Shin Megami Tensei II

Shin Megami Tensei II (真・女神転生 II) is a role-playing video game and the second in the Shin Megami Tensei series. It is a Japan-exclusive game, and no official English version had ever been announced.

Title

 * 真・女神転生 II
 * Shin Megami Tensei II

Systems & Dates

 * Super Famicom - 1994.03.18
 * Playstation - 2002.03.20
 * Gameboy Advance - 2003.09.26

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to Shin Megami Tensei with a few changed aspects. First, the automap screen can be called with the press of the R button.

A new system of "magic succession" was introduced in the Demon Fusion system, the trademark system of the series. The spells of the demons used for the fusion can be passed on to the fusion product, which can allow even the weakest demon to possess the most powerful spells in the game.

Other changes include:
 * Several of the demons' Alignments were changed from Law/Chaos to Neutral, in order to increase the diversity of the player's party.
 * Party can be divided into front-row and back-row, but only affects the amount of damage it can receive or inflict.
 * Player can now choose which spells and special attacks its demons can use, except they will now cost the demons' hit point or magic point.
 * Important items and gems are stored in separate item slots.
 * All of the demons' data can now be stored and viewed (there was a limit in the previous game).
 * In Shin Megami Tensei, the player only encountered one kind of demon at a time, but in this game the player may encounter two separate kinds of demons.
 * A casino was introduced, where player can play games with coins purchased by money and trade them with special items only obtainable in casinos.
 * Several new spells were introduced, such as NECROMA, where you can revive a dead demon as an undead.

Plot
This game follows the story of Hawk, a battler in the Valhalla district of Tokyo Millennium. The citizens of Valhalla compete in a tournament in hopes of gaining citizenship in the Center district, which is out of the reach of demons.

Hawk fights in the tournament and wins. He gains citizenship in the Center district and has a personal meeting with the Bishop of the Messian religion. During the meeting, he is told that he is actually the Messiah, who will one day save mankind from the current bleak world and bring about a paradise called the "Thousand Year Kingdom".

Hawk, whose true name is revealed to be Aleph, is sent on missions from the Center to eradicate demons and prepare the world for the Thousand Year Kingdom. Yet while he travels across Tokyo Millennium, he witnesses first-hand the atrocities the Center inflicts on the people and must decide whether to follow his pre-determined destiny or fight against it in the hope of creating something better.

Characters

 * Hawk/Aleph: A man with no name or memory. A washed up fighter finds you fighting demons, takes you under his care, renames you Hawk, and trains you to become the best gladiator in Valhalla. Alas, your career is cut short when you receive a message from the Center - you are actually the Messiah, whose true name is Aleph, and whose destiny is to save the world and lead everyone to paradise.
 * Hiroko: The main female character of the game. She is a Temple Knight of the Center who accompanies Aleph on his missions across Tokyo Millennium. At the start of the game she disobeys the Center by traveling to Valhalla to find a lost boy and track down a missing scientist called Hanada. After Beth is killed she joins Aleph as his main female companion.
 * Beth: The second main female character of the game. She is also a Temple Knight of the Center and is assigned to Aleph as his partner to help him in his missions. Like Yuriko in Shin Megami Tensei, she pledges to be by Aleph's side forever, but is sadly killed by Daleth when she jumps in front of a deathblow meant for Aleph. Like the other main characters she was a creation of the Center, designed to be Aleph's "eternal partner".
 * Daleth: A young man who first meets Aleph in the final match of the Colosseum under the name of "Red Bear", where he is defeated for the first time. He later re-emerges as a recurring antagonist, proclaiming himself to be the true Messiah and challenging Aleph to several fights to prove himself. He is revealed to be a creation of the Center, designed for the role of the "Anti-Messiah". His purpose was to be defeated at the hands of the true Messiah in order to increase the charisma of the latter in the eyes of the populace.
 * Gimmel: A young man who lives in the forest of Arcadia, and seems to know Aleph from some place. He seems to know a lot about the purpose of Arcadia, the Center and Tokyo Millennium. It is revealed that Gimmel was created by the Center to be the Messiah of the Virtual World, which was designed as a testing ground for the technology of the Thousand Year Kingdom.
 * Zain: A member of the Temple Knights alongside Hiroko. At the beginning of the game he is firmly aligned with the Center and is a commanding officer for Aleph, but when he witnesses the tragedies that the Center inflicts upon the people of Tokyo Millennium and discovers the true nature of the Thousand Year Kingdom, he rebels and dedicates himself to spreading the truth about the Center's machinations. He is revealed to be another one of the Center's creations, designed to be Aleph's bodyguard.


 * See also: List of Shin Megami Tensei II Characters