Conception 2 Review (PS Vita/3DS)

The PS Vita is known for having a large number of niche JRPGs of varying quality, Conception 2 being no exception. But it stands out for having a rather bizarre premise that bears a few similarities to Persona 4's basic mechanics. Unfortunately, originality means nothing in the face of poor execution.

Story

Conception 2 stars Wake Archus, a young teenager growing up in a world threatened by monsters from "Dusk Circles". The only ones that can fight off these monsters are people around his age; they are the only ones who can make use of the Star Energy the Star God gives them. These teenagers are all sent to an academy to train them in combat. Wake is a special case as he is able to produce much more Star Energy than normal, allowing him to actually enter and fight within the Dusk Circles. Wake must also befriend and make Star Children (yes, really) with 7 heroines who attend the same academy as him.

The story here had a potential to be a really interesting concept, but ends up falling flat on its face. None of the characters have any real character development, and are defined by a few overused traits. This creates problems when a major point of the game is to grow closer to these heroines through interacting with them in sequences similar to dating sims. Although there are plot twists that improve the story, it's a shining example of "too little, too late".

Gameplay

When outside of dungeons, Wake can use various different services around town. He can also talk to any of the heroines at the academy, which raises your bond with them depending on the choices you make. These interactions also fill up a meter with "Bond Points", which are spent to create the Star Children that comprise most of your battle party. You are given three hearts; interacting with a heroine costs one heart. When you run out, you can rest to progress time and regain those hearts. But because the developers failed to implement any sort of time system to limit you, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from simply raising the heroines' affection as high as it can possibly go at that point in the story.

Conception 2's dungeons play out quite similarly to Persona 4; you explore randomly generated dungeons fighting enemies, collecting treasure, and eventually fighting the boss at the end. The problem with these dungeons, however, is that they're bland and repetitive. The only real difference between each dungeon is their physical design and the types of items and enemies present. The randomly generated layouts never get any more complex, and the design of the dungeon completely fails to reflect its name in any meaningful way, which is made more egregious by the fact that all of the dungeons are named after the 7 Deadly Sins.

One of the places where this game shines is its battle system. Your party is made up of 4 groups; the first one being Wake and his heroine of choice, and the other 3 groups being the Star Children the player has made. In battle, each enemy can be attacked from 4 different sides, with one that serves as their weak point. When you chose an enemy to attack, you can also choose which side to attack it from, allowing you to rack up large amounts of damage. Overall, this battle system is solid, but it lacks interesting dungeons and enemy designs to back it up.

Graphics

Graphically, Conception 2 won't be bringing home any awards. But it looks nice and runs smoothly on the Vita (the 3DS version looks slightly worse and runs at a less stable framerate). For what it's worth, the dungeons do look pretty. The character portraits are rather nicely drawn and anime styled.

Soundtrack and Voice Acting

Conception 2's soundtrack is decent, with a few memorable themes here and there. But it fails to deliver anything truly spectacular. The game's voice acting can also be rather mediocre, which only exacerbates its dull story and characters.

Length

Conception 2 can take around 35 to 40 hours to finish, with several sidequests to extend the time you spend on this game. Although there's New Game Plus and multiple endings, there's really not much incentive for playing through the game again, especially when the game's strongest aspect is held back by its weaknesses.

Final Verdict: 6/10

Pros

• An interesting premise
• Solid battle system
• Graphics and soundtrack are decent

Cons

• Dull, uninteresting story
• All of the heroines are cliché and never receive much character development
• Mediocre voice acting
• Bland dungeon design leads to tedious gameplay
• Some mechanics have poor implementation

While I don't think Conception 2 is terrible by any means, I feel that poor execution of its ideas is what holds the game back. If you're still interested, there are demos on the PSN and 3DS eShop to try out. Though this game had many interesting ideas, it's ultimately not worth buying, especially for full retail price.