSMT2 certainly has its own appeal and strengths over the more plot-heavy SMT2. But the game does so much right that it’s a no brainer 9/10 for me. Overall, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 2 is a massive step-forward from the already solid DDSMT1 by improving the formula in many ways while continuing to excel even more in others- and sets the stage for the entire rest of the massive and legendary Megami Tensei franchise to follow.