Digital Devil Story - Megami Tensei II (Japan) (Rev A)

**Digital Devil Story - Megami Tensei II** is a seminal role-playing game (RPG) for the NES, renowned for its unique gameplay and dark narrative. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, following a nuclear war, where demons and humans coexist.

The core gameplay blends expansive overworld exploration with intricate dungeon crawling. Players control the protagonist from a top-down perspective on the world map, transitioning to a first-person view when navigating the maze-like and treacherous dungeons. Manual mapping is often necessary to avoid getting lost.

A signature feature of **Megami Tensei II** is its demon recruitment and fusion system. During turn-based battles, players can choose to negotiate with demons instead of attacking. Depending on dialogue choices, the player's alignment, and luck, they can persuade demons to join their party, ask for money, or be attacked. Once enough demons are collected, players can visit "Jakyou Manors" (Demon Fusion Labs) to fuse two or more demons, creating new, more powerful demons, often with higher levels and diverse skills. This is a crucial element for building a strong and versatile party.

Combat is turn-based, with players commanding the protagonist, their companion Hiroko, and up to two recruited demons. Battle commands include: physical attack, magic, item usage, negotiation, defense, and fleeing. Exploiting elemental weaknesses of enemies and managing Magic Points (MP) are vital for success. The game also features an alignment system (Law/Chaos/Neutral) that influences the storyline, available demons, and the game's ending. Players will level up their characters, equip weapons, armor, and items to enhance their power, while solving puzzles and confronting challenging bosses to progress through the compelling narrative.