Devil Survivor 2 is a slog, a train-wreck that manages to capture none of the magic of the first game. The cast is weaker across the board. The outcomes to each of their stories are weaker. The concept of the plot weakens the connection you have to the setting. The tension that the first game had is totally absent in this game. While the game mechanics have more depth, it wasn't like the first game was too simplistic (with the superboss encouraging abuse of revive loops). They did not fix the previous game's main weakness (kinda really bad map design), and instead made more gimmicky stupid ass maps.

They brought in an Evangelion artist to do the designs of the Septentriones, and these ice cream looking rejects lack the personality of Bels from the original game, or even the spectacle of Evangelion's angels. They never become more captivating obstacles to overcome, and most of the secondary antagonists come from NPCs doing stupid shit that's success or failure hinges on this jackass of a high schooler. Bunny is the only good thing about this game. In other SMT/Persona games, people like to extrapolate a personality out of potential dialogue choices for silent protags. If we do that for DeSu2's main character, he either does not fully understand what is going on in the plot or just can't be bothered to give a fuck.

As for the rest of the game's art, it's fine up until you hit the point where anatomy matters. Not only are there bruh character designs for high schoolers (like in the first game, to be fair), the other designs lack the modern, "this is just what I threw on to go to the grocery store" look of the previous game.

Devil Survivor 2's endings allow the player to reshape the world in the image of one of his party members. In one of the endings, the world is created in such a way that everyone on the planet unconditionally cooperates with each other. Those in power sacrifice their temporary comfort for those in need of their own volition, while still fully retaining their personality. In the game's on words

"It was a true utopia, the sort men had dreamed of for ages".

This is treated as a lesser ending than "reset back to the status quo of 2010s Japan", because hey, what if something bad happens? What if universal cooperation and acceptance isn't as productive as the ending where everyone is climbing over dead bodies? DeSu2 sucks shit outside of this ending, but over a decade after this game came out, this remains one of the most misanthropic moments in the medium.

I have more nice things to say about all the boring SPRGs everyone's rightfully forgot about like Feda or Stella Deus than I do Devil Survivor 2. This game's highlights are the moments it seems to have contempt for itself, instead of the human condition as a whole. Not recommended to fans of other Atlus games (including the first), strategy games or weebs in general.

On the final boss my demon trumpeter used the move holy melody, which is a move that fully heals the mp and hp of the lowest health person in the battle, enemies included. I assumed the final boss was still around above half health and I needed to heal someone below a quarter health. The move targeted the final boss and somehow missed, just not doing anything. I think that moment alone took 10 years off of my life for the pure shock of almost healing the final boss to full. I killed him on that run and I think about that moment a lot. I was streaming the fight and I think everyone else was equally as confused. This game rocks.