Shin Megami Tensei II

Shin Megami Tensei II tells its story decades after the first game, in a devastated Tokyo nicknamed Millennium's Reign, ruled by a god supported by the fanatically devoted faith of his followers. As a nameless hero, the player once again makes their way through dungeons full of demons who can be recruited through negotiation and then fused into stronger forms, but compared to the first game, the entire negotiation and fusion system is noticeably more elaborate and offers a wider range of creatures, combinations, and tactics. The story further develops the series' signature theme – the struggle between Law, Chaos, and Neutrality – but this time with a distinctly darker undertone of organized religious oppression and the manipulation of the populace through faith.

The move to the Super Famicom brought noticeably better graphics and sound compared to the 8-bit first game – more colorful environments, smoother battle animations, and an atmospheric soundtrack that could convey the city's ruin more evocatively than the text-heavy density of its predecessor allowed. The dungeons are larger and structurally more complex, which at the time meant considerably harder navigation without any modern hints, but also a deeper sense of discovery amid the ruins of a future Tokyo full of cults and factions. The new world is also divided among factions with their own territories and rules, so which side the player leans toward affects not only the ending but also which routes are safe to travel and who will help – or, conversely, obstruct – them along the way. The fusion system, moreover, works for the first time with a wider range of rarer and more powerful demons, obtaining which requires fulfilling side conditions, which motivates the player to return to earlier areas and negotiate anew with the inhabitants of the devastated Tokyo.

Why play: Shin Megami Tensei II will appeal to players curious about what the series looked like at the moment it leveraged the hardware jump to the Super Famicom into a full-fledged sequel with a darker story and more elaborate demon fusion, all without abandoning the harsh, uncompromising difficulty of the first game.